Bosch PMF 180E

[The Medway Handyman]

Stock arrived at Argos today. Not yet used in anger, but a quick play & I'm quite impressed.

Will the Fein blades fit? I don't have a Fein, but the blade has a 10mm hole surrounded by 12 x 2mm holes on a 22mm PCD (approx). If anyone with a Fein & a vernier cares to have a measure we will soon know.

I'm surprised by how good a sander it is, much, much better than a detail sander. I assume the Fein is the same in this respect.

The book lists 6 accessories only.

2 semi circular blades, one for wood & non ferrous metals, one for grout, soft wall tiles, GRP etc.

3 plunge cut blades, 2 for wood in different widths, 1 for metal.

1 base plate for sanding.

I have e-mailed Bosch to find out where they can be purchased, can't find them online yet.

[dg]

Rai Technical are official Bosch UK distributors, and have all (?) the accesories for this

dg

[The Medway Handyman]

Thanks for that.

[dom]

My older multimaster tools have a single 10mm hole :-)

[PeterK]

Chinese vernier gives the Fein central locating spigot at 9.95mm and the surrounding flange at 24.94mm. PeterK

[John Rumm]

Yup, you can get quite high removal rates as well with a coarse paper. It also throws far less dust into the air than an orbital detail sander.

Can you use dust extraction on the Bosch (one of the big plus points on the fein is the dust collection system makes possible almost dust free sanding).

[The Medway Handyman]

Yes, it uses the standard triangles with holes in and has what looks like a good vacuum port. Not tried it though.

[dg]

Oh no! From this and the other recent thread, it seems like this tool is the answer to all my problems and I simply must have one.

The ultimate tool I bought last week never quite cut it, and I hope this one does, or I will just have to wait for next weeks must have.

I like some of the useage images from the fein Multimaster site - especially good to know that this tool can be used for consolidating concrete around fence posts. Great selling point.

I mean can I really throw away my junior hacksaw, sand paper and drill? It seems that like the adverts for Dremmel, Rotozip and every other K-Tel wonder tool, this type of tool is a solution looking for a probelm

dg

[Lurch]

On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:33:48 -0700, dg mused:

The Fein is the ultimate wonder tool. The Bosch,.... isn't.

[Andy Hall]

I can see how one might gain that impression. There are cases where products like Dremel and Rotozip are useful, but I wouldn't describe either as every day or even every week tools.

The Multimaster does not fall into that category in terms of my use at least for several reasons:

- The well controlled oscillating action allows very accurate cutting to be done without the risk of collateral damage.

- Dust tends to drop to the floor rather than being sprayed around so there is less cleanup

- The accessory items are well thought out for very specific jobs. Either one can buy the needed ones or there are prepackaged options based around a set of tasks or trade.

[manatbandq]

Don't be silly, it's Green.

If you don't recant immediately, messrs Hall & Noble will come and take you away.

MBQ

[Steve Firth]

I'm puzzled, in what way is the Bosch preferable to the Fein? I've looked at both and with regard to range of accessories, design and general "would I use it?" factor the Fein seems to be miles ahead of the Bosch. OTOH I have used neither.

It's not an academic question for me, I need to chop three window cills out this summer and one of these tools looks like it would be perfect for my use.

[Stuart Noble]

It chops as well does it?

[Steve Firth]

Is this a language flame?

[Stuart Noble]

Not at all, but I can think of easier and cheaper ways to chop out a sill, especially if it's rotten

[dom]

Depending on the frame design,and particularly for built-in frames, the multimaster is ideal for cutting out damaged portions for repair sections. In some cases, there would be no other option but to partially lever the frame out - as the multimaster can plunge a saw cut into a surface as no other tool can.

[Steve Firth]

Perhaps you can, but given that I've done several I'm pissed off the back teeth with hacking away with a chisel and it's not that simple when up a ladder.

[Stuart Noble]

We don't know the design, but sills are usually easy to remove by splitting them along the grain with a chisel. That way the wood tends to split either side of any fixings or tenons. If they're hemmed in by masonry at the ends, you can drill a few holes in the centre to create room for the splinters to move.

[Stuart Noble]

True enough about the ladder. I usually aim to cut a slot in the centre of the sill and prise one side up with a wrecking bar. Drilling 10mm holes and leaning the bit to join them up has always worked for me in rotten wood, and ruining a wood bit will be cheaper than a Fein accessory

[Andy Hall]

Buy the Fein.

It's one of my most used tools, and I don't accept crappy tools any more than I would contemplate buying olive oil in Aldi.