HF -Multifunction power tool - Fein Clone

[Kev Godwin]

I certainly am someone that has always bought the best equipment I could afford. However, however, however,....:rolleyes:

Has anyone here on the Creek tried one of Harbor Freight's Multi Tools. This is meant to be a knock-off of Fein's Multi-Master. HF has them on sale now for $39.99. I also have a coupon to get one for even less.

I don't know that I would use one a lot but I also have a friend that has been kind enough to let me use his Fein the few times I have needed such a tool.

Anyone tried it? (HF #65700). Thx for comments.
Kev

[Tony Bilello]

although I have never used this tool before. My experiences with HF is that it is pure junk. If you live close by, try it and see if you like it. They take back stuff and give refunds with no problems.
I am sure that after this reply there will be several replies from people saying that their HF tools are the best they ever bought.
I am just relating my personal experiences with Harbor Freight.

[Mike Goetzke]

I certainly am someone that has always bought the best equipment I could afford. However, however, however,....:rolleyes:

Has anyone here on the Creek tried one of Harbor Freight's Multi Tools. This is meant to be a knock-off of Fein's Multi-Master. HF has them on sale now for $39.99. I also have a coupon to get one for even less.

I don't know that I would use one a lot but I also have a friend that has been kind enough to let me use his Fein the few times I have needed such a tool.

Anyone tried it? (HF #65700). Thx for comments.
Kev

I have the Fein but my friend at work got one. It's single speed and from his trials it seems to work fine but I don't have any personal comparison. He did give me some blades that were 3 for $6 to rub it in and even though they don't have the Fein star pattern they worked fine (is that another Freudian slip:confused:). The surface finish and ground edge quality of the blades were as good as the Fein. I may take them to work to do a hardness test.

For $32 with a 20% coupon might be worth it to get one for applications I don't want to muddy up my Fein:D.

Mike

[Jacob Mac]

I would buy it, and if it doesn't work, take it back. I think buying HF tools is pretty low risk. If it works you save money, but if it isn't any good, you can always take it back for a refund.

[Richard Bell CA]

I have an older model Fein that I have used for years. It is an extremely versatile tool for home renovation. I have seen the Harbor Freight version first hand, but have not used one. The speed of the Harbor Freight version is slower (11,000 oscillations per minute vs. 21,000 for the Fein). The build quality is lower, but at about 20% of the price, this is to be expected. My experience with Harbor Freight items is mixed. Yes, they do sell some junk, but there are a few items that are a good value and work reasonably well.

Fein had a monopoly on this tool until the patent ran out last year, which is why the clones are now showing up. The biggest issue I had was the ridiculous prices for blades, so I made my own for some applications. The Harbor Freight blades do fit the older model Feins (prior to the "star" configuration), and based on Mike's comments above, they will also fit the newer models with the star. I recently used a Harbor Freight half moon cutter, and it worked well. Not sure how long it will last compared to the Fein version, but you can buy five or six Harbor Freight versions for the price of the Fein blade. The Harbor Freight blade selection is very limited compared to Fein, but another source for more reasonably priced blades is welcome.

If I did not have the Fein, I would try one of the Harbor Freight versions. My gut feel is that it would work well enough for occasional use. As stated earlier, if it does not work, you can take it back.

Richard

[Mike Goetzke]

another source for more reasonably priced blades is welcome.


Richard

Some like this source (I have no experience with them):

Multimaster Blades (http://www.multiblades.com/specialtyblades.html)

[Al Lupone]

Some like this source (I have no experience with them):

Multimaster Blades (http://www.multiblades.com/specialtyblades.html)

Mike, I did the seven for six deal on these blades. They worked well on oak & epoxy. However I just went to the site & multimaster blade sales are temporarily suspended.
Al.

[Gary Click]

Mike, I did the seven for six deal on these blades. They worked well on oak & epoxy. However I just went to the site & multimaster blade sales are temporarily suspended.
Al.

Sounds like there may be a "Cease and Desist Letter" in there somewhere.

[Michael Weber]

Not sure what the Fein costs but Rockwell has one out now. Amazon has it. Think it's called the multi-tasker or something like that. Might check it out as an intermediate price point option.

[CPeter James]

That Rockwell is not the old Rockwell. It is just another Asian import for Chian or worse.

CPeter

[Chris Konikowski]

Where do you get a coupon for HF?

[Kev Godwin]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'll be passing HF in the middle of this coming work week. I'm going to pick one up and see how it goes. I'll run a few test trials and post what I find out.
Kev

[Jerome Hanby]

Bought one after reading this thread. Finally used it this weekend. All I can say is WOW. If the Fein original works better than this thing, it must be really incredible. Only problem we ran into was that after abusing the end cutting blade for several hours, it broke. The Huntsville store sold the last two packs of blades they had while we were in transit. The tools were still on sale, so we bought another one, problem solved :D. Have since ordered a couple of packs of blades. Since this was A Harbor Freight tool, I sprang for their $10 swap the tool anytime for three year insurance. Still less than $50 invested in the original purchase (plus we now have a spare). Funny, the clerk at Harbor Freight suggested boxing the original up and returning it because the blade broke (and because the purchase was less than 30 days ago).

[george wilson]

there is no way the HF or any other cheaper model will have the rugged internal mechanism of the Fein. Dremel has one,so does Proxxon. Some of them do,I think,have the 21,000 speed of the Fein,but I'd never trust their durability. If you have a Fein,you'll find that it will make cuts that no other tool will.

I make some of my own saws for my unit out of blue spring steel. My old model just has a round hole in the blades. I needed a really good paint scraper,and brazed a piece of carbide to a blue steel blade. It really cut the paint!! this was when I was refinishing a machine tool. That scraper would start to bite into the sheet steel machine cabinet if I wasn't careful!!!

I never found the Fein stainless steel blades any good at all. I'm not sure if they offered any blue steel blades at first.