multipurpose tools: Bosch and Aldi

[Fred]

Hi,

I saw that Aldi were offering a multitool for £30 but I was working Thursday morning and by the time I got there after work, they had all gone. I didn't realise there were so many keen DIYers around here ;)

I visited a couple of nearby Aldis but it was story: they had all been sold.

I have not used one of these tools before. I understand they are especially good for cutting tiles and grout. Perhaps to remove grout around a damaged tile to replace that tile whilst leaving the rest of the wall intact.

I think they are supposed to be good for cutting things in situ, perhaps to fit a switch or socket in a plasterboard wall.

Are these the kind of jobs you have used them for, and did they do well?

I am not so sure that they would be useful for sanding. What advantage do they have if you already have a delta sander?

I was interested in getting one for cutting floorboards over joists. In the past I have used a hand floorboard saw or tried to plunge cut with a reciprocating saw. I was hoping the multitool might be more controllable (I find the reciprocating saw can sometimes bounce but perhaps that is due to the blade or operator's technique not being quite optimal?) What do you think?

I think there are three models to choose from: Aldi, green bosch, and blue bosch. The blue bosch is cordless but for occasional use, I am not sure it would be worth it for me. The green bosch is cheaper, which might be a nice compromise for occasional DIY use, like mine. But OTOH, the green bosch costs twice that of the Aldi. Is it twice as good, or are you just paying for the name on the side? Should I wait until Aldi or Lidl sell them again next year or buy a Bosch before then?

I think the blue bosch is more powerful but are all other models more or less the same?

TIA, Fred

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I do have one - the original Fein - but a proper wet tile cutter is the thing for tiles. For cutting floorboards across a joist I use a jigsaw with cut down blade. The Multi-master takes ages to do the same thing.

It does have its uses, but I managed pretty well for ages without one.

[PeterC]

Axminster has offers atm on the blue Bosch and as a kit:

just might get the latter, having failed at Aldi (and again with the recip. saw)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Aldi seems infamous for having poor stocks of this sort of thing. Lidl - or rather my local ones - usually have plenty. Although once not.

[george [dicegeorge]]

i have the green bosch PMF and about a dozen different blades for it fantastically useful, florboards etc, aggressive sander, etc etc

[g]

[Dave Liquorice]

That's what I do as well.

If I could have got the Aldi for =A330 I probably would have. On the other hand I'm not going to splash out on one for =A360 plus unless I know I have a real need for it.

=A330 is not too expensive on the basis that people rave about 'em and it's the sort of tool that makes jobs that are awkward with conventional tools a lot easier or gives a better result.

[Fred]

Ok, I'll wait until they sell them next year. Like you, I will probably only use it once in a while. I've managed without one up to now, so a few more months without one won't hurt ;)

[Fred]

Do you mean diamond disc in a water bath type of tile cutter? I agree they are best for cutting tiles before you fit them but I was thinking about cutting tiles once they had been on the wall some time and firmly glued on.

Do you plunge cut the blade in and then slide it across? It's a good idea to trim the blade to size; that would prevent you cutting the joist, if you know the floorboard depth before you begin. I think my boards are about 17mm, so that would only be a tiny blade, or are you running it across some sort of guide?

TIA, Fred

[John Rumm]

It seems they often have enough to suck the people in, but not enough to actually be useful!

They are especially good for cutting tiles that are already stuck to a wall. There are much better ways of cutting tiles prior to fitting.

So jobs like freeing broken tiles, or cutting out sections for electrical boxes, or shower valves etc they are ideal for.

Yup

Yes, and yes.

Several. I find they work far more effectively than the traditional delta sanders. The paper seems to last longer. The nature of the oscillating action and the curve of the sander head means you can sand right up to an obstruction or edge without it hammering or vibrating against it.

Its a job I use mine for frequently. With a plunge cut blade, its easy to make a cut with very fine kerf and a bevel on the edge. So you can make cuts where it is easy to hide the cut later by sliding the board up a mm. Using a bevel means that with care you can do cuts not over a joist and still have a way of making a strong repair later without needing too much in the way of elaborate support under the board.

There is a corder blue bosch as well now. Also if you only want specific tools, then you can have a bare Fein multimaster for less than the cost of the Bosch kits.

The difficult part of these questions to answer is that most folks who have one or other of the tools don't have much or any experience with other brands. This can make comparisons rather tricky. Reports seem to suggest that the rigidity and vibration control improves as you go more up market, but most of them can achieve much the same basic functionality. Some of the lower end ones have more restrictive blade positioning options - allowing straight up, and 90 degrees left and right, but not the more handy in between angles.

These tools don't really need that much power in the sense of output cutting power, so its unlikely to make much difference. The cordless ones however do tend to suffer from very short battery life.

I take it you have read:

[Dave Plowman (News)]

A pretty limited application I'd think, but should be ok for that. Difficult to make a nice clean cut, though. If they are strong tiles, or if I had spares, I'd remove them and cut them on the wet cutter. of course if the edge is concealed, other methods could be fine.

Fit a spare blade and pull it down to the lowest part of the stroke. Then offer up against a floorboard and mark the maximum depth. Then snap off the excess part of the blade. You can then do a plunge cut by pivoting the jigsaw - most have a rounded edge to the bed to allow this. Take it slowly, and you can start in the middle of the board. Cut to the edge, then turn round and go to the other edge. It's very quick once you get the hang of it - but obviously avoid any nails. If you do, a blade will last a long time. The multi-master blade I have is a very fine toothed one and takes forever to do the same job.

[Kalico]

Do you have a link to a picture of this tool?

[Bolted]

Buy the right blade. You have the right tool. Forget the wrong tool.

[Bolted]

In fact, what blade takes forever?

I have used both Japanese types, the tct metal/wood ones and the hss (semi) circular types, and I don't think any of them would take more than 30 secs to do a 6-7 inch floorboard. Given the massive kerf size advantage (replace leaving an ugly gash, or a barely noticeable slit, as it were) it's worth any (dubious) time advantage.

Are you trying to use the scraper blade?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It's not going to be as fast as a jigsaw regardless of the blade, though.

[Adam Aglionby]

Seen contract central heating guys use a circular saw on stripped and varnished floorboards..

Floorboard cutting was very application had in mind for aldi multitool :-)

Cheers Adam

=A0 London SW

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Think you should *actually* try cutting a floorboard. With the semi circular wood type. I'll supply the stopwatch. For the floorboards on this london Victorian house the kerf of a jigsaw blade is only about the same as the gap between the boards anyway. ;-) If they were tongue and groove I'd be more concerned.

[Bolted]

They are the slowest cutting. I have used them to cut floorboards (se london victorian house, likely quite similar floorboards) a few times, but would use a precision jap wide blade or one of the tct ones out of choice (ie unless I've run out of ones with teeth). I'll time one next weekend out of interest if I remember, but unless my memory is very faulty I still reckon 30 seconds is about right with the semi- circular hss and quicker with the others.

I guess it depends whether they are exposed or not, if they are then odd short boards look a bit pants and the thin kerf goes a long way to hiding them.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Right. How much are these blades? I'd guess most who buy a multi-tool already have a jigsaw, and blades for that ain't expensive. There's always the risk of hitting a nail when doing this sort of job on an old house.

I wasn't considering exposed boards. Just the sort of floor covered by carpets, etc. A decent exposed floor would require a different technique.

[John Rumm]

I find the circular or semi circular blades are much slower for this sort of cut than the narrow plunge blades.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Perhaps I need to experiment more. I did try cutting a floorboard with the Fein because it was to hand - using the supplied tools. A semi-circular saw or a square edged one - which looked like it was for metal. Progress was so slow I got the jigsaw.

I didn't look for alternative blades as my reasoning says a jigsaw will always be faster. Perhaps my reasoning is wrong.