The hopper bucket is a special device that helps to greatly simplify and speed up the plastering of walls and ceilings. The device is small and allows you to quickly and easily apply the solution without loss of quality on any surface. Even an unprofessional builder can use it. This plaster shovel is perfect for processing large areas. You can make it with your own hands from improvised materials.
Design Features
Each hopper bucket is equipped with a compressor that allows spraying of solutions. At the base are nozzles to which air is supplied. Complete release of the bucket from the mixture occurs in 3-5 seconds. Thanks to this, one master can plaster 60 square meters per hour of work. m of surface with a layer of 1-2 cm.
Benefits of Hopper Bucket
The positive aspects of such a device are:
- The speed of finishing work.
- Easy to use. Any person can handle the hopper, even without the appropriate experience and specialization in this field.
- Reduction of time for finishing by 2-3 times.
- The lack of requirements for solutions, as well as the possibility of using various impurities and fibers.
- Providing the best adhesion of finishing mixes to a ceiling or a wall.
- Decrease solution consumption.
- Low cost.
- Versatility (a hopper plaster bucket can be used for finishing work on building facades and interior spaces).
- Due to a stronger blow, better quality of the solution is ensured in comparison with manual work.
- Ease of cleaning from the remnants of building mixtures (even from completely dried lumps). To remove the remaining solution, the plaster hopper bucket is blown with an air stream, washed with running water and dried.
Types of air bucket
This device of factory production is ceiling and wall. These two models differ in the design of the handle-holder. For a wall hopper, it is curved by 45 degrees, and in ceiling versions - by 90 degrees.
Application
The hopper bucket is versatile. In addition to plaster, it can be used to work:
- with concrete mixes;
- cement-sand and cork compositions;
- textured paint ;
- liquid wallpaper.
Principle of operation
Spraying the solution should begin immediately after its preparation. The spreading range is selected depending on the desired result. As a rule, the hopper is kept at a distance of about 4-5 cm from the cultivated area.
Plastering the surface with such a bucket is quite quick and easy. The principle of operation of the device is as follows:
- mortar is poured into the container;
- the compressor pumps the air mass and feeds it into the bucket through a hose;
- adjustment and supply of air to the nozzles is carried out using the valve on the handle of the hopper bucket, after which the solution is sprayed.
To perform more complex finishing plastering works, manufacturers offer their customers additional adapters and nozzles that allow using this equipment in a hard-to-reach place.
Work recommendations
When working with a device such as a stucco hopper bucket, do not use pressure that exceeds 6 atmospheres, because this can lead to an accident. For uniform application of the solution, it is necessary to observe a pressure not exceeding 4 atmospheres, but if you need to compensate for the loss of air during its supply through the hose, you can raise the indicator to six.
When working with a pneumatic bucket, a distance of 5-10 centimeters should be observed between the wall and nozzles. To get a thick layer of the solution, the distance can be reduced to 2 cm. To apply spray to the surface, which will serve as a support base for further finishing, you will need to move the device from the surface and spray the mixture under maximum pressure.
At the end of the finishing work, immediately clean the hopper. If it is very difficult to remove the remaining solution, then to clean this device, you can lower it into a container of water for 30 minutes. This time is enough for the lumps of the mixture to lag behind the internal surface of the equipment.
If the pneumatic bucket is not cleaned in a timely manner, the valves of the device may become clogged, which will lead to its breakage.
DIY hopper bucket
Despite the fact that the cost of plastering buckets is relatively low, and you can rent a hopper inexpensively, some craftsmen prefer to make such a working tool on their own. With your own hands, as a rule, you only have to assemble the bucket, all other parts are purchased.
In order to make such a device, it is necessary to perform the following actions:
- We draw the contour of the bucket, which will be manufactured.
- Correctly calculate the scale of this contour.
- We adapt the drawing to the desired sizes. Hopper bucket drawings can have completely different. At their discretion, they can be improved.
- According to the drawing drawings made, a metal grinder should cut out all the details.
- Using welding equipment, it is necessary to weld the elements cut with the help of a grinder, creating a single structure from them. Can be used to connect elements instead of welding screws. But it is very important that there are no gaps between the edges of the parts, otherwise the product will simply leak. You can solve the problem using metal plates and corners.
- We select the appropriate diameter of the inlet nozzles (most often it is 2-3 mm).
- We determine the power of the compressor that will be inserted into the device. That's all - the do-it-yourself hopper bucket is ready!
After completing all these steps, the tool will be fully usable. The bucket is recommended to be equipped with a strong and comfortable handle.
In general, self-made hoppers are almost as good as factory models, except for one limitation: a home-made tool is suitable only for plastering with walls. To process the ceiling with a homemade bucket is very inconvenient.