Best value for money or what's that tool?

I have the Dremel Multi-Max - $150 when I bought it from Amazon 4 years ago, now $99.00. Still going strong after many boat-related projects. Invaluable for surgically removing pieces of woodwork without having to make a starter hole. Set the speed to about 80% and keep the slot and blade-teeth clear of sawdust. Don't push, let the blade cut at it's own rate. The body of the tool does get hot with prolonged use - just give it a rest.

I have just found a new use for this tool. I wanted to epoxy some small wooden blocks to the inside of the hull. This meant removing 30 year old paint and roughening the exposed GRP surface to give a key for the epoxy. Access was horrible: pretty much arm's length, and coarse sand paper would have taken for ever. The Dremel, with coarse toothy blade, held at a slight angle to the surface did the job in no time and produced minimal mess.

Do a search on Amazon for "oscillating tool blades" and you will see a lot of aftermarket blades that fit most of the brands.

Greetings,
Thanks all. I bit the bullet and bought a Rockwell Sonicrafter. NOW I just have to see if it will do what I want. I have a rubrail which has a SS guard piece on the outside of it. Over the years the wood has degraded to the point that the SS is now above the level of the wood and acting like a dam and containing any water that finds it's way to the top of the rail. My "plan" (Hahahahaha.....) is to fill the recess with fairing compound with a slight outward slant to the level of the top of the SS molding. Since the fairing compound will be bonding the rubrail to the hull, I want to eliminate this bonding at the rubrail/hull interface thus allowing both the hull and the rubrail to flex independently. I'm using Alexseal P2083/C2017 for this as well as fairing the rest of the house and hull.

RT - Thanks for being the test dummy on the Rockwell tool. Let us know what you think of it.

Shoalwaters said:

I have the Dremel Multi-Max - $150 when I bought it from Amazon 4 years ago, now $99.00. Still going strong after many boat-related projects. Invaluable for surgically removing pieces of woodwork without having to make a starter hole. Set the speed to about 80% and keep the slot and blade-teeth clear of sawdust. Don't push, let the blade cut at it's own rate. The body of the tool does get hot with prolonged use - just give it a rest.

I have just found a new use for this tool. I wanted to epoxy some small wooden blocks to the inside of the hull. This meant removing 30 year old paint and roughening the exposed GRP surface to give a key for the epoxy. Access was horrible: pretty much arm's length, and coarse sand paper would have taken for ever. The Dremel, with coarse toothy blade, held at a slight angle to the surface did the job in no time and produced minimal mess.

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Absolutely a great use..any gummy substance that disables sandpaper and carbide attachments is made short work of with the saw blades...

Greetings,
Mr. H "test dummy"?????? Indeed! THAT comment alone is worth another 5% discount (On top of my already MASSIVE discount) on merchandise purchases at your establishment. Keep up the misnomers and you'll be discounted out of the 1% (elite)!

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Thank you all for your valuable input and suggestions. There IS a Lowes nearby so I'll check out Rockwell and anything else they have to offer.

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Check out the Rigid as well. As mentioned, the interchangeable tool heads are great and make for a much more versatile tool. Especially if you only need a vibrating saw once in a blue moon.

Capt.Bill11 said:

Check out the Rigid as well. As mentioned, the interchangeable tool heads are great and make for a much more versatile tool. Especially if you only need a vibrating saw once in a blue moon.

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Love the inexpensive right angle drill head attachment...especially because it cost the same as trying to buy just one battery for my right angle DeWalt as they have gone through the roof.

One small bag and I can have a multi-tool, right angle drill, saber saw and impact driver....plus more if I want.

Interestingly there seems to be two prevailing thoughts on buying tools.

1/ Price based, that is buy the tool for the job in hand and don't expect any more out of it.

2/ Quality based, pay the big bucks and have a tool that will be around for years to come and will do any job well,however maybe you will use only once year.

There were some amazing price differences in the oscillating tools discussed here, everything from $25 to $500.

I splashed out and bought the Fein at $500 because I was about to rip up my main teak deck, cut out the glass top deck and remove the wood core.Then replace all.For me that tool was invaluable. However, in normal times I probably would have settled for something mid way in the price range, like a Bosch.

However, you do get a bit of kudos when walking down to your boat with your battered Orange Fein toolbox and the shipwright walks past and says to you "mate,Fein, you can't be em". I don't actually swagger but you do feel you've earned a bit of street cred.Type of like being in the Masonic tool owners club.

Any thoughts on the better battery operated one?

I have a Milwaukee Multitool, 12 V battery model. It made sense to me as I have a bunch of other Milwaukee 12 tools, favorite of which is the little impact driver. So, just one charger and a bagfull of batteries now that I have the tool collection.

I agree that for a major project a corded one or a top line battery model could be the answer, but I have given mine a solid workout on lots of smaller jobs and find it great.

Andy G said:

However, you do get a bit of kudos when walking down to your boat with your battered Orange Fein toolbox and the shipwright walks past and says to you "mate,Fein, you can't be em". I don't actually swagger but you do feel you've earned a bit of street cred.Type of like being in the Masonic tool owners club.

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I can't speak for OZ but if you want street cred in the carpentry world, boating or otherwise, pull some of these out at your job site.

Power Tools for Professionals, Made in Germany- Festool Power Tools

Agreed. I received one of their FXS cordless drills as a birthday present. Beautifully made, slim and well balanced with excellent batteries and charger. Strangely the carry-case is poorly made flimsy plastic.