# Dremel Saw Max and Fein Multi-tool review



## ship (Mar 6, 2012)

Tried the Dremmel Saw Max yesterday and again today while working on the duplication of some old fixture parts. Was plunge and straight cutting the 10" focus slide to PC's in bulk that’s much like a Fresnel focus slide. This is in 26ga and a few 22ga steel copies - not thick stuff. On the first day, got thru 4.3/4 of the 10" cuts (120" in length) and it was really inaccurate cuts, on the second day, my 3" grinder wheel got thru four cuts = 40" worth of cutting and my disc was already down to 1.5/8" dia. thus mostly gone. Talking almost ten bucks per three pack of disc for this cutting wheel in thin gauge steel.

A little more accurate today in possibly why I buned thru more of the disc - recutting/aligning slots as opposed to just depending on the grinder to clean them up. Still by it’s design in cutting steel, (have not tried wood) you really cannot see the blade by way of escape of sparks in this design, and that front guide isn’t as easy to see while making sparks and keeping an eye on what's going on with the cut in a short slot. Might need to paint marker the V-Groove yellow at best for some semblance of accuracy. 

Overall, in cutting metal it’s lots of sparks and limited hope over other tools of cutting accurately. My cordless 5.1/4" DeWalt saw with a cutoff blade makes less sparks in the viewing area given the size of it’s shield in seeing what you are doing. While not tried with the dust of wood cutting, I suspect just as much problems with the Saw Max with wood in dust obscuring your free hand cut.

Biggest troubles on the Saw Max for me after the above was both the trigger and jump in a combination of startup to the tool. Very safe on/off switch from a manufacturer standpoint, fingering the safety part of that switch and also gripping the large go’ part of that switch... very cumbersome. Add that with the right angle high speed of the saw jumping to a start in also trying to hold it down... this while fingering the swich and you get a jump in motor that at times will whip it out of your hand. Really, while trying to do all, it will rip itself out of your hand and start over. Start up torque is a bit high.

Neither the above DeWalt saw or even my 13 AMP Skill Saw Worm Drive 7.1/4" saw that has a jump - perhaps the worm drive but one is ready for it's power and one isn't doing a double switch. Such tools don't have as much a jump you are are not ready for in doing an accurate cut and are more powerful. Both have larger plates and in general more weight to the tools. The Saw Max given difficulty of trigger, and lack of base and weight, literally will rip out of your hand unless prepared for it, and even than hard to get an accurate start to the cut by way of having to re-align.
TBA on the McMaster grinding disc to replace expensive Dremmel grinding wheels. Way to expensive grinding wheels. Really, almost ten bucks for three discs given they are good for around 120" of inaccurate cut or at best 60" worth of accurate cut in thin steel?

Fein Multi-Tool notes.

On the Fein, did find it’s dimmer switch initially. Up to now I have been burning thru sanding pads and when I tried to cut into MDF, it was total crap in too fast and wiggly. New hope for this tool for use, total my mistake in being too fast now that what seems like a brush know I know is a speed switch. Note on the expensive pads for the tool, McMaster Carr sells hook and loop sanding pads - say part number 8223a28 for such 4.1/2x4.1/4 pads in packs of ten. Cut to fit and save money. Why I bought the Fein over other brand... because of the commercial a year ago. After that... Tool shop over Fein... don’t know but I know Fein has been in business a few years longer.


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