Hot take: expensive mud knives are overrated

I was dead set that a $60 mud knife would make my taping smoother, but I borrowed a buddy's $12 one last week and honestly couldn't tell the difference on a 12-foot ceiling job. Anyone else find the cheap hardware store stuff works just as good?

3 comments

3 Comments

butler.mark1mo ago

My buddy runs a crew that does nothing but commercial sheetrock and swears by the $8 Home Depot special with the orange handle. He says a good knife is more about how it feels in your hand and how you maintain the edge than the price tag. Pretty sure that cheap one has hung 5,000 sheets of drywall and still gets the job done fine.

jake_hall881mo ago

5,000 sheets is a good run for any knife, cheap or not. I'm curious though, how often does your buddy replace the blade on that $8 special, and does he ever have to touch up the blade with a stone or just swap in a fresh one? The cheap steel usually doesn't hold an edge as long, so I wonder if he's just swapping blades more often or if he's found a way to keep that original edge going. Also does the handle hold up after that much use or does it start to get loose in the metal sleeve?

the_gavin1mo ago

Is the handle glued on with hope and prayers at this point? I picture that orange handle held together with duct tape and sheer spite after 5,000 sheets. No way that blade isn't getting swapped out every other sheet or getting hit with a stone every few cuts, cheap steel like that goes dull if you look at it funny. But hey, if it works for him, maybe the secret is just never letting go of the handle and calling it a 'patina.'