This blade is awesome. I only did 4 stars for ease of use and sturdiness simply because I dropped it and had to tap the blade back into its proper placement in the screw slots (though it had no negative effect on function)and 4 stars on ease of use just because it is not magic ,lol, you do need to know how to skim mud at least a little. It really is a nice tool and worked perfect for my project. So much so that I am looking to get smaller ones to possibly replace some of my larger knives. If you are a beginner, I would say don't go over 24" to start. Using it on the wall is fairly straight forward, but cleaning the mud off as you go takes a little practice. Also, there are plastic caps on the ends to finish the ends of the handle"tube". One fell off right away and I planned to glue it on. Then had an epiphany and took the other one off, ran a file around to smooth the edge a bit and now when you wash it the water doesn't get trapped inside , it flows right out! This tool is stainless and aluminum so washing it is ok. In the old days drywallers rarely washed their knives as the carbon steel would rust almost instantly.
Micki callison 
