Fein tools?

Where have you been, Sparky? The Fein And Copy topic comes up here at least once a month. Hit the archives. In general, the Fein is well loved but some of the knock-offs are well made also.

If I recall, Fein didn't start advertising their tool until shortly before their patent ran out last year. Until then, they relied - I guess - mostly on word-of-mouth. For what it does, the Multi Master is a superb tool and (again for what it does) no other tool comes close.

That's why I got the Harbor Freight model (at $39.99), roughly one-tenth the price of the Fein. Other companies now make similar tools: Dremel, Bosch, Rockwell, etc., and most of the bits are interchangable between them.

Consider there is:

1. A reason why you've never heard of them, and
2. A reason they have to advertise and sell that way.

Question answered?

No, not really. Have you ever had your hands on a Multimaster? It sounds like you're giving an opinion based on conjecture.

Fein's Multimaster is an excellent tool. Fein's reputation is excellent - they make no crap tools. As far as never hearing of Fein, plenty of people have never heard of Festool - doesn't mean their tools are junk. Why a company decides to sell through infomercials is a corporate decision. I'm guessing direct sales puts more coinage in their coffers instead of their distributors.

Good points - but there are exceptions. For example, what company do you think of when hearing the word "chocolate?"

Then think of when was the last time you saw an advertisement (print, TV, radio, whatever) for Hershey's.

I don't think Hershey sells using infomercials, however.

Regardless, I was perhaps overharsh on Fein. They are not common in the US. Whether they are as good as they say they are, I don't know. I've had people tell me that tools that I know are crap they think of as very good. And, as well, there are tools that I really like, and have had very good results from, that others say are terrible!

If you check places that cater to professionals and "serious hobbyists", you'll find Fein Tools. I get mine from well known supplier of boat building supplies, Jamestown Distributors, in Rhode Island.

Find out where furniture and cabinet makers, or any woodworkers buy tools and supplies and you'll find Fein there as well.

They are not "common" because until now, they were only known in the trades, where they are well regarded. The infomercioals, etc, are just an attempt to find more customers outside what has been their normal territory.

I don't know too many brand names for dentist drills, either.

Why would you bad mouth a tool or company you have not used or know anything about?

Fein, Metabo, Elu, LaMello, and Festool are high end stuff you will probably only find at a commercial or specialty tool house. I'm sure there are others that I have not used. I would certainly not denigrate a brand I don't know without some point of reference.

But that's the joy (and advantage) of USENET: badmouthing in public on a topic that would get you slammed if done face-to-face with your friends or co-workers. No responsibility.

IIRC, my response was that if they were marketing using infomercials I'd be reluctant to consider them. At least that was what I was saying.

Then, after reading some more comments, I retracted that.

That is the joy of Usenet: you can critize me by selectively taking my comments that you don't like, and ignoring the ones you do.

Anyway for both of you, I'll keep my eyes open for a Fein tool, and if I see one I'll look it over carefully. Maybe I'll even buy it.

Again, an almost-equivalent tool is available from Harbor Freight for forty bucks. I suggest you consider giving the cheaper model a try and, if you find that it is of significant help in the projects you encounter, then consider springing for the $300 model from Fein.

The Fein vibrating saw (like a Stryker cast saw) is a total waste of money if it is not variable speed. You will burn out the expansive blades and sanding pads at an alarming rate on most jobs, where the lower speed works well.

No, it is not functionality that I questioned... It is the fact that a manufacturer would resort to infomercials to sell their product! (If it is not clear yet, I'm not a big fan of infomercials!)

What is it called? I looked but couldn't find anything similar to Master$$$.

Gary

on 3/26/2009 10:22 AM (ET) Abby wrote the following:

Agreed that infomercials can be irritating. Some commercials too. But it might not be appropriate to paint the product with the stupidity of the marketing department.

Here's an interesting review and product testing of SHAMWOW! By Popular Mechanics magazine!

Spoiler: Shamwow actually works!

Why? Fein has a strong presense in the speciality and professional lines of distribution. It would take a lot more money and time to establish a presence in mass merchants. Especially in a tight economy, when big box stores are probably not in the mood to start promoting and merchandising something new. This was an easy and fast way to get directly to the consumer without adding a big debt load to the company during tight times.

I think it is a smart move on their part. If they sell respectable numbers via infomercials, it will give them a foot in the door with Home Depot, Lowes and other big box stores.

Generally because virtually all products featured in infomercials are substandard, over priced, imported bits of junk.

That may be true, but being carried by HD and Lowes may not be a great thing... Both chains have a reputation for draging products down to their (WalMart like) level, not for building themselves to a higher quality.

One only has to look as far as GM to see that it is not a simple sell to the masses world! GM has, over the years (and Ford and Chrysler, too) managed to screw up some great things in their push to take a quality, low market product and make a big market product out of it.

Though generally I'll say that one should always go somewhere other than HF for tools, the truth is every once in a while they have a great product.

Couple of years ago, I erected a large metal building. There was the need to drill many thousands of small holes. At just the right time HF sent me a flyer with a listing basically for the sized bit I needed, bag of 50 for about $10. I figured what the heck, I'd only loose $20 so I ordered two packs (that gave me 200 bits, since these were double ended!)

Well, the building is up. One pack is still unopened. The other pack is almost full. Some of the bits that I used when I first started are still being used now, the only ones that failed were ones that I broke! Some of the blasted best drill bits I've ever bought, and I paid a couple of pennies for each one. Heck, at this rate I'll die and still not have opened that second pack... (And I use a lot of drill bits, too.)

But, bottom line, usually one gets what one pays for. Buy cheap, get cheap. My HF Rayobi 18V drills... (Got to do the building too) were intended to last the project and be tossed at the end (I do have other, perhaps better ones but wanted two identical units to optimize battery usage). Both still work, though two of the battery packs are long dead. Good deal? Well, OK, but not great. But a Millwalkee (spelled wrong!) that I got at the same time, for twice as much lasted how long: half way though the construction. Burned out the motor. Replaced the motor. Burned it out again four days latter. Oops, not a good value!