Shopsmith Forums

Recently Harbor Freight had a parking lot sale at our local HF store and I bought one of these for $15:
Harbor Freight Oscillating Multifunction Power Tool

I am one of those folks who is always pretty cautious when I shop at Harbor Freight - some amazing deals to be had there but also a lot of cheap Chinese junk if you're not selective. I could definitely rattle off a list of amazing deals I've found there but in general I avoid most things that plug into the wall, as with power tools I usually opt to spent $$ to get quality. Anyway, that being said, I saw this thing for $15 and figured for that price it was worth trying, considering the "quality" version runs more in the $75-$150 range. At the time it wasn't a tool I had a specific need for, I just figured for the price I'd get it and I imagined I'd get my $15 worth at some point before it potentially crapped out on me.

Well, we just bought a new house and I've been neck deep in remodeling the house, as well as removating our existing house as we are turning it into a rental. I have run across several tasks where this tool suddenly proved itself invaluable - I had to cut in some new light fixture and outlet holes in existing drywall, notch existing studs to pass romex cable, cut off the back edge of an electrical junction box to allow it to fit next to an existing plumbing vent pipe etc. This tool made these things happen simply, cleanly, and easily and without it I would have been in much more of a pinch to figure out how to make them happen. On top of that, I have to say it seems very well built, feels solid in my hand when I'm using it, and runs like a champ. TIme will tell how it holds up compared to a higher end version but so far I'm thrilled and find no reason whatsoever to think it is substandard in quality. $15??? It has paid for itself already in the last month about 20x over and seems to have lots of life to go. I saw that the recent e-mail flyer from HF has this tool as a "Super Coupon" for $15.99...definitely worth the price IMHO.

dgale wrote:Recently Harbor Freight had a parking lot sale at our local HF store and I bought one of these for $15:
Harbor Freight Oscillating Multifunction Power Tool

I am one of those folks who is always pretty cautious when I shop at Harbor Freight - some amazing deals to be had there but also a lot of cheap Chinese junk if you're not selective. I could definitely rattle off a list of amazing deals I've found there but in general I avoid most things that plug into the wall, as with power tools I usually opt to spent $$ to get quality. Anyway, that being said, I saw this thing for $15 and figured for that price it was worth trying, considering the "quality" version runs more in the $75-$150 range. At the time it wasn't a tool I had a specific need for, I just figured for the price I'd get it and I imagined I'd get my $15 worth at some point before it potentially crapped out on me.

Well, we just bought a new house and I've been neck deep in remodeling the house, as well as removating our existing house as we are turning it into a rental. I have run across several tasks where this tool suddenly proved itself invaluable - I had to cut in some new light fixture and outlet holes in existing drywall, notch existing studs to pass romex cable, cut off the back edge of an electrical junction box to allow it to fit next to an existing plumbing vent pipe etc. This tool made these things happen simply, cleanly, and easily and without it I would have been in much more of a pinch to figure out how to make them happen. On top of that, I have to say it seems very well built, feels solid in my hand when I'm using it, and runs like a champ. TIme will tell how it holds up compared to a higher end version but so far I'm thrilled and find no reason whatsoever to think it is substandard in quality. $15??? It has paid for itself already in the last month about 20x over and seems to have lots of life to go. I saw that the recent e-mail flyer from HF has this tool as a "Super Coupon" for $15.99...definitely worth the price IMHO.

I have one of those - manufactured by a well known name. I like it. At least I did.

Since you bought one, if you want to continue to like it, go back and buy a stock of sanding pads that fit.

I now have to make my own because the manufacturer no longer does.

dusty wrote:I have one of those - manufactured by a well known name. I like it. It least I did.

Since you bought one, if you want to continue to like it, go back and buy a stock of sanding pads that fit.

I now have to make my own because the manufacturer no longer does.

I mostly (so far) use the cutting and grinding blades and have yet to use it as a sander. I seem to recall that many of the manufacturers have started to switch over to a more universal head on these things, rather than the proprietary head that used to be used (any maybe still are on some). Good advice to stock up, as well as to investigate the compatability with non-OEM blades and other accessorries...even at HF, the blades and pads are disproportionately expensive compared to the tool itself. I'll dig around through my old Fine Homebuilding issues when I have a chance, as I know this type of tool was reviewed there and they discussed the head attachment compatability as one of their review factors.

I have one if these also and would buy another in a heartbeat. I bought a Bosch adapter at Lowes for 99¢ that let's you use almost any brand of accessories for it.

I'll probably pick one up this weekend too. HF power tools aren't awful as long as you get a working one (most of my defects usually occur before purchase, I just return til I get a good one) and something that can use any manufacturer's discs, wheels, etc.

I have the 4 1/2" grinder from them and as long as I feed it with DeWalt it works just fine. I also have the air-powered 3 inch version which eh does jam up sometimes but it was only $5 and a tap on the bench fixes it.

Their abrasives are trash though, you go through them fast enough they cost more then dusting the wallet off and getting something decent. That's my opinion at least, I gave a pack of wheels to a friend's dad (retired contracter) and he thinks they are great.

I buy my 18 volt battery operated drills at HF. I've given up on the big brand names - tired of being ripped off on replacement batteries. My last brand name wanted $75 for a new battery. For that price you can get 4 drills at HF. When they go bad, change the battery design or voltage, in the trash they go. No more will I have a $200 drill in my storage cabinet that I cannot use. Brand name be screwed!

I swore off all battery HF tools. The drills etc I had that were battery operated sucked long term. Batteries couldn't hold charges, motors whined. I'm all about the craftsman 19.2. It's just held up for 10 years, no issues other than replacing the ni-cad with lith-ion. The longest HF drill lasted 1 year. If you are having success then great but that's one type of tool that HF has that was complete crap for me. Maybe things have changed.

Don't ever buy their blue tape. Can't even get it off the roll without it tearing. I didn't know it could be made that thin.

putttn wrote:Don't ever buy their blue tape. Can't even get it off the roll without it tearing. I didn't know it could be made that thin.

Reminds me of a story around 1990. My buddy's dad was really really frugal. For Christmas, my buddy received some store-brand WalMart jeans from the dad. Buddy said the denim in those jeans was the thinnest you ever saw, almost floating on the lighter-than-air effect. In private after Christmas day was over, my buddy laughed himself to tears.

I own the original Fein multimaster and just love it. I paid $400 for mine and it is worth every penny. I can't tell you how much time it has saved me! It is wonderful!

http://www.feinus.com/en_us/oscillating ... p-0297187/

I have had it four years and have been remodeling my home. It holds up to just about any load. You can use it all day long without any problem and it never loses power. Yes the blades are expensive but I use the genuine Fein blades because they hold up as well. It is in the same class as my Shopsmith: high quality that lasts!