Midwest Rake47415 12" Magic Trowel Smoother, Threaded Handle

First off they need to tell you there’s a guard in the blade haha. Felt foolish when I was using it and then figured out there was a guard on it, worked much better when it was removed. Takes some practice but it does a pretty good job.

I purchased this product after reading multiple reviews. I am a DIY -er, so after years of experience with trial and error I discovered this handy tool. I believe the product is a handy tool. But if you are going to be working in smaller spaces with more narrow wall spacing I would recommend using a smaller tool. But for large span walls, as long as your mud mix you are applying for skim coating is the right consistency and walls are prepped accordingly you should get good results. It takes a little trial and error getting used to the angle, weight and blade of the tool. But once you find your groove with the tool and what technique works best for you, that's when you see the results. All in all I rate it a 4 because I had high expectations, but all in all was satisfied with the tool itself.

I am a DIYer skim coating the walls in my house to get rid of really ugly and poorly done texture from a previous owner. Since I hadn’t done any drywall mudding before, I bought this trowel at the suggestion of some DIYer skim coating videos, as well as a professional drywaller’s video (on YouTube check out That Kilted Guy, Paul Peck Drywall, and Vancouver Carpenter for great drywall teachers and Home Renovision DIY for drywall & everything else - pros who want to help DIYers do things right) suggesting it might be good for someone who doesn’t have the skills with a regular taping knife. In doing this project I started using the 18” Magic Trowel but frustrated with those results tried a taping knife and I found the taping knife to be far easier, cleaner and smoother with better control and results than with the Magic Trowel, so for those of you considering getting this, I would suggest trying a regular taping knife (10” and up) first to test your skills. You might be better at it than you think and you can buy two or three different size taping knives for this price of this one Magic Trowel. Not a bad product, but I think if you’re getting it because you doubt your skills with a taping knife, do a taping knife test run first. You might be pleasantly surprised and save yourself some money.

I'm glade I got this for skim coating my walls. The large size is great and I think it works a bit better than my 12 inch standard metal Trowel I have. You cannot apply the joint compound to the wall with this trowel though. need to apply and then smooth with this tool. As I've been using I have gotten better at using it. It does take patience and a bit of learning to get a good result but that was expected. What has worked best for me is to use a roller to apply to about a 5'x5' area and then use a 6" metal trowel to get close to edges, items, corners, etc. then I use the magic trowel to smooth. Only reason I put 4 stars is that one of the points on the ends was/is a bit bent but in general the construction is solid.

Very good for epoxy

Good quality, like the protective blade cover.

My first attempt at texturing was made perfect by this device. I wanted a plain, plaster look and it was obtained with the vinyl sparkle and this trowel! Thank you!!!

Had a big job worked great!

I was skim coating a ceiling that had popcorn scraped off. I was looking for something that would make the job quicker/easier. I wanted this trowel to perform for me, but it didn't. I saw several online videos that mentioned this was the only product to use, but after several hours of testing it, I just went back to my 18" drywall knife. I saw this trowel may be better for beginners using a paint roller to apply the plaster. I did not use this method to apply the plaster so I can not comment on that. The product seems to be made well. But it does need to have very wet and thin material to work as intended. Overall I think anyone would be better with a standard drywall knife for skim coating.