"Multitool", good?

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haklesup
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Re: "Multitool", good?

Post by haklesup »

Those cutoff/grinding wheels are handy for hard materials. I wore out 1 per hole.
Dremel tool is to bits as ink jet printers are to ink cartridges. :razz:

In other words, they probably make more money off the accessories than they do from the tool itself.
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MrAl
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Re: "Multitool", good?

Post by MrAl »

Hi again,


Little update here as i recently received one of these tools to try it out and see just how well
it works.

Little bit of a disappointment, in that the tool with attached diamond blade does not seem
to cut through PC board material (glass, copper clad one side) very well. Not only that,
that blade makes a very wide cut around 1/8 inch wide which means a bit of material is
wasted. It's not that much, but it's more than the other thin blades would do. I got
the diamond blade because i thought it would hold up to the glass boards better than
plain steel. The PC board has to be clamped down fairly well too so that it does not
vibrate.
One good thing...it looks like the 'sheetrock' blade may cut the glass board better, with
very little loss of material (less than 1/16 inch wide) although i cant say just how long
the blade is going to last cutting through the fiberglass board. Time will tell.

For wood, it seems to do pretty well. I cut through the end of a 2x4 (an old hard one
at that, not like the new soft wet ones you get at Home Depot)
making a thin slot across the whole end of the wood about 1/4 inch deep, and it didnt
take much effort. It made a nice cut, although it is not too easy to make a very
straight cut, but it is straighter than what you would get with a jig saw for example.

Havent tried any other materials yet, but i will do more experimenting soon.

I can see right away that if the material is free to vibrate that it wont cut at all,
or at least very little. This means you probably cant cut paper for example. I'll
have to try cardboard next too, as for when cutting boxes up for recycling.

Tool is not too heavy i guess, but heavier than a standard Dremel rotary tool
(not their MultiTool, but the rotary type). I dont think it is as heavy as a metal
circular saw. The head is nicely designed though, being a taper up to the arbor
which is not like most other tools that are fairly fat even at the arbor. This means
disks as small as 2.5 inches in diameter can be used to cut a groove or cut through
something making a perpendicular cut, unlike the Dremel rotary tool with a cutting
disk and arbor which will not do this except through thin material and with the
largest of the cutting disks available (or maybe with the flex shaft).

Noise level is more than a Dremel but less than a circular saw, but still a bit noisy.
You cant use this tool at 2am in the morning or you will wake everyone else in the
house up, and the neighbors may hear it too :smile:

I should also mention that this is a 'cheapie' version of the tool, made by Chicago
Electric. It does work though, but perhaps the better ones like Dremel and especially
Rockwell will work better and i bet they oscillate faster too. This one is limited to
11,000 OPS (oscillations per second).

My overall impression is that this tool can be quite handy at times for certain jobs,
but it is not for everything as it will not cut everything like a rotary tool would.
LEDs vs Bulbs, LEDs are winning.
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Bob Scott
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Re: "Multitool", good?

Post by Bob Scott »

MrAl wrote:One good thing...it looks like the 'sheetrock' blade may cut the glass board better, with very little loss of material (less than 1/16 inch wide) although i cant say just how long
the blade is going to last cutting through the fiberglass board. Time will tell.
Al, you need a guillotine paper cutter. It works great for fibreglass board. No loss, no shavings.
MrAl wrote:I should also mention that this is a 'cheapie' version of the tool, made by Chicago
Electric. It does work though, but perhaps the better ones like Dremel and especially
Rockwell will work better and i bet they oscillate faster too. This one is limited to
11,000 OPS (oscillations per second).

My overall impression is that this tool can be quite handy at times for certain jobs,
but it is not for everything as it will not cut everything like a rotary tool would.
Chicago Electric. That's a Harbor Freight brand, right?
I saw the Rockwell on a late night TV spiel. I wonder if you can use it to trim Billy Mays' beard?
-=VA7KOR=- My solar system includes Pluto.
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MrAl
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Re: "Multitool", good?

Post by MrAl »

Bob Scott wrote:
MrAl wrote:One good thing...it looks like the 'sheetrock' blade may cut the glass board better, with very little loss of material (less than 1/16 inch wide) although i cant say just how long
the blade is going to last cutting through the fiberglass board. Time will tell.
Al, you need a guillotine paper cutter. It works great for fibreglass board. No loss, no shavings.
MrAl wrote:I should also mention that this is a 'cheapie' version of the tool, made by Chicago
Electric. It does work though, but perhaps the better ones like Dremel and especially
Rockwell will work better and i bet they oscillate faster too. This one is limited to
11,000 OPS (oscillations per second).

My overall impression is that this tool can be quite handy at times for certain jobs,
but it is not for everything as it will not cut everything like a rotary tool would.
Chicago Electric. That's a Harbor Freight brand, right?
I saw the Rockwell on a late night TV spiel. I wonder if you can use it to trim Billy Mays' beard?

Hi Bob,

Have you tried using a paper cutter on standard thickness glass PC board material
(clad one side) already? Is that strong enough for that?

Yes, HF sells them. Pathmark sold some CE tools too at one time, funny as that sounds.

LOL @ Billy Mays' beard ha ha. Would be REALLY nice if it came with a beard trimming
attachment ha ha. Maybe write to the company :smile:

I realized yesterday that the sound (noise) the thing makes is more like that of a small
vacuum cleaner.

So far it has cut:
Wood nicely, thin plastic fairly good, cardboard good, things like that.
So far is has NOT cut (diamond blade):
Metal coffee can, metal rim of coffee can, PC board copper clad glass material.
The diamond blade does not cut anything but it does cut wood a little bit, but functions
more like a 'sanding disk' than a cutter in that it can be used to shape wood to some
extent, although it wont be a fast process because the diamond coating only coats
the outside edge about 1/4 inch in toward the center, meaning there is only about
3/4 inch by 1/4 inch contact with the wood (if that).
I have come to believe that the diamond blade was made for a rotating tool, not
a vibrating tool, because it has a circular arrow on its surface showing the
direction of rotation, and a vibrating tool does not rotate in a particular direction
but moves back and forth about 1/8 inch or so.

On the plus side the sheetrock saw cutter might be able to stand cutting some
pc boards and then possibly need resharpening.

If they make a 'blade' that is made of hardened steel like a hacksaw blade, that
would most likely be able to be used with not only PC board material but also
with steel, for cutting angle iron or maybe aluminum angle which i use from time
to time and have to use a hand hack saw.

I have seen attachment blades made by Dremel which i really hope fit this tool
because they make quite a few different blades that look very useful.
I have considered making my own attachments also, but i've only had the tool
for a couple days now so im just starting to think about this stuff.


I guess i would have to say that if anyone can get a chance to try one of these
tools they should, even it borrowed from a friend or something. They are quite
interesting and with the right attachments can be very handy tools to have.
The only catch is you have to be able to find the right attachments, or be able
to make your own. I think that is going to be the criterion that either makes
this tool or breaks it.
LEDs vs Bulbs, LEDs are winning.
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Bob Scott
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Re: "Multitool", good?

Post by Bob Scott »

MrAl wrote:Have you tried using a paper cutter on standard thickness glass PC board material
(clad one side) already? Is that strong enough for that?
Yes it is. I've cut a LOT of 1/16 FG board, single and doublesided, 1oz and 2oz copper, and it still cuts paper just like new. Of course, I used the cutter at work. :mrgreen: I don't own my own cutter.

Just one caveat: Hold or clamp the PCB to the cutter, otherwise it tends to "walk" the board to one side while you are cutting and if this happens you won't get a perfect straight line.
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MrAl
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Re: "Multitool", good?

Post by MrAl »

Hi Bob,

Well, i guess i could look around for one to try, but i bet it would have to be fairly heavy duty.
Those boards are not too easy to cut.
I've seen them around from time to time but i think the quality varies a bit...some are more
well built than others.
LEDs vs Bulbs, LEDs are winning.
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dacflyer
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Re: "Multitool", good?

Post by dacflyer »

that tool idea has been around actually a long time in the medical rhelm, i seen them also used for cutting bone in tight areas,,
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dtief
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Re: "Multitool", good?

Post by dtief »

I have found that for cutting metal or fibreglass, metal cutting blades desribed as "BI metal" last the longest. The term refers to hardend teeth on a tough steel backer. I Use them in my jig saw, sawsall, hacksaw & bandsaw. (also, all hole saws) My favorite for cutting PCBs? Bandsaw.

A diamond blade would most likely be best for cutting tile and similar materials.
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haklesup
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Re: "Multitool", good?

Post by haklesup »

that tool idea has been around actually a long time in the medical rhelm, i seen them also used for cutting bone in tight areas,,
Exactly, in the April 23 episode of "Bones" (Fox) the ME used one to saw the top off a scull so she could examine the inside .

Such a saw would likely impart less stress on the rest of the workpiece. In all cases, the workpiece must be very rigidly held, any movement would defeat the action of the saw.
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