I've never had the problem with bleeding fingers from drywall. The compound can be abrasive once dried and running your fingers over it for any length of time can wear off layers of skin.
As for how we do it, I can only speak for me and I haven't found it all that hard to do. When you refer to rough spots are you talking about the joint compound that has been applied already? If that is the case you shouldn't have to spend much time checking it out. If there are jagged areas I would suggest using a wider knife. Also check the angle as you drag the knife across. Once the compound has been applied and you graduate to the wider knife the angle is much closer to perpendicular. That's a 75 cent word... Let the knife drag across the area listening for almost a hissing sound. There is a definite sound that is made when done right. You should be able to avoid most of the problems with a wider knife. At worst there should only be a few ridges from overlapping. Make sure to wear some sort of mask when sanding because the dust can cause worse things than bleeding fingers. I like to use the sanding pads because they are easy to grip and it keeps your fingers from digging in and making an uneven surface. The only way to get better at it is to practice. Even if that means making a repair on the bench. Take a piece of drywall and smack it with a hammer. Then work on fixing the dent or hole. When you're done you will have learned a lot and lost nothing because it doesn't need painted and no one else has to see what you did. ----- Original Message ----- From: Tom Vos To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 10:39 PM Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] Handy Drywall Tools Seeing Ray's contribution leads me to ask your input on dry walling. Specifically, the last time I did drywall work I had to use my fingers to find the rough spots and ridges in the compound on the wall. But drywall compound has a ph value which makes it very hard on skin. By the time I was finished several of my fingers were bleeding. So I promised myself the next time I would hire someone to do it. How do you folks do it without ending up with the bleeding finger problem? Incidentaly, kneeling on wet concrete for too long can do the same thing to your knees. Blessings, Tom [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
