Best way to tool silicone bead
Discussion
I do yards and yards of silicone beading on boats. Mask with tape either side of the joint that is clean and grease free, pump the silicone into the joint evenly, but don't over fill.
Stick your finger in your gob, spit works great, and smooth in one pass with the damp digit. When a smooth finish is done, ease the masking tape up and put in a binbag so the excess doesn't go everywhere.
Now the real trick is to keep everything clean, overflow, and grease free. The answer....Wonder Wipes.
Stick your finger in your gob, spit works great, and smooth in one pass with the damp digit. When a smooth finish is done, ease the masking tape up and put in a binbag so the excess doesn't go everywhere.
Now the real trick is to keep everything clean, overflow, and grease free. The answer....Wonder Wipes.
If you cut the nozzle at the correct angle and diameter you can get an almost perfectly formed smooth radiused bead without doing any extra work to it. Just look at what some double glazing guys can do. I assume you'll need shed loads of practice.
I used to use the spit-wet finger, but some modern silicons seem to stick to the finger even when wet. A dab of white spirit on the digit is supposed to overcome this, but I've never tried it.
I used to use the spit-wet finger, but some modern silicons seem to stick to the finger even when wet. A dab of white spirit on the digit is supposed to overcome this, but I've never tried it.
This only works if it doesn't matter if the surface being sealed gets wet.
1 cut a nice 45degree cut on the gun tip wide enough to put the sealant onto both surface in one pass.
2 starting at one side keeping the gun moving as you squeeze the trigger right to the end point. If two or more joints meet, do all the joints before carrying out the next step.
3 get an empty spray bottle and put a couple of drops of washing up liquid in and fill with water and give in a shake. Spray over the silicone you've just put down allowing the spray to go onto the surface either side of the bead as well as this stops the silicone sticking as you wipe it off.
4 Get a clean finger and wipe it down the Silicone you've just put down. Any excess silicone will wipe off with your finger and the excess won't still to the surface either side because of the watery soap. There you have a nice clean silicone finish.
5 if the surface can't be wetted then just mask either side of the area and tear the tape off after you've ran a wetted finger down the sealant to give a nice smooth finish.
Always have plenty of paper towel at hand, silicone is messy stuff! Good luck
1 cut a nice 45degree cut on the gun tip wide enough to put the sealant onto both surface in one pass.
2 starting at one side keeping the gun moving as you squeeze the trigger right to the end point. If two or more joints meet, do all the joints before carrying out the next step.
3 get an empty spray bottle and put a couple of drops of washing up liquid in and fill with water and give in a shake. Spray over the silicone you've just put down allowing the spray to go onto the surface either side of the bead as well as this stops the silicone sticking as you wipe it off.
4 Get a clean finger and wipe it down the Silicone you've just put down. Any excess silicone will wipe off with your finger and the excess won't still to the surface either side because of the watery soap. There you have a nice clean silicone finish.
5 if the surface can't be wetted then just mask either side of the area and tear the tape off after you've ran a wetted finger down the sealant to give a nice smooth finish.
Always have plenty of paper towel at hand, silicone is messy stuff! Good luck
I used a tool from screwfix - great results and the best finish i have seen.
Apply silicone - spray with water and drag tool along bead
http://www.screwfix.com/p/fugenboy-kit-1-bmfg1/281...
Apply silicone - spray with water and drag tool along bead
http://www.screwfix.com/p/fugenboy-kit-1-bmfg1/281...
Muncher said:
I've just bought a little set like this, not tried it yet but supposed to be very good.
Where did you get them from ?I have to do beading as part of my job and bloody hate doing it but seem to be the best on the firm so it falls on my shoulders
I use the masking tape ,squirter with water/fairy liquid in it and either my finger or one of the rubber fingers depending on the width of the joint.
Find someone who does mastic for a living.....
A mate of mine did mine, every join in the house has mastic and it looks great, much better than an amateur would do. Looks nice having a little 45 on the joins.
He used a little stick which he sharpened into an angled tool, sprayed the washing up liquid solution and typically struck each joint off in one hit for the neatest finish. It's a real art tbh.
The bloke he worked for is even better, doing proper mitres on corners, but I would of had to have paid him
A mate of mine did mine, every join in the house has mastic and it looks great, much better than an amateur would do. Looks nice having a little 45 on the joins.
He used a little stick which he sharpened into an angled tool, sprayed the washing up liquid solution and typically struck each joint off in one hit for the neatest finish. It's a real art tbh.
The bloke he worked for is even better, doing proper mitres on corners, but I would of had to have paid him
MrV said:
Where did you get them from ?
I have to do beading as part of my job and bloody hate doing it but seem to be the best on the firm so it falls on my shoulders
I use the masking tape ,squirter with water/fairy liquid in it and either my finger or one of the rubber fingers depending on the width of the joint.
Just from a local fastening shop for a tenner, the kind of place which wouldn't sell something if they didn't rate it. It's branded "joint boy" and cost a tenner, pretty much the same as the screwfix one above.I have to do beading as part of my job and bloody hate doing it but seem to be the best on the firm so it falls on my shoulders
I use the masking tape ,squirter with water/fairy liquid in it and either my finger or one of the rubber fingers depending on the width of the joint.
sw67 said:
I used a tool from screwfix - great results and the best finish i have seen.
Apply silicone - spray with water and drag tool along bead
http://www.screwfix.com/p/fugenboy-kit-1-bmfg1/281...
Another vote for these.Apply silicone - spray with water and drag tool along bead
http://www.screwfix.com/p/fugenboy-kit-1-bmfg1/281...
Tried just about every method.
A bit of practice and you'll get an first class joint every time with these.
m3jappa said:
Find someone who does mastic for a living.....
A mate of mine did mine, every join in the house has mastic and it looks great, much better than an amateur would do. Looks nice having a little 45 on the joins.
He used a little stick which he sharpened into an angled tool, sprayed the washing up liquid solution and typically struck each joint off in one hit for the neatest finish. It's a real art tbh.
The bloke he worked for is even better, doing proper mitres on corners, but I would of had to have paid him
This ^ You don't spray anything on the silicone, it always goes on the tool. Mastic men make there own tools from a piece of hardwood wedge shaped and smoothed at the tips. One of our fellas has a collection of sticks he cherishes. Don;t put silcone encrusted fingers in your mouth, google silicosis. Gun finish is useless, mastic needs tooling to ensure a proper seal.A mate of mine did mine, every join in the house has mastic and it looks great, much better than an amateur would do. Looks nice having a little 45 on the joins.
He used a little stick which he sharpened into an angled tool, sprayed the washing up liquid solution and typically struck each joint off in one hit for the neatest finish. It's a real art tbh.
The bloke he worked for is even better, doing proper mitres on corners, but I would of had to have paid him
roofer said:
This ^ You don't spray anything on the silicone, it always goes on the tool. Mastic men make there own tools from a piece of hardwood wedge shaped and smoothed at the tips. One of our fellas has a collection of sticks he cherishes. Don;t put silcone encrusted fingers in your mouth, google silicosis. Gun finish is useless, mastic needs tooling to ensure a proper seal.
I'm surprised you mention getting silicosis from silcone - how does that work? I thought silicosis was caused by inhaling dust (basically rock dust), which can be largely silica. silicone is something totally different, and is quite unlikely to make its way to your lung since it is a liquid/gel before it sets.of course there are plenty of other reasons not to put a silicone-encrusted finger in your (or anyone elses) mouth.
Im going to get one of the widgets above as ill never do the volumes that the pros do - its a dark art which i think can only be mastered if you earn your living from it!
i did a side panel on a bath at the weekend and it looked pretty bad by professional standards but as the bathroom will be redone within 12 months i think i can live with it...
i did a side panel on a bath at the weekend and it looked pretty bad by professional standards but as the bathroom will be redone within 12 months i think i can live with it...
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