Rockwell Sonicrafter??

[willshak]

Has anyone used the Rockwell Sonicrafter as compared to the Fein MultiMaster, and at less than half the price, is it less than half as good?

[SteveBell]

I just bought the Dremel version to undercut door jambs for a wood floor I'm installing. At first, I thought I'd wasted my money. It wouldn't cut for beans. Then I realized the adjustable speed knob was set on "1". I'm happy with my purchase. It was $100, and I saved several hours compared to cutting jambs with my hand saw.

[ransley]

Who is Rockwell now, Rockwell I thought was sold to Porter Cable in the 80s and the name dropped. Its probably cheap chinese made, Fein has the bugs worked out and had made good equipment.

[HeyBub]

or: And the Harbor Freight model has a device for 1/3 of the Rockwell price!

Harbor Freight has a sale on its model for $39.99 through, I think, March

26th. I've got to believe these tools are all roughly equivalent. Harbor Freight, Rockwell, Bosch, Fein, Dremel, etc. They do differ in some features (variable speed, quick blade interchange, double-insulated, and the like), but all do the same job with, in large measure, interchangable blades.

The features-at-the-margins are much like spirit levels or bit holders built into a drill. Nice, but really, how often...?

[ransley]

Well the HF, Skill, might run 8 hrs, the bosch should run and not break.

[HeyBub]

Good point. The Bosch retails for about four times the HF model. So IF the HF tool lasts ONLY eight hours AND you plan to use the tool more than 32 hours total, you'd be ahead with the Bosch.

Unless you got a Bosch made on Friday...

HF makes some really good stuff. I'm particularly enamored with their sponge brushes - set of 12 for 88¢. Just yesterday I bought a one-pound rubber mallet for less than a dollar! Admittedly, some items die of shame right after you get them home (rubber air hoses for example), but I'm pleased with roughly 87.3% of the stuff I've bought there. They have a pretty good deal on cat toys, too.

[Rick-Meister]

I read all the reviews before I bought the Dremel.

Rockwell scored pretty high. The problem is that very few places carry replacement blades. The Bosch got very poor reviews for battery life issues. So I bought the Dremel.

I used the Dremel to cut door jambs. It's ok. Not thrilled about blade life. On the other hand, the blades are a fraction of the Fein blades and they're stocked at the local Home Depot. I also used the scraping blade to remove a caulked in place shower door. It did the whole job in less than 2 minutes. It was like butter. In my book, it paid for itself on that one job.

My experience with Harbor Freight power tools is that they're ok if you're going to use them once every five years. If you're going to use it for several projects, just buy the extended warranty and get a new one for each project. That assumes you live close to a HF store. Otherwise, forget it.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 3/7/2009 10:24 AM HeyBub spake thus:

> or:

You've posted this information before, 'Bub, and now it's getting to the point of being positively tantalizing. Unfortunately, it seems you haven't actually bought that unit and used it yet. (Or have you?)

Has anyone got the Harbor Freight version? I'm really curious how it works, and would like to hear from anyone who has actual experience with it.

In general I agree with you about HF tools. My most recent "major" purchase was their Sawzall clone for $20 (how could I *not* buy it at that price?), which has performed admirably so far and has more than paid for itself. I look forward to purchasing more "Chicago", "Pittsburgjh", etc., tools in the near future.

[HeyBub]

>> or: >

Yeah, I got mine on "Black Friday," the day they came out. I've mentioned, here, several times the uses to which I've put the tool. Undercutting door jambs is almost trivial. I've used it for finishing the cutouts on laminate, where most of the cut was done on a table saw, removing the gunky glue on transition strips in anticipation of new glue, cutting plexiglass for a picture frame, trimming vinyl tile, a tiny amount of sanding (just to see), cutouts in drywall for electrical outlets, and a few other things. Admittedly, I don't do construction - just stuff around the house.

I have not tried to uproot tile, cut copper pipes, or remove matted hair from my cat, but I suspect it'll do those jobs too (if I can find four people to hold down the cat).

I saw a medical TV show the other day (House) where the surgeon was opening up some dude's chest. I swear the doc had one of these machines (not necessarily the HF model) except that the blade was angled 90° to the main axis of the tool! Now, I don't see why you couldn't take the HF model, bend one of the cutting blades at right angles to the normal direction, and start a new career as a thoracic surgeon!

Sumbitch! I need to get me a book or two (I already have a mask and latex gloves)!