Advice on best reasonably priced oscillating multitool to buy

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rgh27

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Can anyone recommend a good reasonably priced oscillating multi tool to buy? I know about DeWalt and Fein but they are above my price range. I need the tool to hack out epoxy filler and also to cut and shape 3cm width strips of hardwood for my anchor locker. Many thanks!
 
I think these tools are vaguely useful, but as with most multi-purpose tools they aren't brilliant at anything.
I have the Bosch one and it does work, and use it for various jobs, but not overly impressed.
 
whatever you get avoid EINHELL, and unless you get a fein treat it carefully and delicately.
I agree with Praxinoscope, not perfect at anything, definitely not good at scrapping or sanding things.
Reasonably good (and the reason I bought it!) at cutting holes in plywood without messing with drilling and using an electric saw which typically messes and scratches the surface (especially if laquered/painted and you cannot remove the panel to make the cut from behind...)

bosch 80-120euro, fein dunno 300+?

V.
 
I have the Bosch cordless green one which is great for the jobs it is designed for but battery life is limited.

I then also got the Bosch blue corded one which is really good. They are brilliant for what they are designed for, plunge cutting, cutting in awkward spaces and paring
 
I have an ancient Bosch PMF180 which must be 15-20 years old. It's done masses of work and still functions perfectly. The equivalent current model is the PMF220, which is £60 at B&Q.

An important point to check is whether aftermarket tools will fit whichever machine you decide on - some will only work with own brand tools.
 
Can’t live without my multi tool - not sure how those who aren’t converted to them manage to make cuts in those many awkward to access areas that boats present...

All my power tools are Worx so it’s fair to say I swear by them (they also used to make the higher-end ScrewFix brushless tools that garnered a loyal following).

Funny thing is that I borrowed the Worx
mains multitool from my mum (!) a year or two ago, thinking I’d burn it out and replace it with a cheaper one (for her) and a pricier one for me... well, it’s still going strong (and she’s not asked for it back!). The alloy gearbox occasionally gets too hot to touch, but still it runs on and on.

When it packs up I’ll buy another, and maybe also an 18v one to go with my other Worx cordless tools.
 
As I had a major job to do that was best done with a multitool I bought a £100-ish De Walt to use instead of my working but very lightweight Screwfix cheapie. For prolonged use the heavier De Walt gives you a lot less vibration into your hands, but it only uses snap in type "cutaway" blades. A multitool is one of the things you don't realise you need till you've got one. The big job which was removing all wide grout from a very large area of tiles in our kitchen and utility room probably ran the De Walt for 6-8 hours in total, and it was getting too hot to hold at times. Also wore out half a dozen carbide blades. For small jobs the cheap ones are fine.
 
tillergirl said:
I have a Draper. Spectacularly unsuccessful.
Click to expand...
I got one and took it back. It should have been in the toy department. The Bosch that I got afterwards was twice the money but 10 times better.

I'd disagree with vas that it's no good at sanding, though. Mine does a pretty good job, though the "discs" - actually triangles don't last long and the holders are consumer items. Great for small or awkward jibs, but use a belt or random orbital sander for bigger jobs.
 
I usually buy cheaper tools as I don't use them much. However having had my B and D drill seize and my Bosch multitool give up the ghost I bought a Makita drill some 8 years ago. I then bought a Makita multitool body and used the batteries from the drill. It has proved invaluable. The body was just under £100 and worth every penny.
 
During the renovation of Concerto, my Fein multitool is the most used of all my power tools. I have spent a fortune on some of the specialist heads for specific jobs, so much time saved compared to every other tool I have. In second place is my cordless 18V Metabo drill/driver and third is a Silverline sander polisher. Tools like circular saw, jig saw, routers, etc were hardly used.
 
I find Skill quite good for the price, I have had the multitool for while and it is durable. De Walt used to be good, but not so now. I fixed a Skill angle grinder for a friend, not badly built inside and worth doing. A De Walt drill I bought a while back, quit just out of warranty. Cheap and nasty inside, so not worth fixing, esp as the price of the part would have bought a B&Q drill, likely as good. My old De Walt 115 angle grinder is now 20 plus yrs old and gets stick every day. No comparison.
 
I had a corded Lidl (Parkside) one for about ten years, did solid work and eventually spluttered out. Recently treated myself to a cordless Makita one to replace it, it's certainly better but it cost three times as much, and that's without the battery.

One of those tools that you might not need often, but when you do it's the only thing that will do the job. The corded Lidl one did a lot of boat jobs, running off a little inverter.
 
Can't think what I did before I bought my Bosch!!! Also takes cheap Lidl blades - Bosch blades are hideously expensive and don't last any longer than cheapos.

Alan.
 
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