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