All,
Is there an alternative way of breaking in a new plastering trowel i you do not have the "luxury" of a significant amount of cement/san rendering to do? Apart, of course, from spending £35+ on a pre worn i trowel which seems like a complete waste of money.
Iai
-- IainD
Can't you just use it?
I'd have thought that unless you were already an excellent plaster no one would be able to tell whether it was done by a virgin or broken trowel.
I agree - in fact for my early attempts, I blame it on the fact that I haven't worn the trowel in yet (nor the saw, nor the hammer, nor the shovel...)
Yes and No.
You can polish up the long edges on a house brick in the same way you take a nick out of the edge. Place the edge on the flat face of a brick, and use a motion as though you are trying to saw through the brick to polish the edge. Keep the edge against the flat surface, but vary the angle between the face of the trowel and the brick face so you get the edge rounded, and you keep it straight. When you have done that, drag the corners across the brick face to round them off slightly so they aren't sharp.
As for getting the spring into the steel, this just improves with use, and there's no short cut.
I borrowed a mates £31 quid Marshaltown SS pre worn trowel and personally found it *very* much better than my wickes six quid special even after I had broken it in. The difference was not only the fact that it had been pre worn, but also that it was just very much better made - light strong, and with just the right amount of "spring" (and to be fair, the pre-worn one cost no more than the equivalent "ordinary" marshaltown SS trowel anyway).
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