That $20 finishing trowel I swore was junk turned out to be my favorite tool

I picked up a cheap stainless trowel at a hardware store in Tulsa last spring just to get through a small patio job. After two months of using it on flat work, the handle is still solid and the blade flexes just right for finishing tight corners. Anyone else find a bargain tool that worked better than the expensive ones?

2 comments

2 Comments

beth_butler7517d agoMost Upvoted

Did you ever find that the cheap one just had a better balance in your hand? I grabbed a no-name margin trowel from a bin at a farm supply store for maybe six bucks. Three years later the wood handle is still tight and that little blade has chipped more mortar than my expensive Marshalltown ever did. Something about the way they grind those budget blades sometimes gives you a better flex for getting into corners. It made me rethink spending big on tools I use every day.

blaked7916d ago

I mean, nothing makes me question my whole life like spending $40 on a trowel only to have my lucky $6 farm special outwork it. That no-name blade flex is a whole different animal, like it was accidentally ground by a guy who had one good idea before they fired him. I've got a drywall knife from a gas station that's outlasted three "pro-grade" ones, so I'm pretty convinced the universe just picks random tools to bless. Maybe the expensive ones are too stubborn to bend the right way.