Fein MultiMaster 250

[Carl Hill]

Howdy all. Anybody have the Fein MultiMaster 250? Looking for feedback on the newest model if anybody has one. Thanks for any help you have.

Carl

[Joe Scharle]

Howdy all. Anybody have the Fein MultiMaster 250? Looking for feedback on the newest model if anybody has one. Thanks for any help you have.

Carl

I bought the Top kit 2 months ago for just one job. I needed to jab/undercut an area that only a chisel would go, but not easily. Worked great. Neat trim cut line. Also removed a few line of old caulk easily. Blades are ridiculously expensive, but Sears blades fit.

[Mark Grotenhuis]

I bought one a few weeks ago, the blades work great. I used their sanding attachment to sand into a tight corner and the sanding pad melted in about 10 seconds. The sand paper was still fine... I guess the velcro backing pad just isn't made for any heat whatsoever. I think it might go back because of this. I even rotated the pad and tried another corner of it at a lower speed and less pressure ... which still melted it. I bought the one with all the bells and whistles. I think I'm going to return it for the basic one and forget about using it for sanding from now on.

[Chris Harry]

not meaning to take the thread ona tangent, but how about comparing the Fein to some of the clones?

I have the Dremel clone and am less than impressed. It doesnt feel solid like other Dremel stuff I have. Vibrates a lot and feels plasticy and cheaply made.

Has anyone had experience with the Rockwell Sonicrafter? Im debating upgrading from the Dremel to some other clone that might be better. I have a lot of grout removal to do but cant see spending 35 bux on a grout removal blade for a tool I dont like.

-Chris

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

I have a Fein for about an year - can not complain except a price for a blades:eek::eek::eek:. Much more powerful then any clones, including Bosch. I did try both - Dremel and Bosch at HD and IMHO Fein better:
1. Better fill in hand ( I have a big hand)
2. Much more powerful and wider range of speed.
3. Bosch very close by quality, but I still likes Fein MM more.
Very useful around a house for a small repairs.
Ed.

[george wilson]

The Fein goes about twice as fast as the clones. I have one,and it really makes some nearly impossible cuts go easily. I have made some blades for myself out of leftover 1095 sawblade steel,but I have metal working machines. One blade I made was a scraper.The stainless steel scrapers and saw blades that Fein sells are pretty useless. Only buy the blue ones. I made a blue steel scraper when scraping the paint out of the chip pan on a lathe I was fixing up. Some old lathes had a very hard and tough filler under their paint. I finally took the blue steel blade and brazed a piece of 2" wide carbide onto its cutting edge. That really helped. The scraper would actually scrape a layer off of the steel chip pan if I wasn't careful.

The great advantage of the Fein is its extremely rapid oscillation. This makes short work of sanding ,scraping,or sawing. It is the best tool for things like installing flooring,where you have to saw some off the bottoms of door moldings. Just take a piece of the flooring,lay the saw on it,and saw the molding right off. Then,the flooring will slip neatly right under the molding. Works for tile,too,when you don't want to try to cut tile to fit a molding. Just go under it.

The pads do wear out from the high speed,though I haven't melted one yet. Maybe use a lighter touch?

[Marty Gulseth]

I have had the "Top" (I think that's the one with all the goodies) for about 2 mos. now. The main reason I purchased it was to help get out baseboard moulding that is now embedded behind carpet. I've done one room so far, about 120 linear feet of moulding, door frame trim, etc. I was done in about 15 mins. Hacking out the embedded baseboard stuff without trashing the drywall too badly would have easily taken me several hours.

I've also used it for just a few sanding and other cutting jobs.

I'm happy...
Regards,
Marty

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

I have the Dremel clone and am less than impressed. It doesnt feel solid like other Dremel stuff I have. Vibrates a lot and feels plasticy and cheaply made.
Not to really sidetrack the thread, but, I have the same Dremel & my impressions of it are the same.
Having a nasty job upcoming (removing cork panels glued to a wall), I picked up a HF knock off for $39.99 minus 20%.

I used the HF unit this past weekend to make a notch in a 2x4 and as much as I hate to admit it, I like it better than the Dremel.

It's "heavier" and more "solid" feeling & vibrates quite a bit less.

In fairness to the Dremel though, the HF tops out at 11k & the Dremel tops out at 22k.
At the same setting of 11k, the Dremel has a lot less vibration.

I'm not sure if the HF unit has a grout attachment though. I know it won't take the Dremel attachments - I tried and they aren't interchangeable.

[george wilson]

I didn't know the Dremel ran that fast. I wonder how strong the insides are to put up with that kind of mechanical punishment. You probably get what you pay for in the long run.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Yep - the Dremel is as fast as the Fein.
Yep -I agree w/you about the innards.
The Dremel is a nice "hobby tool" for light & occasional work.
It does really vibrate though on the high setting & no doubt it will hurt it over time.

(For the light work I plan on using it for, it should be ok.)

Had I known @ the time I bought it I'd have both a whole wall of cork to remove and two walls of decorative brick, I'd have gone with the Fein.
Then again, maybe not.

One really nice thing about the Dremel is quick local avalibilty of blades and such. Ace, HD and Lowes all stock them.

[Chris Harry]

Hello,
Yep - the Dremel is as fast as the Fein.
Yep -I agree w/you about the innards.
The Dremel is a nice "hobby tool" for light & occasional work.
It does really vibrate though on the high setting & no doubt it will hurt it over time.

(For the light work I plan on using it for, it should be ok.)

Had I known @ the time I bought it I'd have both a whole wall of cork to remove and two walls of decorative brick, I'd have gone with the Fein.
Then again, maybe not.

One really nice thing about the Dremel is quick local avalibilty of blades and such. Ace, HD and Lowes all stock them.


That was the big selling point for me on the Dremel: i can get the attachments quickly. The build quality still gets me though.

Ive tried a few of the things its supposed to do and just ended up creating a lot of burnt wood. Could be user error (not using correct speeds), or it could be the tool itself.

Still not sure its worth it for me to upgrade to the Fein, but figure this thread is useful for others to read before making the decision.

[Mike Henderson]

I had the opportunity to use a Dremel MultiMax today. It worked okay, but it got excessively hot - so hot I had to keep moving my hand back on the unit. By the time I was finishing the job, I was essentially holding the unit by the power cord.

And when I say "hot" I don't just mean uncomfortable. I mean so hot that I couldn't leave my hand on the unit.

But it did do what I wanted it to.

When the time comes that I buy a MultiMaster clone for myself, I won't buy the Dremel.

Mike

[John Gregory]

I have the Sonic Crafter and love it. Plenty of power I am glad a bought it. I have not used Fein, but I am sure it is great too, but the Fein is much more costly.

[Jerome Hanby]

I'm not sure if the HF unit has a grout attachment though. I know it won't take the Dremel attachments - I tried and they aren't interchangeable.

That's odd, I bought the thinner Dremel grout blade (1/16" I think) and it fit my HF fine. Wife used it to remove failing grout in the shower.

[frank shic]

for cheaper blades:

http://multiblades.com/tips.html

[Peter Quinn]

I use a multi master (250 with the quick blade change) at work and it is a nice tool. They are kidding them selves with the price of attachments. The blades, the paper, all of it a solid rip off. Of course it does a few jobs that can be very difficult any other way, and it excels at them. I don't find it to be an exceptional detail sander and do not use it on any fine work. Its more of a paint stripper in my mind than a precursor to a good clear finish.

I bought a Rockwell soni-crafter a few weeks ago for a side job installing some flooring and used it to under cut a dozen door jambs and remove 20SF of linoleum glued down with something I imagine was designed by SATAN. In any event, the sonicrafter is a solid tool worth considering if your in the market for an oscillating tool of this sort. My results were very similar to those with the Fein tool. Its built like a tank, but blade changes and angling not quite as convenient as the Fein quick change.

I checked out the dremel and found it to be too light weight and of dubious quality for commercial work. I hear the bosch has a short battery life under heavy use. I can tell you the multi master is the best, but the sonicrafter is a VERY close approximation and the accessories are priced much more reasonably. I had very good results with the blades in terms of life.