Fein Multimaster worth the $$$$$$

[mrybas]

I am thinking about purchasing a Fein Multimaster mainly for the removal of the old caulk in my teak decks. I've heard there is a de-caulking attachment that really speeds up the process. The basic Multimaster is around $200, there's one with more attachments for $300, and a "marine" (when ever the m-word is in the product description its alway 2x $$$) for $500. Do these tools have many other uses around a boat, and are they worth the money?

[davidpm]

Worth the money is subjective of course. I will say that there are some jobs you can do with one that are many times easier than without.
They are very well made although I believe their are some lower cost clones available now.

[tager]

If you are going to buy it, please don't buy a lower cost clone. Cheap tools are one of the worst choices you can make financially.

[JProcter]

Originally Posted by tager

If you are going to buy it, please don't buy a lower cost clone. Cheap tools are one of the worst choices you can make financially.

I'm sure that you replied as you did more out of ignorance than malice, so I'll endeavor to educate you as to the proper response to the original poster.

Fein's multimaster came off patent this winter. Buy the Harbor Freight clone, currently listed at $34.99. It has gotten amazing reviews by many different people. I encourage you to google it. You won't be disappointed.

[Stillraining]

Originally Posted by tager

If you are going to buy it, please don't buy a lower cost clone. Cheap tools are one of the worst choices you can make financially.

So is cheap rigging hardware...

I'm going with the Dremel brand when I buy..you know parts and blades will be available for a long time with Dremel tools.

[JProcter]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

So is cheap rigging hardware...

I'm going with the Dremel brand when I buy..you know parts and blades will be available for a long time with Dremel tools.

Thankfully the HF tool is compatible with the dremel, so waste your $'s if you insist. For the OP, Google the dremel, Fein &HF.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by JProcter

I'm sure that you replied as you did more out of ignorance than malice, so I'll endeavor to eduutate you as to the proper response to the original poster.

Fein's multimaster came off patent this winter. Buy the Harbor Freight clone, currently listed at $34.99. It has gotten amazing reviews by many different people. I encourage you to google it. You won't be disappointed.

Perhaps my experience as an owner will be valuable. I actually own the Dremel, HF Multi-Tool and the Fein.

There is NO comparison between the Fein and the clones except that they all oscillate. I also have some experience with the Rockwell which I think is probably a better built tool, than the Dremel for the same price.

IMHO, as an owner of one, the HF Multi-Tool is a very sub par tool bordering on snake oil. It even oscillates at barely half the speed of its competition and oscillate is what these tools are supposed to do. Even at $34.99, or $49.99, or what ever the price of the week is, it is over priced unless you plan to use it to file your toe nails.

My Harbor Freight Multi-Tool was DOA right out of the box!

Blades:

The Fein blades, while seemingly outrageously expensive, outlast the Dremel and HFT blades by about ten to twelve times at the least. My HF "Hige Speed Steel" blade barely cut through a 1"W X 1/4" thick piece of aluminum bar stock. I can cut that same piece of aluminum with the Fein HSS blade about 20+ times at a minimum before it is even beginning to show signs of dulling, fiberglass the same. I think the term "high speed" at Harbor Freight refers to how fast it is destroyed, not the hardness of the metal..

The Dremel is actually an okay consumer / light duty tool for the occasional user and you get about what you pay for. It is however not a very accurate or precise tool. Making plunge cuts with it can cause it to hop, and marr the surface, but its nowhere near as bad as the HF Multi-Tool at marring a surface or being not very accurate.

The Fein is a super high quality, high finesse heirloom quality tool that you'll likely be handing down to your kids. At the price I think it represents a very good value for the critical user who demands accuracy, durability and ease of use. You actually get more than you pay for in my experience when you combine the accuracy, durability and blade life.

I posted this just last week on anotehr forum:

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

Well I had meant to present you guys with product review. Don't worry it will still be forth coming but in the mean time I need to vent.

I went to Harbor Freight Tools and while there saw three items that I absolutely did not need, but ones I thought might warrant a closer look and an honest assessment of performance, quality and cost.

The three items were the Chicago Electric (read Harbor Freights in-house brand) Multi-Tool and the Chicago Electric 7" Variable Speed Buffer item #92623. For non electric stuff I picked up a slightly changed version, read new one piece crimp dies, of the HFT ratcheting crimpers I have previously reviewed, item #97420..

The buffer has not yet been used so I can't yet fully comment. I can say that there is no way this tool is made in the same factory, as HFT claims their tools are, or is built to the level of quality as the Makita 9227C is. No way!!

So I set up some pieces of 5/8" thick solid fiberglass to make a few cuts, because boaters cut fiberglass, not soft pine. The tools I am testing are the Fein Multi-Master, Dremel Multi-Max and the Harbor Freight Multi-Tool. I already owned the Dremel and the Fein, as I said I did not need this tool and was merely doing it for you guys, and bought the HF MT on a whim.

Upon opening the box it was apparent that the HF MT tool was very, very cheaply built. No big deal, lots of tools are inexpensive and not built to a Fein standard. So I install the blade and plug her in. It was my hope that this tool may best the Dremel for $50.00 less. I paid $49.99 in store for it.

NOT!!! I plug her in and flip the switch... ...mmmmmmmmrrrrrrr she fires up, then seconds later,......dead silence?

Really, I should have known better than to buy anything that required electricity from HF but I thought a good honest assessment, using the same techniques on each tool, and then a rating based on multiple factors and observations might help some boaters make a more educated decision as to which of the oscillating tools to purchase.

Soooo, long story short is. The Harbor Freight tool is on the bench broken open and I am trying to get it working. So far I know the switch is operational and that the brushes on the motor have continuity but I have not yet ascertained if they are seeing power. I'll dig into it more later and hopefully will be able to get it working so I can at least evaluate it on performance. We apparently already know about initial quality..

What a joke.... DOA !!!!

It's funny, about a half hour after posting this thread I got a query from a guy in the process of buffing his Catalina 34. I responded to him with more questions about his machine, pads technique etc. and this is what I got back.

Good timing Bill, my thoughts exactly right about now, and now I own one of those POS tools as well..

Well anyway I fixed the HF Multi-Tool nothing more than poor quality control. The spring for one of the brushes on the motor was not properly seated and explains why it worked for just a second or two. Unfortunately I used up my time to play with tools today, and to compare them, on fixing the HF MT..:doh:

The spring for the brush never seated in the brush holder:

Brush is now properly seated:



Perhaps after the family has gone to bed, and my paperwork is done, I can sneak out to the barn to make some cuts and see how they compare...

and this:

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

I have not yet had a chance to fully review this stuff. My initial post was one out of frustration when the HFT product failed right out of the box. Please understand that I DO buy some HFT tools but mostly stuff that does not require accuracy or electricity. For pounding nails I still like my Estwing but I do have a number of HFT mallets and such as well as pry bars, clamps, some pliers and other stuff that is actually a decent value at HFT.

I only bought the three tools I did to possibly try and save you guys, and other boaters some money. I did not need to spend this money at all but did in the hopes of giving an honest side by side assessment from somone hwo uses these tools on boats.

Sometimes the least expensive is not the best value. For example I know that the Fein blades outlast the Dremel blades by multiples so the $12.00 Dremel blade is not a better deal than the $40.00 Fein blade if you need to buy eight of them to do the same job that you can do with one Fein blade. Yes, the Fein blades are offensively priced but they last and when you break it down into feet cut per/cost the Feins win over the Dremel blades.

From what I have had a chance to play around with so far the three tools fall just about where they are priced, not surprising at all. The Fein is head and shoulders above and beyond both the Dremel and the HFT but that is to be expected, or should be expected, at $209.00 vs $99.00 & $49.00. You'd better get something good for that extra money spent..

The HFT MT oscillates at half the speed that the Fein & Dremel do. This is probably why it seems so inaccurate and tends to jump and marr a surface when trying to make a plunge cut. The Dremel is considerably better at plunges than the HFT MT but a long way from the Fein.

I hope to do more comparisons this week including the blades.

For a once in a while user, maybe twice per year, who's not trying to work with delicate veneers or expensive teak, the HFT will be ok. Ruining a piece of teak or an expensive veneer would cost more than this tool so getting a more accurate too is a wise idea if working with expensive woods.

If you want better accuracy and don't want to ruin the veneer on a $200.00 sheet of marine ply then the Fein is the best choice. I have done some amazing plunge cuts into my boat with my Fein that I would not even attempt with either my Dremel or my HFT as the "fix" if I f'd up would cost significantly more than the tools would..

If you want better accuracy and are not a "woodworker" or doing any sort of delicate work the Dremel is a good choice and represents a much better value IMHO than the HFT MT even at $99.00 vs. $49.00..

I have also had a chance to experience the Rockwell Multi-Tool and find it to be more ruggedly built than the Dremel at the same price. A friend of mine owns it and after borrowing my Fein, and using it side by side his Rockwell, he said, "The Rockwell is OK but it sure not a Fein"

I do not own the Rockwell but in my observations of it I would purchase it over the HFT MT or the Dremel in the lower tier price range.

If you plan on doing finesse/finish quality work and want a lifetime tool then the Fein is the best choice. For anything else I would buy the Dremel or Rockwell. For filing your toe nails the HFT will suffice for anything more buy the others. Sorry to be so blunt but I don't like to be ripped off anymore than you do..

Please save your money and buy the Dremel or Rockwell if you are on a budget. If you want a quality tool with excellent accuracy, for its intended use, then you'll want the Fein. The HFT Multi-Tool, in my experience, is not even worth the cardboard box it ships in.

Oh BTW I fired up my HFT copy of the Makita 9227C buffer and went to work on my dinghy. I had not even buffed 3 sq feet and it was already smoking and smelling of burned plastic. It does not hold a constant no-load speed like the Makita does, nor does it soft start. In truth it would be very tough to buff a boat of any size with before it melted down. I put mine away after about five minuted for fear of burning my hand on it..

Sometimes you do get what you pay for...

[mrybas]

Maine Sail- Is the difference between the budget "starter" Fein and the $500 "marine" Fein just the attachments? If so, is it a better value to buy the marine package or just purchase the attachments individually as needed?

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by mrybas

Maine Sail- Is the difference between the budget "starter" Fein and the $500 "marine" Fein just the attachments? If so, is it a better value to buy the marine package or just purchase the attachments individually as needed?

The "FMM 250 START" kit is not the same tool as the rest of the kits. It is the base model with no quick change blade which is an in-valuable feature.

The "marine" set uses the same FMM 250Q tool as all the quick change kits and is $499.00. You can buy the same tool in the "FMM Basic Kit" for about $269.00.

I purchased the "FMM 250Q Top" kit and found it to be a good value when you added up all the attachments separately.

I actually buy my Fein stuff once a year at the Maine Boat Builders Show. I essentially got the "marine" kit with all the extras they threw in.

Once you buy one blade you'll see the value in a kit like the 250Q Top...

If you are not sure how much you'll use it buy the Dremel. If you like it buy the Fein when you kill the Dremel..

[jrd22]

Not that another reply is necessary after the great write up by MS, but I have a Fein and agree with MS that it is a professional tool that should last a long, long time even with hard use. I've used it for things that would have been next to impossible without it, and it made them easy. The blades are expensive but last a long time. I did wear one straight blade out though, I had to cut part of a motor mount leg off which was 7/8" thick and I had to cut a section 2" long. The blade still works for softer stuff but is definitely worn. Good tool.