Question about Harbor Freight Multifunction tool

[Louis Brandt]

Hello,

Harbor Freight is currently running their Multifunction power tool at $29.99 with coupon. This tool looks similar to the Fein Multimaster, which costs considerably more! Has anyone used this Harbor Freight version, and if so, is this a good buy?

Thanks,
Louis

[Dennis McGarry]

Do a search, that tool has come up in a ton of threads!

general thought is for 30 bucks its well worth it, one of the few powertools from HF worth anything

[Kev Godwin]

Louis,
I have been using one for a while now with several hours of actual run-time. I posted a review on the tool a few months ago. In my opinion, it is very much worth it.
Kev

[Mike Henderson]

I bought one for $30, also, and it's worth that much. And Harbor Freight will take their tools back if you don't like it.

If it's something you plan to use every day, buy the Fein, but if you only use it occasionally, I think the HF is fine.

Mike

[John Brennaman]

Anybody know where one can pick up the coupon?

[Kev Godwin]

You can find the coupons in a variety of magazines such as woodworking ones, field and stream, any NRA publication, etc, etc. Those same magazines will also have the 20% off coupon for any item in the store too.
Kev

[Myk Rian]

Anybody know where one can pick up the coupon?
Wood magazine, among some others.
I bought one for $30 also. The next week they were in the store listed at that price.
Yesterday, my store had the replacement blades on sale. I bought a couple diamond blades for less than $8 ea.

[Rick Vincent]

I bought one on10-10-09 it ran for about 15 mins, Took it back the next day, I thougt I might have trouble but they gave me my money back ...

[Mike Henderson]

Anybody know where one can pick up the coupon?
Look in the "Deals and Discounts" forum. The coupon is there. It's good until sometime in January, if I remember correctly.

[Update: here (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=120731) it is.]

Mike

[Kim Spence]

I picked one up for $30 for a current basement remodel project. It's been well worth the price. Used to cut drywall flush to rough door openings, scrape carpet pad glue off concrete, flush cut shims when hanging doors, scrape globs of drywall mud off concrete floor, cut 4" PVC flush to concrete floor to glue in toilet flange, cut 2" PVC drain stub outs open, and the list goes on. Honestly it's been way more useful then I expected, and hasn't missed a beat. Highly recommend it.

[Stephen Edwards]

I'm well pleased with mine. For the money, it's a great value. It's not a tool that I used everyday, or even often. But, when I need it, it works as advertised.

[Josiah Bartlett]

I really like mine. I find that it is amazingly versatile. One of the coolest things about it is that you can use the straight saw blade as a plunge saw as long as you can get the dust out of the hole. I used it the other day to rough out a through mortise in a 2" thick plank, and the hole came out so perfect I didn't even bother to clean it up with a chisel. I'm now thinking about making some customized blades for it with a few jigs to see what other interesting things it can do.

I bet if you connected it to a plane blade and mounted it you could make a really interesting vibrating jointer.

[Casey Gooding]

I have it and have also used the Fein. I found almost no difference in the two. Both are loud, both get very hot. Both are very useful.

[Mike Henderson]

I have it and have also used the Fein. I found almost no difference in the two. Both are loud, both get very hot. Both are very useful.
That's interesting to know. I used a friend's Dremel Multi-tool (or whatever it's called) and it got really hot. I thought something was wrong with it. Sounds like it's common to all of these tools.

Mike

[Dave Lehnert]

Anybody know where one can pick up the coupon?

The USA today, in the money section, has a coupon for $34.99.
10-16-09

[Kim Spence]

If you live in the Menard's footprint, I noticed they're selling one identical to the HF version. Can't remember exact price but if I recall correctly it was about the same as HF. Not sure if they're stocking replacement blades though.

[scott spencer]

I bought one ~ a month ago and think it's a really handy tool. It runs stronger than I would have thought, and I find lots of uses for it.....used it yesterday to cut an outlet hole in 3/4", and it did a great job.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
I bought one for $39.99 minus 20% = $32.99, roughly 6 weeks ago.
We also just bought a 1956 built ranch which we are redoing.

So far I've used mine to:
- Remove the morter/adhesive from two walls of Z-brick.
- Install a two gang old workbox in a paneling covered section of drywall. There was a hidden stud that protruded into the cutout by ~ 3/4". The tool made an easy job of cutting out enough of the stud for the workbox to slip into place. Short of a chisel and a lot of cursing, I can't hink of any other way to have done that.
- Undercut all the door jambs for a new ceramic tile floor.
- Scored Durock with a diamond blade <<--The only task which the HF tool failed to excel at.
- Removed old wire mesh/drywall sections in the bathroom ceiling so a patch job could be done.

- Removed 1" thick cork panels from a 12' section of wall.
- Removed 50 year old construction adhesive the previous owner had used to install the above cork panels.
(I really pushed the tool hard for this task and ran it nearly 10 straight hours on a Saturday doing the bulk of the removal)

- Cut the bottoms off 2x4 studs (8 of them) to replace the rotted sill plate in the garage.
- Cut though about 15 feet of 3/4" plywood subfloor covered with a layer of vinyl flooring flush to the kitchen cabinet bases in prep for a cement board underlayment.

- Assorted other cuts too numerous to remember.

I also have the Dremel version ($89.00). The Dremel has spent almost all the time in it's box as a backup to the HF unit if/when it should go down.

So far, and I'd estimate I have nearly 150 hours on the tool, it's worked great.
Well worth twice what it cost - or the tools original $59.00 price tag.

I've gone through 3 of the half moon blades and two of the straight blades and one of the scraper blades.
To be 100% fair though, the Z-brick morter is what tore the scraper blade and one half moon cutter blade up badly.

Wonderful tool. I can't recommend it highly enough. Yes, it does get hot, but a pair of leather gloves handles that w/out issue.
Other than the cork wall, most uses are "bursty" or of short duration so the tool doesn't heat up that much at all.
Dito for the Dremel, which also gets very hot to run.