I'm new here, so do not know the group rules. I'm also pretty new to DIY homeowner stuff. I need to install some handicap bars and step rails and refurbish a badly weathered deck. I'm not without some experience, having worked as a novice carpenter decades ago. I have most carpenter hand tools and a couple circular saws.
I need to do some work that once would have been the domain of the jig saw, a tool I'm familiar with, but these new roto-zip saws intrigue me. I need to notch some step boards on the deck and cut out a section of some 1-1/8" thk verniered particle board. Should I go with the older jig saw or would I be better served, in the long run, by the newer spiral saw technology, assuming I can't afford both tools. Thank you.
The Rotozip was originally developed to cut sheet rock/dry wall cut outs. It has been marketed as a do it all tool but in all seriousness it does not perform well on any material harder than sheetrock/ or drywall.
A jig saw would be a better choice and will work on a variety of harder materials than sheetrock. Consider also a Fein Multimaster. These particular is expensive however there are 3 or 4 "clones" out there that are much more reasonable in price. IIRC Bosch, Dremel, and Harbor Freight make their own versions.
: The Rotozip was originally developed to cut sheet rock/dry wall cut outs. : It has been marketed as a do it all tool but in all seriousness it does not : perform well on any material harder than sheetrock/ or drywall.
: A jig saw would be a better choice and will work on a variety of harder : materials than sheetrock.
Second the recommendation of the jig saw. Also, the blades you use make an enormous difference. I've been vry impressed with Bosch's new line of Xtra Clean For Wood blades (T308B). Here's a review:
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can get them from Amzon (and probably locally if you're in a city).
have seen these blades, have you used Bosh blades in the past? Do these cut cleaner than the older Bosch styles? I only use Bosch blades and pretty much get a burnished smooth surface on hard woods using the regular Bosch blades, fine cut, with a Milwaukee jig saw. I get a "little" tear out on the top side when cross cutting Oak veneer plywood.
I haven't yet tried the new Bosch, but I have used the older ones. I'm fairly sure the guys at PopWood have used Bosch blades before and they seem pretty impressed with the Xtra Clean ones. All other reviews have been positive as well (just do a google search).
Jigsaw. Bosch offers a neat package with a 5 amp D-Handle saw that comes with a Random Orbital 5" sander. It was selling up here in Canuckistan for $ 149.00 for the pair.
Those RotoTools are useless. If you want one of those, go to a pawn- shop and pick one up for next-to-nothing... there's a reason they're cheap.
's identical in function to the Fein Multimaster (but about $250 cheaper). Here's what the Fein (and HF) tool can do. Watch this video for the notching project you have.
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the Fein patent expired late last year, others have duplicated the tool. Harbor Freight, Dremel, Bosch, and others make a replacement tool - and all the blades between manufacturers are interchangable.
I FINALLY talked to someone that used the Rockwell Sonicrafter. He loves it.
He is the manager of a local lumber yard, and they sell the full line of the Rockwell branded tools. He does a lot of general stuff, but doesn't use his tools full time.
He told me that his BIL has one these things (bought from him of course!) and he does a lot of contract repair work. He loves the machine and it has a permanent place in the truck.
I asked him about the overall view of the Rockwell brand. He says that in a year or so, they haven't had but one tool come back because of a defect (battery). According to him, the contractors he sells the tools to think that the tools are solid and well priced.
He admitted the sales were slow, but attributed that to the fact that little advertisement is done outside trade mags or the normal wood/DIY mags. The public doesn't have much awareness of the revamped brand.
On another note, I received a DeWalt rotary tool for Christmas about 5 years ago. I used it one day... I have no idea what to do with it. Since LOML gave it to me, I cannot sell or trade it. \ You would think doing all the repairs and remodel stuff I do it would be invaluable, but the only time I used it was when I was setting some tile myself and wanted to cut some holes in the tile. I would stay away from a rotary unless you have identified a task that only that tool can perform.
I bought a Roto-Zip type tool thinking I would use it for all kinds of home remodeling jobs but as others have stated it doesn't do all that much very well. What I did find it useful for was cutting holes in a lath and plaster ceiling to install recessed light cans. I burned up a couple of carbide bits and made all kinds of dust but didn't have a lot of patching to do (house built in 1938). It also does a decent job on ceramic tile with a carbide bit for enlarging holes and trimming odd shapes and of course cutting out holes in drywall with the proper bit. My personal experience is that it doesn't cut through wood thicker than say 1/4". I would choose a jigsaw or Sawzall-type saw as being more useful. I don't have any experience with the Fein-type multitasker though they look intriguing.
----------------------------- Recently, I talked briefly to a guy at Home Depot demonstrating a Dremel oscillating tool. According to him, their accessories fit the Fein oscillating tool, but the reverse is not true. Don't know about the rest.
The Dremel blades fit the HF model (by experiment) and say on the package that they fit Fein tools. Bosch says to use Fein blades.
So, I'll rephrase: There is a high degree, if not universal, of interchangeability in the blades of different manufacturers.
This makes sense: The real money (like Gilette) is in the blades, not the tool. The simple cutting blade from Dremel is about $11 (and costs about five cents to manufacture).
The spiral saw is a specialized tool--it's basically a router with a 1/8 inch collet. Trouble is that between the wobbly base and lack of any kind of precise depth adjustment it's a lousy router. If you need to cut drywall or plaster that's on the wall it's your tool, no question, because you can set it to go through the plaster without chewing up the studs or grabbing any wiring that's in the wall. But that's it's only real strength.
Since it does have a 1/8 collet it will take Dremel bits, so if you ever need Moby Dremel it will do the job but so will a ten buck die grinder from Harbor Fright (if you have a compressor).
For the tasks described it wouldn't be the best option IMO. With the standard bits it does OK on plaster and drywall but it's horribly slow on wood thicker than 1/8" or so and doesn't give a smooth cut either. Most of the rotary saws will take a 1/4" shank router bit and have enough power to swing one if it's not too big-with one of those it will zip right through wood but the base is really too narrow to get a good vertical cut and it tends to march to its own drummer unless you have good jigs constraining its movement.
For what was described, I'd likely use either a jigsaw or a Fein Multimaster depending on what was behind it and how close it was to obstacles. The Multimaster is near its depth limit at 1-1/8 (blade geometry limitation, not power) but it will do it--if I had to get only one tool for what was described, and not having eyeballed the situation, the Multimaster would likely be it.
I've not used the Rockwell that nailshooter mentioned--if it had been out when I got my Multimaster I would likely have given it a good hard look though. The oscillating tools are the opposite end of the utility scale from the rotary tools--they have so many tricks they can do that you wonder how you got along without them.
A consideration though--the blades for all the oscillating tools are fairly expensive--if one is using it heavily then it's going to be cheaper to get a jigsaw for the grunt work than it is to keep using up 20-40 buck blades, and reserve the oscillating tool for the jobs where its unique talents are really needed.
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