Hello people

[Singing jointer]

Good morning people, I'm new here and thought I'd say hello , I'm a hand taper from uk who will be very shortly converting to machines ! Any advice as to where I could get best prices and recommendations would be greatfully received . I have used Columbia machines before and found they finish very well ... Any other recommendations ? Thanks the singing jointer

[E.K Taper]

Welcome to the forum, singing jointer!
Columbia do have a good reputation, although I've got mainly TapeTech boxes and they are good also. Belmore Tools is your best bet, Belmoreboy is a member on here also and would get you sorted
http://www.belmoretools.co.uk/acatal...FaEhtAodERtMAw
Where ya from??

[Singing jointer]

Welcome to the forum, singing jointer!
Columbia do have a good reputation, although I've got mainly TapeTech boxes and they are good also. Belmore Tools is your best bet, Belmoreboy is a member on here also and would get you sorted
http://www.belmoretools.co.uk/acatal...FaEhtAodERtMAw
Where ya from??

Hi e.k taper ! Thanks for the response , yeah I've looked at bellmore and certainly seems my best bet ! I wanted to kit myself out as have a good run of larger 3/4 bed houses ahead of me and need to speed up the turn around ! I've seen on bellmore site they have speedtape pro at good prices but out of stock ! Are they any good ?Also any advice on good reliable sanders would be appreciated ! Not sure how much longer I can cope with my pole sander anymore ha Many thanks for your help I'm from east Sussex .

[E.K Taper]

Ok, the speedtape pro tools are made cheaper than the likes of tape tech etc, and they do break more often. A colleague has them and bits are forever falling off them, wheels etc. Speedtape only rent them out now, so you can't buy anything off them. I assume Belmore had a load of boxes in before they stopped selling them and are now out of stock. You could hire them to start you off I suppose but dont invest in a set - spend a bit more on some quality. Oh and Goldblatt are made from the same cheap sh*t too

http://artexltd.com/PDF/SpeedTape%20...20Brochure.pdf

[big g]

hi and welcome singing jointer,i hire my taping tools from speedtape and only prob i had were with the blue boxes,just couldnt get a job with them at all,think it was a new box they brought out,sent them back and got the older style out,have had no probs since with any of their tools and thats in three years ive been hiring off them,as for sanders,i use the flex,theres usually some on e bay.

[Singing jointer]

Welcome to the forum, singing jointer!
Columbia do have a good reputation, although I've got mainly TapeTech boxes and they are good also. Belmore Tools is your best bet, Belmoreboy is a member on here also and would get you sorted
http://www.belmoretools.co.uk/acatal...FaEhtAodERtMAw
Where ya from??

Thanks e.k taper and big g ! Ive been looking about hiring as it actually seems a reasonably priced solution for both machines and sanders. I assume there is a great divide of opinion on here regarding hand taping internals with a roller ( my way ) and bazooka ? Do you both use a bazooka ? I actually use a banjo for small cupboards ! ( don't laugh ) I actually found it to be nifty for small areas but in uk it's a tool you don't want to be seen with :/ basically what I'm asking is is the bazooka worth adding to the hired set in terms of cost v productivity ? Sorryif the questions sound silly but as you all know that although the trade is the same there is a big difference jumping from the hand to machine ship ! Many thanks for taking time to read and answer .

[E.K Taper]

If you´re up to speed with the bazooka then why not? Its about £28 a month to hire so if u can work it then it´ll save ya big time. I dont use one myself cos it takes me too long but I´d love to buy 1 and persevere with it to get back up to speed with it. I just use the wee doughnut roller to put internals on, then angle roller then flush so I suppose getting the zook would be the next step! Maybe next year.........................

[Brian S]

Welcome SJ

EK why not use a Banjo instead of the Zook?

[Singing jointer]

@brian s .. Do you use a banjo to tape all your internals ?

[big g]

i use bazooka,as for banjo i can see it being worthwhile on upright internals but if you dont use stilts how do you do ceiling angles with it without over stretching or using some sort of scaffold.

[Brian S]

Just starting with it, got a Homax, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYNF-...hannel&list=UL
trying to get to grips with the mud thickness at the moment, going to try again with it this week

Crack Filler
How you doing with yours Steve

[Singing jointer]

I also have the homax and it is very usefull but takes a lot of getting use to and at first was very messy ! I find it brilliant for cupboards but as big g says without stilts your looking at sneaking a milk crate on site and kicking it along as you go for ceilings however I may just give a whole house a go just to compare to hand roller

[Singing jointer]

Yes I agree with the mud thickness , it took a while ! I found it works best pretty runny and also found wiping a wet decorators sponge around banjo after every fill keeps everything that bit cleaner

[big g]

singing jointer,if your going to buy and not sure about bazooka, before investing about a grand in 1, why not do as EK says and hire 1 for a couple of months and see how you get on,but ive tried and persevered with angling by hand, but to be honest there really is no comparison,bazooka is way quicker once you get to grips with it.so if your planning on hanging around in the trade for a few years then do yourself a favour and get to grips with the bazooka.

[Singing jointer]

Thanks big g .. That is exactly what I'm going to do I have a friend who uses them and has offered to lend me his when I need it but I have a real issue borrowing other people's tools ! Especially expensive ones ! Im going to give gypsum tools a ring on Monday to get the ball rolling

[big g]

Thanks big g .. That is exactly what I'm going to do I have a friend who uses them and has offered to lend me his when I need it but I have a real issue borrowing other people's tools ! Especially expensive ones ! Im going to give gypsum tools a ring on Monday to get the ball rolling

good stuff,good luck,know what you mean about borrowing expensive tools im the same.

[Singing jointer]

Ive used the bazooka when I've teamed up with him but wouldn't use it for my own job ! Had a problem ever since I caught a site agent using my 4"knife to chisel off drywall adhesive !!

[big g]

1 more thing singing jointer,if your going to hire full kit,stipulate you dont want blue boxes,other 1s are fine but blue 1s are nothing but hassle.

[Singing jointer]

Will do ! Thanks for you advice

[amestaper]

Hey there singing jointer. Welcome to the site and hope you've been made to feel welcome.