I'm skimming my first ceiling
but some places the trowel leaves marks at the edges.

Its an old victorian ceiling that I undercovered with kingspan and plasterboard and isnt perfectly straight in any dimension, so when i use the trowel to smooth an area which dips in the ends of the trowel dig in and make grooves.

Is a solution to file off the corners of the trowel?
If so how should I do this and to what shape?
Any advice please ...

George

Are you sure you have a finishing trowel, these are usually quite springy compared to normal floats. Small swirls left by the corner of the float can normally be blended in during the final polish.

Richard

In article ,
DICEGEORGE writes:
I'm skimming my first ceiling
but some places the trowel leaves marks at the edges.

Its an old victorian ceiling that I undercovered with kingspan and plasterboard and isnt perfectly straight in any dimension, so when i use the trowel to smooth an area which dips in the ends of the trowel dig in and make grooves.

Is a solution to file off the corners of the trowel?
If so how should I do this and to what shape?
Any advice please ...

Plasterers like well worn trowels, and the corners will have been
worn a bit (not sharp). Traditionally, a plasterer bought a new
trowel and gave it to a renderer to use to wear it in, before
taking it back to use for finishing.

However, you're going to struggle if the surface isn't flat. The
scratch (under-) coat plaster is to make the surface flat, so that
you can polish a finish coat onto it. Using a smaller trowel and/or
a much more springy (and expensive) trowel might help.

It might also be that you're trying to polish off before the plaster
has set sufficiently.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 11/03/2017 10:08, DICEGEORGE wrote:
I'm skimming my first ceiling but some places the trowel leaves marks
at the edges.

Its an old victorian ceiling that I undercovered with kingspan and
plasterboard and isnt perfectly straight in any dimension, so when i
use the trowel to smooth an area which dips in the ends of the trowel
dig in and make grooves.

Is a solution to file off the corners of the trowel? If so how should
I do this and to what shape? Any advice please ...

A worn trowel is better than a new one... working the edges on a brick
can help a bit. However in many cases, if you are getting lines, let it
go off a bit more an then have another go (with a bit of extra water
splashed on if needs be).

Marshalltown do a "permashape" trowel that is already "worn in" and the
right shape / springiness. Silly money, but a joy to use in comparison
to any other I have tried, and gets quite respectable results even in my
relatively unskilled plastering hands.


--
Cheers,

John.

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On 11/03/17 17:53, John Rumm wrote:
On 11/03/2017 10:08, DICEGEORGE wrote:
I'm skimming my first ceiling but some places the trowel leaves marks
at the edges.

Its an old victorian ceiling that I undercovered with kingspan and
plasterboard and isnt perfectly straight in any dimension, so when i
use the trowel to smooth an area which dips in the ends of the trowel
dig in and make grooves.

Is a solution to file off the corners of the trowel? If so how should
I do this and to what shape? Any advice please ...

A worn trowel is better than a new one... working the edges on a brick
can help a bit. However in many cases, if you are getting lines, let it
go off a bit more an then have another go (with a bit of extra water
splashed on if needs be).

Marshalltown do a "permashape" trowel that is already "worn in" and the
right shape / springiness. Silly money, but a joy to use in comparison
to any other I have tried, and gets quite respectable results even in my
relatively unskilled plastering hands.



+1 Marshalltown trowels work out of the box, even for a steam flid like me.