From DIYinfo.org
Most of the tools you need for plastering can be made yourself or readily purchased from any hardware store.
They include:
Spot board: This can be a piece of exterior grade ply about 1m2 and is used for holding the mixed plaster. A couple of coats of exterior grade polyurethane wood lacquer will help to preserve the wood. The board should be placed on a stand—a wooden crate or sturdy stool will do—at a convenient height from the floor. The board should overhang the stand slightly so that the hawk can be held under the edge when transferring the plaster on to it.
(A) Scratcher: To ensure the adhesion of the next coat of plaster, the surface of an undercoat is scratched over. A suitable scratcher can be made by driving a few nails into a piece of wood and then cutting off their heads with a pair of pincers or pliers.
(B) Laying-on trowel: Used for applying and spreading the plaster. It has a rectangular steel blade about 280mm x 120mm attached to a wooden handle. Some trowels have curved handles which are easier to grip. A trowel of good quality is important as it is hard to obtain a smooth finish with a worn or inferior blade.
(C) Gauging trowel: Available in a variety of sizes and used for repairing areas too small to be worked with the laying-on trowel. It is also useful for mixing small quantities of plaster.
(D) Hawk: A board about 300mm x 300 mm for carrying plaster from the spot board to the work area and for holding the plaster as you work. Professionals use aluminium hawks with moulded-on handles, but you can get by quite comfortably with a home-made one. Cut your square from an off-cut of timber or plywood and screw on a handle about 200mm long cut from 50mm x 50mm timber with the edges rounded off.
(E) Skimming float: Used for levelling the floating coat. Plastic skimming floats, light in weight and non-warping, are available. But you can make a serviceable float from a smooth, flat, straight-grained piece of wood about 280mm x 120mm x 10mm, with a wooden handle.
In addition, you will need two buckets — one for mixing the plaster in and one for holding water — a distemper brush and straight edged rules of various lengths depending on the size and nature of the job. Also required, for chipping off old plaster, are a hammer and a bolster.
