Oscillating tool - worth it?

jogdish

Hi,
So some background, last year bought a mini angle grinder thing from aldi on whim - since then it's been so handy for odd things here and there. Chop protruding screws, cutting perspex, grinding off rust etc. It has its limits, aldi battery isnt the best power isnt great and getting new blades is not easy.


Just wanted to ask,is a oscillating tool the same thing? would it cover the above uses? Never heard of them as a tool until last year. Just looking since they are in the DeWalt battery system which suits me.

Tails142

Oscillating tool is handy for certain things, wouldn't do heavy stuff like screws or bolts, is great for making plunge cuts going through wood and plasterboard although I find mine is burning the wood a lot lately, could have it on too fast a setting. It's the sort of thing that you might never use for months but then will be the perfect tool for something that crops up. Good for scraping and sanding as well as cutting.

Used it for cutting through floorboards to lift them and for cutting out holes for socket back boxes. Could have used other tools in the arsenal but the oscillating tool worked perfectly, like most people would just use a circular saw on the floorboards but the oscillating tool is a bit safer and handier to go at.

jogdish

Thanks, was trying to weigh up if its worth a DeWalt investment, probably not given the price/my needs.

G-Man

They advertise them with 100s of uses, but practically the one of the floorboards is the only one I used. After that its expensive blades that wear out too fast..

Stigura

Some of the good people of here turned me onto this tool. I'd never heard of them, till weeks ago. I was asking about Sanders.

I got pretty fired up about this, seemingly, new wonder tool. Till I deeply researched it.

Floorboards ~ if I had them ~ What's wrong with my Jigsaw? I have no grout to clean. No tiled floors to lift and clean. No Artex. Nope.

Happens my brother emailed me, just the other day. Talking about the acres of artex in his new house. " I can't wait to start knocking it all off, with my Oscillating Tool! "

Can't help but think, that translates as: " Thank god! Finally a bloody job that can justify my having splashed out on this tool! "

Lumen

Oscillating tool will flush cut, jigsaw or circ saw won't.

Handy if you need to cut something in place.

DublinDilbert

Very handy piece of kit to have, as above can be very good for trimming stuff in position. Notch a door frame, dado rail, cut floorboard over joist. They are a little noisy, but wouldn't be without one. Was in asda up north and they were selling a cheap one for €20, well worth it IMO.

mloc123

I bought a cheap one to have for fitting a kitchen and it has made my life much easier. Great for making accurate, detailed cuts in place.

disposableFish

They're the kind of tool that you won't use all that often but when you do it'll be worth its weight in gold.

You'll probably be a bit disappointed when you start using it. They're pretty slow working so you probably won't use it where another tool could do the job.

Great for the awkward little jobs that really eat your time and patience otherwise.
Great for anything where space is tight.
Always useful as a detail sander.


Unless you're a professional then your money will be wasted on anything more expensive than aldi/lidl. You're just not going to wear it out/break it unless on a site and I honestly don't think a more expensive one will give a better result. Aldi/lidl also do (relatively) cheap blades there/amazon.

I love mine.
But yea its a once in a blue moon life saver!
I had to take up 5/6 tiles recently without breaking them.
It made short work of the grout,the tile adhesive on the other hand:pac:

my3cents

I find myself using mine (Dewalt) more and more.

Cutting any holes in wooden floors or plaster walls its brilliant.

Cost of blades isn't much I buy these on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PDPCPPY/ quality is fine and blades cost not much more that a pound each.

Also a great get out of jail card. With a steady hand or a guide to work to you can trim wood that is over sized to so it fits. Handy with a bit of hardwood clamped as a guide for cutting out parts of housing joints or for tidying them up when they don't quite fit. I tend to think of it as a large chisel.

I use one where I used to use a jigsaw and while slower the job is much tidier with no cutting into timber I want to keep.

jogdish

Thanks for all the replies, given the cost of a DeWalt ( I'm not investing in yet another battery eco system even for Aldi/Lidl ), I think I will hold off for now - honestly just would not get used enough. My use the cash to buy one of those DeWalt lamps instead.

BrokenArrows

Stigura wrote: »

Some of the good people of here turned me onto this tool. I'd never heard of them, till weeks ago. I was asking about Sanders.

I got pretty fired up about this, seemingly, new wonder tool. Till I deeply researched it.

Floorboards ~ if I had them ~ What's wrong with my Jigsaw? I have no grout to clean. No tiled floors to lift and clean. No Artex. Nope.

Happens my brother emailed me, just the other day. Talking about the acres of artex in his new house. " I can't wait to start knocking it all off, with my Oscillating Tool! "

Can't help but think, that translates as: " Thank god! Finally a bloody job that can justify my having splashed out on this tool! "

Careful, some of the older artex stuff is filled with asbestos. I wouldnt be too keen on creating tonnes of dust until you get a sample tested. Or know for a fact it was installed long after asbestos was banned.

my3cents

my3cents wrote: »

I find myself using mine (Dewalt) more and more.

Cutting any holes in wooden floors or plaster walls its brilliant.

Cost of blades isn't much I buy these on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PDPCPPY/ .

Thanks,
I just ordered those.
I need some.

my3cents

jogdish wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies, given the cost of a DeWalt ( I'm not investing in yet another battery eco system even for Aldi/Lidl ), I think I will hold off for now - honestly just would not get used enough. My use the cash to buy one of those DeWalt lamps instead.

I was going to say that the DeWalt one isn't that expensive. Less than 12 months back I paid around £175 for this one but I see its now £255 :eek:

Worth watching as I know I watched the prices for a couple of months before buying to get it at that price.

listermint

my3cents wrote: »

I was going to say that the DeWalt one isn't that expensive. Less than 12 months back I paid around £175 for this one but I see its now £255 :eek:

Worth watching as I know I watched the prices for a couple of months before buying to get it at that price.

Corded one is far better value than that. Unless your really stuck for power on site work this is not worth the money for the average user.

my3cents

listermint wrote: »

Corded one is far better value than that. Unless your really stuck for power on site work this is not worth the money for the average user.

I look at a bit differently because the tool is genuinely a get out of jail free card.

Now I use the tool in two ways, planned and unplanned.

Planned use is nearly always a big job that will have the tool running for a decent length of time so corded would be fine but unplanned is like last week when it was wet and a shed door stuck. Nearest power was a good way away and I needed to trim about a 1/16 of an inch off a bracer that was sticking in the door jam. Job took less time than it took to get the tool out of the box and put it back again, battery tool was well worth it.

I had a €14.50 Lidl multi-tool for ages (bought it in a sale) but hardly ever used it, the more expensive battery tool gets used with increasing regularity.

Now I wouldn't have bought and wouldn't recommend the DeWalt one if I didn't already have an investment in DeWalt batteries. Even with just one battery (which is all you need here) I'd still recommend it.

The OP also mentioned DeWalt and Batteries.

CJhaughey

I have a lot of 110v stuff so it doesn't worry me unduly if its 110 or 240v but I found a cracking deal on toolstop for a Bosch GOP 55-36 oscillating tool, it has the new generation Starlock Max blade fitment which is backwards compatible to the older OIS system and also takes the Starlock and Starlock plus blades.
The thing is a beast with 550w it easily plunge cuts 3" into hardwood.
I used to to break down an old oak couch and it ate through the oak.
If you really need a battery tool then go for one, but for my usage a corded tool is preferable.
I really bought it to remove a lot of Mosaic tiling behind a worktop. Mosaics are a pain to remove without damaging plasterboard and the oscillating tool makes a very good job of doing that with little damage.

I have seen some amazing blades for them, things like vibrating carpet knives that allow you to cut heavy carpet close to the wall with no damage.
Cutting heavy rubber sheeting which is difficult and dangerous to cut with a stanley type blade.
edit: linky to 110v tool.
https://www.toolstop.co.uk/bosch-gop-55-36-starlock-multicutter-550w-with-1-blade-for-wood-and-metal-110v-p78031

my3cents

BrownFinger wrote: »

Thanks,
I just ordered those.
I need some.

Let us know how you get on with them. I'm not sure they are quite as good as the genuine DeWalt ones but at less than a 1/5th the price they only need to be half as good to be excellent value.

One thing I've found is that even the most expensive cutters for metal don't last if you use them to cut through screws. Modern screws are just so hard.

decky1

I see 'Impact Drivers ' in Lidl for 50 euro only one battery though, one on Screwfix for 70 with 2 batteries.

sligojoek

They've corded ones in Aldi at the moment for 29.99.

I find them very handy for cutting the bottom 10 - 12 mm off a fitted architrave so I can slip a tile underneath. Many's the set of bloody knuckles I got using a handsaw to do the same thing.

listermint

my3cents wrote: »

I look at a bit differently because the tool is genuinely a get out of jail free card.

Now I use the tool in two ways, planned and unplanned.

Planned use is nearly always a big job that will have the tool running for a decent length of time so corded would be fine but unplanned is like last week when it was wet and a shed door stuck. Nearest power was a good way away and I needed to trim about a 1/16 of an inch off a bracer that was sticking in the door jam. Job took less time than it took to get the tool out of the box and put it back again, battery tool was well worth it.

I had a €14.50 Lidl multi-tool for ages (bought it in a sale) but hardly ever used it, the more expensive battery tool gets used with increasing regularity.

Now I wouldn't have bought and wouldn't recommend the DeWalt one if I didn't already have an investment in DeWalt batteries. Even with just one battery (which is all you need here) I'd still recommend it.

The OP also mentioned DeWalt and Batteries.

Ya i have dewalt batteries and also dewalt table saw 54V there , great machine. But for occasional tools like an oscillator. i wouldnt spend 200+ euro when theres the same tool for 40 quid (sometimes from the same manufacturer)

You'd have to be using it for site work for that investment.