Mixing a plaster without a paddle?

Of course - just stir it up with a wooden stick.

David

Use a stick, preferably not a round one because it doesn't mix too well without sides! Make it around 30 inches long and hold the top of it with your right hand and whisk it in a circular motion with your left.

Make sure to scrape the dry powder from the sides of the bucket before giving it a final mixing, otherwise you will end up with hard lumps in the mix and these will make life extremely difficult when it's on the wall

Use a stick. Its hard work, but it works.

The plasterer that did my bathroom used some kind of manual paddle thing to mix the finishing plaster. He was so quiet I didn't think he was doing any work ! It looked like something you plunged up and down, but he seemed to have mixed it very quickly. Anyone know what this may have been ? Simon.

Wasn't it some sort of gadget that resembles a jumbo-sized potato masher?

A paddle is probably the quickest way to burn out a drill that isn't designed to cope with it

You could take an angle-grinder to the paddle and make it fit.

Mark.

Well worth it as mixing plaster by hand is a pain specially when your working alone and have a huge wall to cover ie you'll sweat lie a pig. ;-)

Stuart Noble wrote in news:Rt8Bj.1314 $ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe5-win.ntli.net:

Agree completely. Lower speed/higher torque drills are the best for this.

I would recommend an SDS drill with a paddle made for an SDS drill or a chuck adaptor.

Remember to turn pneumatic/hammer action off everyone :)

Has your wife got a Kenwood Chef?

;-)

We used to use two 'butterfly' type cavity wall ties attached to a stick in the old days.....it was quite effective but required some getting used to, ergo most people returned to using a simple stick or if they were lucky, a drill powered paddle

She *had*, somebody burnt it out.

Nah who d'ya suppose 'ould do a doity twick like dat ?...

DG

No, it's completely impossible. This is why plaster wasn't used on walls until 1960 and the arrival of the cheap Black & Decker.

A better question is whether you _can_ use a mixer paddle in a typical electric drill! They're too fast and too low torque. They'll throw plaster everywhere and you're very likely to burn out the drill motor.

If you want to mix a lot of plaster, get a low-speed high torque drill with a good side handle (useful for core-drilling too). Kreg (Wickes) are about the most affordable.

If you just need a little plaster mixing, use any sort of wide flat wooden paddle. One with holes in is good (nearly as good a mixer, a lot easier to paddle with). If you don't have one handy, just carve up a bit of scrap skirting board or similar.

yes... but if the op doesnt even have a half inch chuck drill, what chance of having a dangle grinder?

You might try using some 2mm soft iron wire, twist several into a rope a couple feet long, and splay the end out to whatever shape takes your fancy. With a 2000rpm drill you wont want it too wide.

NT