ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Multi-tools

You are right Trumpy, angle grinders are one of my most favorite tools, that's why I have over twelve of them at home and two on the truck (nice not having to constantly change wheels, just grab a different grinder). A diamond blade cuts the plaster, wood, metal no problem, just a little snipping and trimming in the corners. We cut into masonry walls with them as well and set flush mount steel boxes. The largest, most powerful shop vac you can fit in your truck with a clean filter is the best dust collection system I've found.

I used my rotozip with the dry diamond circular blade the other day to cut plaster.

I ended up purchasing the Dremel, seemed to have the best selection of blades. Tried it on one opening with the combo wood/metal blade and it worked OK but just too slow, so I went back to the old way of drilling a half inch hole on opposite corners then using a sawzall. High speed and slow feed made a nice cut with no cracking.

You can't beat the selection offered by Fein.

But, they're not cheap, not by a long shot.

Many of the new oscillators are weak -- and designed down so as to appeal to the average homeowner -- especially the housewife.

While they certainly work, they run at less than half the power of my Fein. (Fein makes even more powerful versions that are not currently receiving a marketing push. You can find them, from time to time, on eBay -- second hand.)

I've had mine for about nine-years. I liked it better when I was the only electrician out there with one.

To restate the obvious, its place is doing things that no other tool can do: plunge cutting into studs is at the top of my list.

I had a Dremel oscillating tool. It worked ok but you needed to use a hex (Allen) wrench to change the blades.
Then my van got broken into and one of the items they took was the Dremel. For a replacement I got a Porter-Cable.
It has a quick release so changing the blades doesn't require any tools.
Most all the brands of blades fit so I have a wide choice.
I went with the corded model.
I almost want to thank the punk that ripped off the Dremel. That's how much better I like the Porter-Cable.
I'm good with the Sawzall but the oscillating tool allows me to make detailed cuts that would have taken a long time to do with any other tool.
There are metal cutting blades that should work well for wire mesh.

I started with a dremel for light duty stuff. As soon as i needed a better tool for plunge cuts in 1.75 inches of wood i went directly for the fein. I like the dremel for close quarters stuff.

The Rockwell worked great for cutting right up to kickplates on my base cabinets. 3/4" oak. Yes, slow; but it worked great. I do not know of any other tool that would cut flush like that.

I played with a few blades, the best/easiest I found for what I was doing was the 'half-moon'.