On Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 4:59:37 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sun, 18 Oct 2015 11:21:16 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

my dad taught me years ago to use the paper tape, and dip it in water first.

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That's a little counterintuitive. Do put down a thin layer of mud
first and then bed the tape in it?

Yes. A thin layer of mud, dip the paper tape in a bowl of water (already cut to length), pull it through two fingers to get rid of the excess water, then bed it into the mud using the taping knife with just a touch of mud on top. Next day you come back and hit it just a tiny bit with sandpaper to knock down the high spots, and there won't be much, then do a second light coat. After that dries do the final and sand. Again, the idea is to not leave a lot of mud to sand.

Not as fast as the pros, but I've always gotten good results.