Fein Multimaster

[Dar Lounsbury]

Has anyone used the multimaster? Looks very useful but things are not always as they seem. Pros vs. Cons? I know it is pricey, but if it really works as in the demo, it would be helpful to me.

Thanks, Dar

[Craig McCormick]

We use ours often in our home repair business and vintage trailer restoration business but very little in my wood shop. We use it mostly in cutting mode or grout removal between ceramic tile. I have not used it as a detail sander. It is most defiantly a quality tool.

Craig

[Steve knight]

just got mine a couple weeks ago. it sands like crazy a very fast sanding tool. I see a lot of uses for it in the future.

[Fred Floyd]

I've never tried the new ones. I found one for a bargain basement $75.00 with lots of accessories and sanding sheets. One of the members of my woodturning club had this one which was "surplus" to him. I have tried it for sanding, but its best use is for tile grout or cutting things like studs out of walls when you're doing a delicate remodel job. Recently I had to cut a stud out of a wall to put in a medicine cabinet -- that alone was worth the price.

[Peter Quinn]

I've used one at my local hardware store in a cool demo they have set up that lets you sand or cut. I plan to buy one as soon as finances allow or a remodeling task for which it is essential presents itself. It is a well built tool with lots of uses.

A former coworker with lots of cabinet installation experience kept one in his install truck. He claimed it had helped him out of so many tight spots he wouldn't be with out it.

Can you find a physical vendor to check one out? Many have interactive demo's set up to remove doubt.

[Phil Harding]

Has anyone used the multimaster? Looks very useful but things are not always as they seem. Pros vs. Cons? I know it is pricey, but if it really works as in the demo, it would be helpful to me.

Thanks, Dar

I spent the last few weekends installing a bamboo hardwood floor in my kitchen. My Fein Multimaster was a life saver. I used it with a flush cut blade to undercut all of the door trim and to relieve the drywall to provide expansion space for the flooring. I'm sure there are other ways to do this job, but I am very happy that I have a MultiMaster. Expensive, but the quality is superb. My only beef is that the blades are so expensive.

-- Phil

[Don Morris]

Expensive, yes, but that little sucker has bailed me out of a lot of tight spots over the years and I keep finding new tasks for it. When they say "multi" they meant it. It sits unused for weeks and even months, and then man am I glad it's there because it's just what the doctor ordered. As others have said the only drawback is the cost of new blades.

[David DeCristoforo]

I'm laughing inside. I bought one of these some years ago and used it for one job (some detail sanding that, as I recall would have otherwise been very difficult) and until I read this post I had completely forgotten about it. It's in my shop somewheres.....

[Mike Sandman]

I bought a kit with the previous model because it was discounted, but having used the tool I'd be willing to pay full price.

The Multimaster works by moving the blade or the sanding foot in a random orbital motion. So unlike a rotary tool, if you're cutting, the blade doesn't pull you through the material. That means you can control the depth and speed of the cut very precisely. The tool feels solid but not heavy and it doesn't vibrate in your hand. All the energy goes into the sanding or cutting device you've attached to it, and you don't gat tired holding on to it.

I got it for sanding profiles like molding, and it is quite useful as a profile sander. But it does much, much more. Example: we wanted to remove the old vinyl floor in a kitchen and install tile. The vinyl was glued to luan plywood, and both layers ran under the counters and the dishwasher. With one of the Multimaster's saw blades, it was relatively simple to make a clean, straight verical cut in line with the face of the cabinets, back under the toekick. That let me pull up the vinyl and luan from the open floor area and leave it in place under the cabinets. I don't know how we would have been able to do that with any other tool.

It's expensive and the new (250 TOP) version comes in a cheesy plastic case, although the metal case that the old (Model 625) version came in was stamped from very thin sheet metal that woud dent if you looked at it the wrong way. If you buy something other than "Top" complete kit, the tool comes in a cardboard box. But the case is the only light-duty item in the package. The tool and the accessories are definitely well made and the attachments that are available make it very versatile - and an expensive habit.

[Matt Black]

http://www.multiblades.com/

Much better deal on blades. I have the supercut and love it, a real problem solver.

[Jack Hutchinson]

As others note above - for plunge cutting and flush cutting it's the cat's meow. Most useful in renovation tasks. There are other good flush cutting tools, but I don't know anything in the ballpark for challenges like plunge cutting an electrical box centered on a stud in an existing wall.

For a single-handed free-hand tool, control is quite precise.

Very loud. Hearing protection required.

I also used it to sand a hardwood floor beneath baseboard radiators using cut-to-fit PSA paper on the 2 1/2" flush cut blade.

[Glenn Clabo]

One of my top tools. If you do any remodeling at all...you will find all kind of ways to use it to save time to do things that you would be hard pressed to do otherwise. I hardly ever use it for sanding...but it does that as well.

And for those who don't like the cost of blades...
http://home.comcast.net/~dldecker/fein.html

[Mike Sandman]

The prices of the aftermarket blades look good enough for me to give them a try. Thanks for the lead.

Mike

[CPeter James]

I have an air power Multimaster. It is even better than the electric. I have tried the electric and much prefer the air. It is smaller and more powerful. Also the speed control works better.

CPeter

[Jeffrey Makiel]

This question is often asked...and it's a good one. After all, it's kind of an odd gizmo when I think about it.

The best answer that I've read is that you don't use the tool often as other basic woodworking tools, but when you need it, it sure is nice to have.

It's also a tool that's finds use in construction/home improvement projects as well as fine furniture making. However, if one is just getting into woodworking, it would not be a priority to me.

-Jeff