My personal experience in the rendering/solid plastering trade seems like it only started yesterday but the past 20 years has just flown by, I've seen droughts, flooding rains, Pandemics, GFC, housing industry booms and busts. I've worked in all sectors from Rural farmhouses to patching up 100-year-old homes to working on brand new homes to working on commercial jobsites I've just about done it all when it comes to rendering and have just about seen it all in my lengthy career.
When it comes to Rendering Trowels, you could say I'm a bit of a fussy bugger and I know what I like and what I really dislike when it comes to trowels! During my 20 years as a renderer, I've managed to use every brand available to the Australian market, right from the cheap nasty Chinese brands right through to the top of the range Nella and Marshalltown trowels. Now on top of this I've also tried different sizes such as different lengths and widths of trowel blades, I've used 12", 14" and 16" length trowels and I've used 100mm and 120mm wide blades. I know when I was less experienced on the trowel, I used to find the wider blades to be the best as it meant I ended up with far less render on the back of my hands compared to what I would get from the narrower blades, but it was always at the expense of trowel life. The wider the trowel the quicker it would lose its straight edge and would begin to bow making it really hard to trowel a nice flat consistent finish.
I've had colleagues over the years try and tell me what's best and what works for them, but Renderers are stubborn and don't like to listen to others opinions (myself included). But, over the years I've learnt to listen to others opinions and give them a try and see if it actually works and if not I just go back to my own ways, I've found the majority of the time you learn ways to make life easier or find tools that work better and last longer by listening to others!
Now all of this information has built up in my head over my 20 years in the trade and I could say I have a pretty good grasp on how things work and what doesn't work. I've been a well-respected tradesman that has never had trouble finding continual work in this time period because I always like to do every job to the best of my ability and leave it with a very good finish. Due to me striving to get the best finishes possible I've always had to have the best tools available to me to help achieve these great flat uniform finishes.
Ok now that I have built a back story and got your juices flowing, I will now tell you why in my opinion I feel the Ragni trowel is the best by far on the market! the R425-14 Trowel (attached pic below) in my opinion is the perfect work horse for any renderer out there. Starting at a very modest RRP of only $65 It is priced perfectly in the current market with cheap trowels being around the $30-$40 range and the more expensive trowels anywhere upwards of around $150. It has a 14" long by 100mm wide blade and a has a great ergonomic shape to its handle for ease of use over a long workday and doesn't come loose after a couple of weeks of hard work. When you first pick up this trowel you will notice the quality of the trowel and how strong the blade feels with very little to no flex at all, which for all professionals alike will know this means the blade will hold its shape far longer than its competitors.
I personally still have the old version of this trowel in my toolbox which has lasted me well over 12 months of constant rendering and still holds a straight edge with little to no bowing at all and still has reasonably good corners. Ragni have used High quality Japanese Carbon steel for the blade meaning it is very hard wearing and longer lasting than some of the softer stainless-steel versions on the market. This means as you're rendering a wall you can use the trowel to knock off bits of brickies mud here and there and not have to worry about ruining the edge of your trowel, saving you time and money!
In the past with other trowels especially the wider blade ones I've noticed a tendency for one of the edges to get a great bow in it meaning when trowelling the wall flat sideways you will find that pulling one way will dish out the wall and when pulling back the other way you then get hollows through your walls. The R425-14 doesn't seem to suffer this same fate meaning you can confidently trowel forehand or backhand and still get a flat finish either way. One of the other biggest bonuses I've noticed is the time savings I'm getting from using these trowels. Other Trowels on the market you can be buying replacements every couple of months due to handles coming loose, blades bowing/wearing out and corners worn away. I've always been one to really look after my tools and a Ragni trowel will last me well over 12 months but these other trowels I found myself back at the hardware store every month or so buying myself a new trowel causing so much downtime just so I had a half decent trowel in my box for getting those flat finishes we all desire.
I hope you've enjoyed this read and have learnt a little bit more about rendering trowels and why I personally feel the Ragni R425-14 is by far the best Rendering Trowel on the market!
Don't just take my word for it check out the reviews online. Also at that very competitive price point why not just go and treat yourself to one of these amazing trowels and give it a go, I promise you won't be disappointed!!
Here's a link to the Ragni R425-14:
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