Bosch oscillating tool review

This is just a quick look at a new tool I bought that lives up to its hype.

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I bought this about a month ago at CPO when they had their President's day sale. With their sale prices and the Bosch promotion, it was somewhere in the mid $80 range to the door with some other purchases. It is a discontin ued tool, but since the new tool replacing this one isn't really much diffe rent, when this one was marked down they sold so many they raised the start price back up to $149. They still have the Bosch discount on the tool, th ough so you can get there for $129.

It was nicknamed the "Fein killer" in an interview or two, and I can see wh y. It is a well made tool (mine in Switzerland)and is a very well thought out machine. It has plenty of power, a long cord of 13', soft start, varia ble speed, and tooless blade change. The bag is very sturdy, the bag holds the tool with velcro hold downs, and an accessory box that comes with real ly useful blades, sandpaper and sandpaper attachment, and a depth stop gaug e. In other words, the tool is ready to go to work.

So off it went to a job with a lot of wood repair, then to a front door rem ove and replace. I cut incredibly hard 2x6 pressurized boards on a garage jambs and did some miscellaneous sanding on one job. Then cut a ton of old trim to accomodate the larger trim picked out by the home owner as well as cut out worn and damaged trim to replace it. I did it all with the same b lade, and the Bosch blades are pretty expensive but they did hold up well. The machine was flawless and worked well. When cutting the 2x6s, it never got hot, there was no real vibration, and there was plenty of power at med ium speed. The slower than normal speed kept me from burning up the blade as it kept the heat down.

When I was cutting the old trims away, it was easy to control and I really came to appreciate the slow start. I also used it to cut the 2x4 shims off that I used to hang the new metal door. My particular method of door hang ing requires me to use a lot of shims, and this one was no different. I cu t them out of 2x4 on site, and usually put about 20 shims per door in place . After securing the shims (wedges, really) I flush cut them to the jamb. Still on the same blade at this point. So I tried another test. Took the 15ga trim nailer and shot through a piece of trim so the nails came out th e other side. Took the 18ga nailer and did the same thing. Plugged in the saw, and buzzed through all the nails with no problems, cutting them flush in a few seconds with the bi metal blade I had been using all along. Ther e is plenty of life left on the blade, even now.

I compare this tool to the equivalent Fein, and to me this one wins hands d own. It SEEMS that is isn't as noisy as the Fein. It does have less vibra tion, and I like the tooless blade change on this one a bit better. The co rd has this interesting ball joint gizmo where it goes into the machine tha t is supposed to keep the wear down, and it does a great job of keeping the strain down. This has a 12 point grip on the saw blades, the Fein has 8. In practice, I don't know how important that is, but if it is like lugs on a truck tire, I will take 12 over 8. I like the heavy duty nylon bag much more than the Fein's big plastic case as it is much, much smaller. The too l has a lower speed and then kicks up higher than the commensurate Fein mod el. Don't know that it means much on the top end, but the slower speeds ar e something I like on this type of tool.

Power and amperage are about the same, as are the cutting capabilities. Un til this tool came along I couldn't imagine a better oscillator than the Fe in. I tried a couple of others (Ridgid, DeWalt, HF) and the Fein was head and hands above them in performance and tool build. After some horse tradi ng, I was took two back and stuck with the HF. Loud, rattly, and a bit und er powered, the HF has been on the job for a few years and it did what it w as supposed to do, for a princely $15.

I wanted a better oscillator as I have a full kitchen and two bathrooms com ing up, and these tools are made for maintenance/repair/remodeling contract ors. I saw this one at the low price, and now I wish I had bought two! Sti ll, even at $129 it is well worth the money. Then of course, the elephant in the room if you are looking for a multitool... compare the price of this tool to the commensurate model Fein and look at the price difference. You could almost buy 3 of these for the cost of the Fein!

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41
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Excellent review!

Reply to
G. Ross

I've found this thing invaluable in fitting doors and locks for security screens in my place. So much easier to get those weird angles and cuts! Very easy to control and The slow and smooth start is the best for the use I make of it. Had mine for quite a few years now, not sure if it is still available here in Australia.

Reply to
Noons

Now you have a machine worthy of your talent! Now that and the circular blade do a dandy job of cutting through Domino tenons on drawers.

Reply to
Leon

Great review! The only issue I have is the last statement. The Fein can be had for $150-199 at many places. The great news is that with another multi-tool equal in performance to the Fein, that means competition and competition mean lower prices and/or incentives for us, the buyers.

Reply to
-MIKE-

Snip

ALso the big advantage to the competition is that blades are no longer $35-$40 each!

Reply to
Leon

[snip again]

Pretty much unanimous on the value of these multi-tools. I've had the Bosch cordless unit for probably 6 years now and the only fault I've found is that I didn't buy one 20 years ago!

One of the handiest tools in my collection. Any time I head out to do a job at one of the kid's homes, it goes with me. Doesn't matter the job,

7 out of 10 times SOMETHING will crop up that this thing will cure easily.
Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

Take heard in knowing that Fein was the only of its kind 20 years ago and it was very expensive. It was not until Fein's patent expired about

10 years ago and they switched over to the toolless units that others were able to compete.

It will be interesting to see who all comes out with Domino clones in 10 or so years.

Reply to
Leon

Thanks!

The comparison in price is tricky, and I just tossed that number out. I wil l stick by my personal outlay since I bought it on CPO's Pres day sale for $84 delivered.

But there are shenanigans about in how the Fein is marketed. First, Fein d eveloped the new tooless design with Bosch, and all the new tools from both manufacturers are using the 12 point "Starlock" mount, "3d" blade mount sy stem. The older, least expensive Fein models on the market need an adapter purchased separately for the tool in order to use what is becoming the new industry standard mount for Fein and Bosch. Fein is abandoning their old wavy mount for the new Starlock 12 point in the near future as they feel th at they can deliver better blades and accessories as the new blade capture device is superior. Both Fein and Bosch claim better energy transfer with the 12 point system, although the reviews I read didn't seem to find anythi ng different on the Fein tools from the old blade retention system to the new. One needs to be aware that the Fein Starlock 3d system of blade capture is NOT the same as the Bosch, as t he Bosch is still flat mounted and can use just about any blade without ada pters.

Personally, like our ink jet printers, I have always thought that Fein and company made their money from the blades and accessories, not the tool. Th is was evident to me when they were selling the same tool but as different models based on the start package of accessories. I didn't bite on a Fein 3

0 years ago (although as stated before, I wish I had)because of the blade c ost. I could never choke down the fact that a moderate quality oscillating blade that could be ruined by touching a nail (no bi metal in those days) cost more than twice what I paid for a good carbide saw blade for my job si te table saw. I am thinking now that Fein and Bosch have concocted a new bl ade style that is easily patented, so if you want to use their tools, you w ill eventually have to buy their blades. While some of the older tools can use the Starlock blades with an adapter, Fein has already released their f irst oscillator that uses ONLY Starlock blades.

Also, (this is cheesy to me) they count the accessories when selling the to ol in order to make it look like you are getting more for your money. I am fine with that, except that they count (1), yes ONE sheet of sandpaper as an accessory when marketing. Worse, when selling the bottom rung of their oscillating line, the sandpaper accessory isn't even perforated for dust re moval, it is just hook and loop paper.

So yes, you can get a real Fein for under $200, but you have to be careful when comparing as you almost have to set up a spreadsheet for comparison th ese days.

The Bosch I bought came with 5 real Bosch blades, a depth stop and a sandin g pad, (screw the sandpaper, it's .50 a sheet everywhere). The closest comp eting setup from Fein is about $226 from Amazon. It has 3 blades (I don't count a scraper as a blade since my old blades are GREAT scrapers after san ding off the dull teeth). To kind of match up to the Bosch, add in another $10 each or so for a couple of blades, and then another $20 for the depth stop that came with the Bosch (honestly, this is handy), and then the cost of the adapter to enable you to use the non Starlock blades.

It's tricky business.

I do know that I can buy just about any blade and it will fit the Bosch I j ust purchased. And since the new Bosch tools don't have the 3d feature, th ere will be plenty of knock off blades and accessories around. I don't want to fiddle with an adapter adapter bolt (as seen on a Fein video) and don't want to have to drive to the local Woodcraft to buy a $12 - $15 blade beca use I got caught short on a job.

One thing you noticed that was correct is that the price of the everyday ut ility blades has gone down, even for real Bosch and Fein blades. This go a round, even the Fein 3d blades seem to average about $10 or so for the stan dards 1 3/8" straight, medium tooth carbon blades. Not bad.

So I learned two things after reading your post and doing a bit more resear ch. First, I am completely confused as to what Fein is doing to market thei r product, but I am glad I didn't bite on the 3d Starlock system. I am thin king that 3d system (not well reviewed) is just something more to sell. Th e Bosch uses the 12 point flat blades and pretty much all other flat blade capture configurations including the split back blades and the 8 pt lock bl ades. The flat 8 and 12 point lock system blades are available /everywhere / and at all manner of quality and price.

The second thing is that at $85, I should have bought two. One for the job , and one for me. Nuts.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

Snip

A little OT but maybe you remember. When I was much younger and looked thought the Sears catalog and specifically the mechanics tools sets. The number of pieces were listed. They always included the 20~30 hacksaw blades and the individual Allen wrenches in the total pieces. ;~)

Reply to
Leon

Some things never change.

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Reply to
Just Wondering

But... the lesson I learned many, many years ago is that if a tool will mak e you money year after year, is reliable, versatile, and the consumables ar e affordable you should buy it. My only misfire is the oscillating tool, a nd as I said even at the Fein prices of 30 years ago I should have bit. I have been using my awful HF for about 10-12 years now and can't imagine a r emodel without it.

The point being, if anyone needs that level of joinery, convenience and can put that bad boy to work (or if they just enjoy it!), they should buy a Do mino now. I have soul searched every time you put one of your "assembled w ith Dominoes" projects up with the details of assembly to see if there was any way I could get close to using one enough to justify it. Screw waiting until a clone comes out.

And you never know; they have tried more than once to make a clone doweling machine like the Mafell. You would think at $1300-$1400 someone could com e up with something. Nope. The Frued was a miserable attempt, and pulled off the market after a short time. Makita had one, only in production for a short time. Triton still makes one that is around $200, but talking to u sers and reading reviews you are better off with something else. At one tim e I really wanted a doweling machine because back in the 70s we were still using a fair amount of dowels in cabinet construction and some aspects of g eneral wood working.

So if they can't perfect a doweling machine that essentially drills two hol es at the same time by a series of gears, using a fairly immovable set of h olders and gears, how could they replicate the Domino? I have seen explode d views of the machine working and it is truly a precision instrument.

I think the Domino won't see a viable competitor for years.

Still trying to worm one into my business...

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

It may also have a lot to do with what is available in your area. I like that I can walk into HOD or Lowes and any blade on their pegs from any manufacturer will fit on my Fein. FWIW, the expensive blades from Fein just don't seem to wear out. So how expensive are they? :-)

Like I said, it's a really good thing that there are at least two really high quality multi-tools from which to choose.

Reply to
-MIKE-

I have both the Bosch cordless and Dremel corded multi-tools. I like 'em both but if I didn't have the Dremel, at the current prices, I'd probably have bought the Fein. I used one for a little while at a Woodcraft demo and *really* liked it.

Reply to
krw

Or SawStop clones in two or three years. ;-)

Reply to
krw

I have learned that lesson too. You CAN blame the tool if it is not up to your level of expertise. ;~)

Totally agree.

I have soul searched every time you put one

I think if I were in your shoes it would be extremely hard to justify from a business point of view. Fortunately for me I did not have to justify to learn the value of the tool. Now however, for what I use the tool for, I could easily justify a replacement.

The problem with the doweling machine is that it can't adjust like the Domino. The Domino allows you to make a slightly wider mortise so that if the mating mortise does not align precisely that is not a problem. In fact I pretty much never have exact fit mating mortises when there are two or more Domino's to be used.

A doweling machine does not allow a wider hole/mortise for the dowel therefore every dowel mortise/hole must be precisely mated.

I would not be surprised if the doweling machined did a great job but if you needed 4 or more holes, user alignment may have become the issue.

I have never seen one, Marfell, up close so I might be way off base as far as alignment goes. And for that matter there are plenty of doweling jigs that probably are not much slower than using the machine. Cutting mortises OTOH is a different story, compared with a mortiser the Domino is probably 30 times faster, maybe more.

I think their patents probably protect them for now.

Reply to
Leon

Exactly. Bosch probably has no issue with waiting and tweaking until they can sell with the blessings of the powers that regulate.

Reply to
Leon

I have hit a few nails with the wood cutting blades. They wore out on the first plunge. ;~( I had a lot of cutting to do and the bi-metal blades just were not cutting fast enough, or so I thought. LOL And that was when a 3 pack was north of $100.

Reply to
Leon

As well as with the Bosch. However, as pointed out, on the new Feins, for "any" blade to fit you will need a $25 two piece adapter, and for the //new est// top line model you can only use the Fein blades.

Those were scary days. In bulk, you can buy the genuine article for about $

8 - $9 a blade. The problem is that the wood blades are still highly aller gic to metal, and and the bimetal blades aren't much better than they were.

Not so good when cutting into nail filled wood trim, cutting into baseboard and hitting a sheetrock nail (or worse, a screw), or hitting an 8d that wa s toe nailed on the edge of a stud to straighten it out in a wall.

After trying every blade brand and style I could find, I finally found some that hit the sweet spot for me and I keep both wood cutting and bimetal in all 3 of my multitool tool bags. The blades are very inexpensive and I fe el that I get about 90% performance at 15% of the cost of the name brands. So I keep a couple of each in the two oscillators that go to the jobs, and a couple in the new Bosch. The "real deal" blades stay with me and I won' t use them unless I am sure I won't damage them by accident.

These tools can still be expensive to operate if you aren't careful.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

Did they change something? I've only had mine for a couple years and I can use all the other blades.

Reply to
-MIKE-

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