That time I bought a $200 automatic taper and hated it

Saw a used automatic taper on Craigslist for $200 back in 2018. Thought it would save me time on a big basement job. First day with it I spent 3 hours cleaning mud clogs and fixing the tape feed. Ended up finishing the job by hand and sold that thing for $50 a month later. Anyone else get burned on a tool that looked good on paper?

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jordan6533mo ago

Man I used to be one of those guys who thought any powered tool was better than doing it by hand. Automatic tapers look so slick in videos right? I bought into that hype myself a few years back and learned the hard way. The reality is they need constant tinkering and cleaning especially with the mud you use. That three hours you spent fighting it sounds exactly like my experience. Once you factor in setup and cleanup time you're barely breaking even with a manual tool. Your mileage may vary but for smaller jobs I'll take a simple mud pan and knife any day.

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thead443mo ago

Oh man don't tell me that, I was just about to buy one of those things because the videos make it look so easy! They always conveniently skip the part where you spend three hours scraping dried mud off the nozzle and swapping out clogged hoses. Sounds like you get to be a mechanic and a drywall finisher at the same time, what a deal. I'll stick with my beat up mud pan too, at least when it fails me it's because I'm bad at it not because the tool decided to take a nap.

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