Multimaster Clones in numbers

[Leon]

Fein apparently invented it, Proxion made their version, a few weeks ago Dremel announced theirs, now Bosch has joined the band wagon.

[nailshooter41]

competitor. As far as jumping on the bandwagon, I think Fein left the door wide open on this one.

Here's Fein's offering:

get battery, it is powered by a 9.6 v battery, it is single speed, and no clue how long the batteries (NiCad?) take to charge. For that, you pay $535.

So if you can get that Bosch with two 12v LI batteries, 30 minute charger, variable speed control and a case for under half the cost of the Fein, sounds pretty sweet to me!

But your post piqued another curiosity about the current pricing of the Fein MM. I am not sure, but looking at the top two models sold on Amazon, have these tools dropped $100 or so in price? (Not talking about the lower end models).

I remember when the MMTop was at Woodcraft and it seems to me those were almost $600 or so. Is that just my imagination?

Robert

[Robatoy]

I paid around 500 CAN$ for the Top kit. Best 500 I ever spent. Would I buy the Bosch now? Likely, but that Fein has earned my trust, so knowing what I know now, I'd buy the Fein again. Hard working tool.

[nailshooter41]

Hard to put a price on a trusted member of your organization. I actually get attached to older tools I have that have served reliably over a period of years.

I have a Milwaukee 7 1/4" circular saw that has its own shelf. I bought it in 1978 and it was my saw when I was framing houses and setting concrete forms. It has several million miles on it and has been rebuilt too many times. It is old enough that the bright red plastic turned a really dark purple. It resides peacefully in the shop these days.

I have a Rockwell 346 C circular saw that is older than that, and a Milwaukee hole shooter that is older than both of them.

They all rest quietly now. But I remember when along with a 4' level and some extensions cords that's all there was!

Seems like good tools just grow on you.

Robert

[J. Clarke]

I'm just hoping that the existence of clones drives the price of accessories down. While I don't have anything against making a profit, 55 bucks for a disposable blade is ludicrous--Festool doesn't charge that for carbide circular saw blades and we all know how high Festool prices are.

[B A R R Y]

That's Woodcraft. They tend to be the most expensive place in my area to buy tools.

Coastal Tool sells the "new" MM Top for $399. When it first came out, I paid $325 on sale.

[J. Clarke]

You've got the new one?

[B A R R Y]

Yup.

[Jay Chan]

have a dust prt. I guess I will pass this one and buy the one from Dremel instead. I was actually waiting for Bosch to bring their version to US because I like Bosch product and I have their hose to connect dusts from their tools (works quite well with their details sander and their 6" random orbital sander). I am very disappointed. The Dremel version also doesn't have a dust port; but at least it is corded and will be available this year. Sigh...

Jay Chan

[J. Clarke]

The Fein doesn't have a dust port either, it uses a dust collection attachment that works only with the sanding pad. It's a fair bet that Bosch will have something similar.

Don't buy until accessory prices are available. The accessories are the real killer with the Fein--a pack of three throwaway blades costs almost as much as a 10" Woodworker II.

[Robatoy]

I couldn't agree more. The Fein attachments are a bit silly in price, and all I can hope for that Bosch is going come in a bit cheaper..but with the same quality. Fein blades are much more affordable in 3-packs.

(waves at Miller)

[RicodJour]

...and interchangeable with the Fein.

R

[Robatoy]

That'd be good...

r

[nailshooter41]

Lesson learned there when Feins were the realm of Woodcraft. I remember fondling a Fein when I was looking for a good, small detail sander. Never read a good review about that PC profile sander, never even talked to anyone that liked them, so I passed. That just left me with the Fein.

I used it in the store and like it a lot. But in addition to WC's prices, they had the accessories behind a locked cage on a shelf. When I looked at the prices, I knew why. A couple of cutters, a sandpaper pad, some sandpaper, and a few other things in a blister pack was $99. Honestly, the cost of the accessories and the consumables scared me more than the price of the tools. If I were to have that tool as a flawless performer for many years, I wouldn't have been concerned about the price. But could I keep it in blades and such? That was the question.

In the end, I bailed out.

But many is the time I wished I had one. I will be watching the Bosch, and hope to see some good reviews of that thing. I like the idea of no tail as my experience with detail sanders is that I might use them for about 20 minutes or so to get where I have trouble getting my other sanders in to work. Surely those larger batteries would sand for 15/20 minutes or so.

I hope the first guy to bite here (if it isn't me!) puts out a review of what they think of it.

Robert

[Robatoy]

In terms of replacement blades, let's hope Bosch will hold the standard they set for jigsaw blades.

[Jay Chan]

I am not comparing the Bosch cordless multimaster clone with Fein's. Fein's has priced me out. I am comparing the Bosch cordless with the similar corded version that Bosch is selling in Europe. Based on pictures in some UK sites, I believe the corded version has a dust port at the end of the handle just like the Bosch detail sander that I have used and liked. The corded version (PMF180E) is the one that I am looking forward to buy because I have a specific application to use it for. Hopefully, they will bring this to this side of the ocean sooner rather than later.

Jay Chan

[Jay Chan]

Correction: Actually the article had a wrong date on it. The expected available date of the cordless multimaster clone from Bosch should be this year (2008). Amazon.com has already started accepting pre-orders on this item.

As for me, I am still holding a hope that Bosch "may" introduce their corded version in US sooner or later because that version not only doesn't need battery, but also has a dust port. Currently, I choose tools that have a dust collection feature whenever I am buying new tools.

Jay Chan

[Jay Chan]

SoniCrafter. It is a corded version. Mentioned this just in case someone is interested. As for me, I am still holding on with the hope that Bosch will introduce their version in corded in addition to the cordless version.

Jay Chan

[J. Clarke]

If you don't need to use it on job sites, just order one from a UK supplier and put in a 240v outlet for it.

Don't know whether you've noticed or not but EU manufacturers tend to test the waters in the US with cordless variants of their tools before setting up separate production lines for 110v versions of the corded ones. Nice thing about a cordless from an importation viewpoint is that to sell it in the US all you have to do is include a different charger that can be used across your entire cordless line.

If the cordless version doesn't sell well then it's unlikely that Bosch will make a 110v version of the corded one.

[Jay Chan]

I will not likely to use the EU version of Bosch multimaster clone because this type of tool tends to be used through out the house, and I cannot afford to add 240-volt outlets all over the house.

Thanks for telling me that the corded version "may" arrive in US if the cordless version sells well in US. This is indeed a good news for me. I am just wondering how long this process will take. I guess they should know how the cordless version will do in the US market during X'mas season. I hope they will take less than 6 months to bring the corded version to US after X'mas. Then I can buy it in next summer when I expect to use something like that for a specific project. If it is not available by that time, I will have to give the Rockwell version a serious thought.

Jay Chan