I’m doing a honey-do project at home, and convinced myself I needed the fein multimaster to do it right. But the “customer” isn’t paying too well on this one, so I couldn’t justify the $. Went to my local Harbor freight to look for their knockoff brand. Couldn’t find one, so i asked the closest employee, who happened to be the store manager.
he said they don’t get many in at a time, and they don’t last long. Shelf was empty. But wait, he says, let me look in the back. He came back 5 min later with one that had been returned. He said it looked like it had not been used, everything was in the box except the blade mount screw. I said I’d take it. he knocked the price down from $39 to $25. The instructions have a parts list, and the bold was listed, so I went to HD and spent aboput $2 and got what was missing.
Works great. The blades are held in position by friction, no teeth on the shaft, but so far they stay tight enough. I don’t think HF carries spare blades, so I’ll probably go to HD and see if their blades fit. All considered, it’s a super deal.
“Put your creed in your deed.” Emerson
“When asked if you can do something, tell’em “Why certainly I can”, then get busy and find a way to do it.” T. Roosevelt
Replies
I have several Harbor Freight tools. They all work reasonably well and have been purchased at bargain prices, but $25 for a Fein knock-off is truly amazing. Well done!
There's a HF store about 10 miles from me. I'm afraid to go there because I just might buy more semi-decent tools than I need.
I'm afraid to go to that HF store because, instead of the cost of buying one good tool every few months, I might overload my van all at one shot at their prices. And it'd be more stuff to move.
They are having dollar days now. Got a pack of two flashlights, I think there's 5 led's, 3 AAA batteries, $3 for the pack of 2. Saw a lot of stuff that said "buy me" but I was good."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
My HF has 4 small pins on the drive shaft that index with the narrow cutting blade. I think it works just fein.
And they do sell spare blades really cheap if in stock. (for OP actually).For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
Really. I see the 4 holes in the blades, but nothing on the tool. The store manager said he thought someone biought this one, took out the bolt, and returned it. Maybe he took out the special washer too. The parts bag was open ], but the power cord was still factory wrapped, so maybe he's right. Works just fine though."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
They sell the blades, their problem from what I was told is that they didn't expect to sell as many as they did and are having trouble ramping up the supply line.
I bought my local store out of blades, the do sell them online!
I read the instruction sheet, it mentions that some tools and some blades have the four holes for alignment, but it says this model does not have them. Friction fit. Like a circular saw blade.
Do you have any idea how fast one of these cheap blades will cut through romex? I do. Doesn't take long. Didn't cut the copper, but the insulation was like butter. 2nd day of use.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Edited 4/5/2009 2:19 pm ET by FastEddie
I bought the tool, back in Jan. It has come in handy. I wish the expensive blades fit, I have had the need for some fine cuts where they would come in handy.
I read a tool review, after use, the only thing bad was the single speed. I guess for a lot less money, I have made do!