It’s here…
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=65700
Three blade set – $5.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=65979
Oh my…
Black Friday sale – $39.99
It’s here…
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=65700
Three blade set – $5.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=65979
Oh my…
Black Friday sale – $39.99
Understand lumens, ceiling brightness, beam spread, tilt, and color options to make a wise choice on a common fixture that can range from $75 to $750 or more.
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Replies
Good lord, a Fein Multimaster clone for $40-$50. My guess is that the eccentric-type mechanism required for oscillation will cause a cheap thing like this to self-destruct in short order. Or maybe these will go for many miles? I doubt it.
Boy, it must be true that some patent has run out, what with the Bosch and Dremel versions coming out. Harbor Freight must have been chomping at the bit to get another cheap knock-off outa the starting gate.
I have a buddy who was all set to buy a Fein when I demonstrated mine to him. If he sees this at HF he will buy it, guaranteed, he's the king of cheap tools. Unreal amount of stuff he gets at HF. I'd love to show y'all a pic of the boneyard pile of HF power tools in his shop. I love my friend, but he's a hack and buys the tools to go with it.
I AM curious about the blades, though. Maybe not high quality, but perhaps good enough to use once or twice and then toss (like anything I have ever bought at HF- throwaway/consumable).
Is this stuff showing up at the HF stores yet? Maybe I will give some blades a try if the arbor fits. I'll leave the actual tool review to someone who cares to wager forty or fifty bucks.
I'm probably lucky that this wasn't available 3 months ago when I bought the Fein MM. I would have bought the HF version just to see if a tool like this would work for the kinds of things I do. Maybe it would and maybe it wouldn't. I've had pretty good luck with HF tools, but they are my occasional use tools, not the ones I use often. Despite their "disposable" nature, I still have every one that I bought.
Well I hope is this will open up blade manufactures to make cheaper priced blades I love my multi-master but $80.00 for 3 bimetal blades? that's nuts. I use my multi-master a lot to cut siding The only reason they get that price is no competition and I am sure it was some patent issues. I can get a diamond tipped Hardy plank circular saw blade or a Freud 96 tooth 12" chop saw blade for less then a pack 3 multi-master bimetal blades you can't tell me it cost more to make a little multi-master blade then a carbide chop saw blade.
Ever since I bought my MM (years ago when it first came out) I have babied it and only got it out for special occasions....and then still only as long a there were absolutely no nails in the vicinity. All that for fear of buying overpriced blades.Although I have certainly made my money back on it as it does the impossible sometimes, I sure don't feel as though I am taking full advantage of all it's uses.Now I can use my MM for anything! Cheap blades, cheap consumables in general, are a great benefit and allow for experimentation to find entirely new uses for old tools.....like super-high grit belt sander belts for sharpening chisels, diamond impregnated circular saw blades for cutting block, 16" bi-metal sawzall blades that I cut into drywall punchers, and plunge-pilot router bits for cutting out windows!Just a wild thought here...Wouldn't it be great if some company came out with a super sized MM?!?!?!?! Something in the 7-1/4" to 12" blade range. It'd be about the size of a large grinder or hole hawg and be just as useful for cutting skylights out of shingled roofs as cutting light wells out of poured concrete walls. I really should have been a tool designer.GK
I really should have been a tool designer. OK, I'd like to order an automatic screw sorting machine.
Like the ones they have for change.
but wait there's more ...
dremel has just introduced their version, the multi ...... max
http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pages/default.aspx
I once knew a guy who designed and built an automatic light bulb sorting machine; it sorted by color and size then plugged them into their places on control panels...I bet he could fill your order.
Speaking of screw sorting...I worked for a while at Boeing in Renton, WA. As you can imagine, putting together a 737 jet there are lots of screws and fasteners, and they are special metal, rather expensive. So they sweep the floor, collect all the screws, rivets, etc. and take them to a room where there are people who's whole job is sorting out that bucket of stuff into the right little bins. And there were a LOT of little bins on twirly stands.What a job....
So do they take side jobs?
M. F.
try this guy this is where I get my MM blades the price is right & shipping is free + if you buy 10 mix or match blades pick one more blade for free
http://www.multiblades.com/
ZeeyaView Image
thanks looks good
Well, in light of the fact that China doesn't recognize intellectual property rights, it's a natural progression- they find that there's a market for something and it's feasible to do a knock-off, it will come out. I'd be very surprised if most of the other power tools that are made there didn't start as knock-offs that PO'd the original manufacturer because they were good enough to make a serious dent in their market, but because they were so good, the OEM company decided that they could save/make more money by importing them after giving the importer a bit of guidance on how to make them better. I don't see why the MM is much different from one of the triangular oscillating sanders, in its basic form. More durable, probably but didn't Fein come out with the triangular detail sander first, anyway?
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Throughout the decades, Sears has copied just about everyone else's tool designs. I have a small 1930's Dura brand bandsaw...Sears produced an identical saw in the 1940's. After B&D invented the pistol grip portable drill, nearly everyone instantly copied it. Since then it's become the standard of designs. Now it seems that B&D is doing the copying.........and just about every tool co. went to china. At least when Sears copied better tool co. products in the past, they were still made in USA.BTW: I just learned recently that China is only the #2 top exporter in the world.....the #1 spot goes to Germany. I like German tools much more than Chinese.Oh, yeah.....USA #3 (I buy tools made there too!)
I never realized the Chi in Chicago was for China....
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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If Pasta and Antipasta meet is it the end of the Universe???
I like "Comes with 4 distinct attachments for . . ."
Hate when I can't tell the attachements apart.
Forrest
You misunderstand.That was written by some chinese guy.It should have been translated as: "Comes with 4 deodorized attachments for"
Edited 10/20/2008 1:32 pm by Luka
Thanks for the tip. Although I have the new MM, I will buy this one too. Even if it does not last as long, I can make it pay for itself in the savings on blades. I will put away my MM for later, when the patent expires on their star clamp.
I am sure the MM is a better product, but the market will prove that they have been making a huge profit that is unsustainable.
Yes, my MM was worth the price because it did pay for itself quickly. The competition will do the same thing even faster, and I will still have the MM when the blades become more affordable.
11.000 oscillations per minute?
Isn't that the Low setting on the MM? I always have it cranked up,
don't know if Low would work for me.
my wife doesn't like the low setting either! :)
ha, thats a good one!
I bet it will give you CTS and make you deaf in 5 minutes.
OK.....for the uninitiated here, please tell us what the big deal is with these things. I understand the concept, but would rather have many tools that do one job very well then one tool that does many jobs OK.
That's just it. It's the one tool that does all sorts of things
very well.
I know, sounds like B.S. but just reach into your pocket,
- Watch the fish hooks-
And pull out the cash. You wont regret it.
I agree. I postponed getting one for quite a while, but I knew I would buy it eventually, I just didn't realize how often I would use it.
I just used my MM today to remove a short section of shoe molding so I could install a cabinet closer to the wall. I literally spent more time walking out to my van to get the MM than I did making the cut.
There are many other ways to make this kind of a plunge cut, but I can't think of any that take less 10 seconds.
Don, I'm starting to think the way to go is not to inform the uninformed about the benefits of that special tool.
It's much easier doing things others can't than doing things better than others can.
Selfish I know,
but easier.
insert that damn smiley thing somewhere in here.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Since you put it that way, I think I'm going to look into it!
Good for you. Just remember "as seen on TV" doesn't necessarily mean it's a gimmicky piece of junk... in this particular case.
actually IMHO, it does NOT do many things well but does one thing very well. It makes flush, square cuts.It doesn't sand very well (even though half of the $350 kit is sanding stuff). It does not scrape the best...not as good as hand scraping but not as tedious as hand scraping. It doesn't cut long nor straight lines and it doesn't cut particularly fast. It does come in very handy and when you least expect it to. It cuts super thin and will easily follow a short straight edge. It will save your but someday if you do any of the following: flooring, tiling, trim carpentry, cabinetmaking, cabinet installation, stair building, siding, window/door replacement, or glazing.It is worth the investment. Although, it may be wise to NOT buy the kit, rather the tool alone and some HF blades.Nobody thought that a larger version would be useful? a sawzall replacement model?GK, wishing I designed tools today.
Well it sands as well as any detail sander out there.
Which I'll admit isn't great, but when you need it... So it flushcuts
it plungecuts
it detail sands It basically gets in those impossible spots that nothing
else will. Usually it does it rather well, so I'll stick
with the "does several things well".
does any one use the grout/tile blades regularly??.
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
.
.
.
If Pasta and Antipasta meet is it the end of the Universe???
Hey, I just got the dremel clone, played around cutting shims on my door, it's pretty dang good, for 99 bucks.
Never used them other blades, sorry.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj_oEx4-Mc4
I've regrouted a pretty good sized kitchen/dining/entry and used the carbide grit blade for grout removal. All I can say is that I was disappointed when there was no more old grout left to remove. The MM totally kicks a$$ for this.
I had to use the Carbide rasp to remove the thinset under 6 tiles I had to replace because the homeowner didn't like the color of those 6 tiles (don't ask)it worked pretty well..
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
.
.
.
If Pasta and Antipasta meet is it the end of the Universe???
Hey! Who let you outta yer cage!
Get back to the tavern you slimy polijiving meatball! Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. [Theodore Roosevelt]
you building thread types are elitists...Why don't you go over to JLC with all the other pinky pointing professional prognosticating pissants??oh that was good...I must be channeling sphere or splinty...:0).
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
.
.
.
If Pasta and Antipasta meet is it the end of the Universe???
oh, that might be on line with an air comp pressure switch in general.
be ?Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. [Theodore Roosevelt]
Like many of the guys here, I love my MultiMaster, especially for things like clean cuts on baseboard when installing new casing.
Imagine my surprise when I was installing a pocket door and the HO (who had worked construction while in college) wanted to help. I marked the baseboard cut and handed him the MM, expecting about 30 seconds for the task, and then went out to my chopsaw to cut the casing. I heard all sorts of loud vibration noises from inside and came back to find an awful ragged cut, drywall all chewed up and the baseboard still not cut clear to the bottom where it was a bit below the carpet.
I finished the task with one quick plunge cut and almost laughed out loud when he said, "Oh, that's how you do it. I was cutting vertically from the top down."
So, you just handed him the MM and expected him to know how to do it? :o) There IS a learning curve, fortunately not too steep. And the MM is definitely one for the old caveat 'don't force it, let the tool/blade do the work.'
Yeah, I did. Just goes to show that what is obvious to one person may not be so to another.BruceT
I've found that out over and over. At least he couldn't get hurt too bad. I've had tools messed up horribly by guys like him, but fortunately no one was injured permanently during the mishap.
I recently used the half circular grout blades for plunge cutting new outlet square electrical outlet box holes in an old plaster wall.Best way to do it bar none - clean holes - finish the corners carefully with a sawzall...Took a messed up job and made it easier - no need to patch around the new boxes.Also have used the little non-sharp scraper blade for scraping old vinyl flooring/adhesive off - so much easier and doable than by hand.Used the tiny blade to plunge cut a notch in some mdf/vinyl wrap shoe molding to fit around the face-frame lip of a cabinet.I've used my multi-master at times so long that it was hot to the touch - I'll bet the HF model or Dremel model would have melted with such use.I do plan to buy the cordless Bosch model though...JT
"...used the half circular grout blades for plunge cutting new outlet square electrical outlet box holes in an old plaster wall."Good idea. I bought a couple of carbide grit straight blades for the MM that would be good for finishing those corners.BruceT
Where'd you find those, or are they Fein blades?JT
They are from an aftermarket source.http://www.multiblades.com/BruceT
Many is the time I've wished for a diamond grit flat blade. If I could do straight plunge cuts in ceramic tile as easily as in wood, that would be AWESOME. Anybody seen such a blade?
The guy at Multiblades ^^^ seems to think that diamond blades on a MM don't cut tile very well. Or that the ocillating action is not conducive to tile cutting.
for a roto zip
first one on the left
http://www.rotozip.com/Shop/CategorySubBrowse.htm?IID=28?HID=7
2.5 carats of diamond grit!!!HONEY I BOUGHT YOU THAT BIG DIAMOND(s) YOU WANTED!!.
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
.
.
.
If Pasta and Antipasta meet is it the end of the Universe???
If you are only doing one or two, I find using a utility knife to cut the plaster, and the MM to cut the lathe works well, and is lower on dust.Now if I upgrade to the new MM and get the dust sucking attachment...