Hyde Tools 01040 1-1/2" Flexible Black & Silver® Stainless Steel Putty Knife

hold the handle in your palm with your thumb on the spine for control. Steep angle (30–45°) to press and fill; shallow angle (10–20°) to wipe and smooth. The whole craft is that two-part motion — load into the defect steep, shear flush shallow. Read the flex: press until the blade bows slightly and let the bow do the conforming; if you're white-knuckling it flat, you've chosen too stiff a tool for the job. Keep the edge clean and true: wipe between strokes, and if a corner nicks or a burr forms, dress it lightly with a fine stone so it doesn't score every patch. Stainless in practice: the payoff is no after-work ritual — rinse, wipe, hang it up. A carbon blade fills a hair keener and holds it slightly longer, but it demands drying and the occasional oiling, and it will streak wet white compound the moment its edge oxidizes; the 01040 trades that keenness for never having to think about it.