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A 60 year old taper made me rethink my whole approach yesterday
I was complaining about how hard it is to get a smooth finish on butt joints with the new lightweight compounds. He just shrugged and said "sandpaper and patience was good enough in 1975, still works now." Made me realize I've been chasing fancy products instead of just taking my time. Has anyone else found that the old methods still beat the new stuff?
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the_lee1d ago
Ngl, everybody's talking about grit progression and technique but nobody's mentioning that the old timers were working with materials that had way more silica in them. That stuff was basically sandpaper dust already mixed into the mud. The new lightweight compounds are mostly polymers and air, so they don't abrade the same way at all. I've noticed the real trick is getting your knife work right so you barely need to sand in the first place, then the question of old versus new grits barely matters.
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brian_smith62d ago
Old school grit progression still works fine on those new compounds if you're careful not to rush it.
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miles_garcia2d ago
Haven't you noticed that a lot of those old timers are still using the same four grits of paper they bought in 1980? The new lightweight compounds are designed to work different than the heavy mud they used to use. I've found that if you just take the old sandpaper approach to those new materials, you end up sanding through to the tape or leaving scratches that show up after paint. The new stuff actually needs the right technique and tools to work properly, not just more elbow grease.
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