# Dripless Caulk gun and painting knives



## sroskens (Apr 30, 2012)

Last year I asked if anyone had clever tools for putting a fine finish on caulk joints. Someone turned me on to painting knives. Wow! Thanks! They work great for tight spaces. Someone also suggested the Dripless Caulking gun. That works great as well.


Stan


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## Masterpiece (Feb 26, 2008)

Interesting, I've never heard of painting knives. There's rarely a spot I can't cleanly cut in and access with the proper sized brush but there have been times I've used painters tape to mask off to be safe, like between overhead range hoods and upper cabinets (1" space or less).


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## woodcoyote (Dec 30, 2012)

Hmm..interesting. Never heard of using painting knives before. They work good I suppose? How well do they spread the paint? Or do you have to "reload" them constantly?


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## sroskens (Apr 30, 2012)

*painting knives*

The painting knives are used to smooth the caulk in tight joints. I should have been clearer that the entire post was about applying caulk.


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## Big Hoss (Jul 7, 2012)

My wife used to decorate cakes. I found these in her cake decorating tools and asked if I could use them. They work great. Just frosting spreaders from hammered chef.


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## Schmidt & Co. (Nov 6, 2008)

sroskens said:


> The painting knives are used to smooth the caulk in tight joints. I should have been clearer that the entire post was about applying caulk.


Like these. 

Amazon.com: NEWBORN Slick-1 Caulk Finishing Tool,Spatula,SS,6 Sizes: Home Improvement


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## woodcoyote (Dec 30, 2012)

I've never seen anyone use one. I'm interested, do you all think this would be better than using your finger and a damp sponge? Always looking for something to help things go better. Not necessarily quicker but easier and smarter.


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

I'm not sure they would be useful for the everyday stuff like base and door trim. But those knives sure work well for the heavy duty stuff like creating quarter round from floor to wall with urethane sealants.


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

Just saw one today for the first time. The GC lead guy showed me one he uses for heavy duty caulking to tool nice beads.


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## woodcoyote (Dec 30, 2012)

Do you think something like this would be suited for caulking the drywall joints in a house (new construction)? Or do you all have a better tool/method?


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## Schmidt & Co. (Nov 6, 2008)

woodcoyote said:


> Do you think something like this would be suited for caulking the drywall joints in a house (new construction)? Or do you all have a better tool/method?


I think those are more for when you need to leave a good, clean bead that's not getting painted. For example: Last winter I was working on a high rise interior. At the same time the association had a crew working on the exterior windows checking the window caulking. These guys were laying down a bead and "tooling" it with the metal spatulas, and when they were done it looked _perfect._ 

I've never done it myself, but after watching those guys I'd like to give it a try someday. They made it look easy.


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## ProWallGuy (Apr 7, 2007)

Big Hoss said:


> My wife used to decorate cakes. I found these in her cake decorating tools and asked if I could use them. They work great. Just frosting spreaders from hammered chef.


I use these and palette knives when hanging delicate paper around moldings and whatnot.


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

This is what we've used for years. They're also handy if you need to paint "a happy little tree".

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&sour...3ScirY8RAiY6A1l7SoNBEBSw&ust=1359821690653813


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