best taping kit

[the_tapeinator]

whos makes the best tools?

[amestaper]

I've never used a Northstar or Columbia taping gun so cant comment on them but have heard they are very good tools. I use a hybrid mix and match kit from what tools I have lying around; my favourites are the Tapetech gun, nailspotter, roller, corner box and pumps, with Blueline jumbo boxes and a tapetech 3 " and a 4 inch corner finisher made by Drywall Master I think. These are getting a bit dated but still work well and I will look to upgrade to the newer power assisted ones soon. Also need a new wheel set for the corner roller.

[Lightrock]

Auto taper: I have used a Columbia, it's well made, but the knurling on their cutoff sleeve wore through the callus on my right hand, (it was brand new) that was a long week, and i haven't forgiven Columbia. I used Ames for years, but i bought a Blueline 2 because i wanted as close to Premier as i could get, and hadn't figured out which Blueline that was. It works, 4 years on, but is prone to paper jams.
Boxes: Blueline boxes I have are high-capacity but the build seems designed to take skin off your knuckles, the blade isn't very adjustable but I got the first run off the line so that may have been fixed, and are a bit heavy to swing into awkward corners so I use those for easy runs and trowel a little more than I did with Ames boxes. I will probably move to Can-Am for my next set. They are simple and local. I put a link to them below somewhere.
Angles: I run Can-Am for these. I own an angle box but haven't seen the benefit to using it again. I learned using 3" angle head to flush tapes and a 2" angle head on a box to finish off but when I started on my own I began with a tube and angle flushers for cost. Now I use a 3" to flush rolled tapes and a 4" run after the tube for final angles, it's quite wide and accommodates the new wider bevels we are seeing. the beauty of the angle flusher http://www.canamtool.com/products/prodStdCrnrFlush is that they are inexpensive and when you hit a fastener they slip over instead of breaking the brittle titanium blades like our Ames angle heads occasionally did. And a 4" angle head leaves the easiest sanding angle I've ever seen. Must get the mud right to flush out that far though :P