Get a lot of burning with Multimaster

[MartinW]

Hi,

I've recently bought a Fein Multimaster and I can't seem to cut into wood without it creating a lot of smoke and burning the wood.
It happens with even softwoods like a 2 X 4 or a even a small piece of molding.  I've tried it on various speeds and I still get the same result.
Do other folks have this issue or am I doing something wrong? 

Thanks,
Martin.

 

[Daniel_n]

In order to cut without burning you need a blade for wood that is sharp and clean. You should only use light pressure, letting the blade cut, and not press it through the wood. Also make sure you dont twist or bend the blade, and don't apply force to the blade so that the side of the blade makes more contact than necessary with the "walls"/side (i don't know what it's called, I hope you understand what I am trying to say, otherwise please let me know) of the cut, because if you do, the heat created by the fricition may burn the wood.

 

[erikfsn]

Whenever I have burning with my version it's due to a dull blade.

 

[Mirko]

The Fien is like no other cutting tool....
What sets it apart from the rest....
1) Overly priced consumables (I never consider a blade you can sharpen a consumable)
2) Blades can't be sharpened
3) Blades last about 5 seconds
4) It costs about 50 bucks an hour to use (use it for an hour and tally up the bill for blades)
5) Only 5-10% of the attachments are actually useful... but very expensive!!
enough for now...
Regards,

Mirko

 

[MartinW]

I tried a little less force, keeping the blade as straight as possible and I got a little less burning, but it was still really smoking as I got half way through the cut.  I was just cutting into the edge of a 3/4" piece of birch ply.  I've only made a 3 or 4 cuts with the blade so I think it's still sharp and, well it looks clean.  How long do the blades last in general?  For instance, how many 2 X 4 studs would you expect to cut through before the blade would go dull?

Thanks very much for your prompt replies.  

 

[sw1211]

The Fien is like no other cutting tool....
What sets it apart from the rest....
1) Overly priced consumables (I never consider a blade you can sharpen a consumable)
2) Blades can't be sharpened
3) Blades last about 5 seconds
4) It costs about 50 bucks an hour to use (use it for an hour and tally up the bill for blades)
5) Only 5-10% of the attachments are actually useful... but very expensive!!
enough for now...
Regards,

Mirko

All the more reason to use these

 

[tDot]

Think of the cutting teeth of a multimaster like a handsaw.  You would rarely cut into framing material with the teeth of your handsaw blade fully engaged in the wood, instead you change the angle of the saw so that you decrease the number of teeth that are cutting at the same time.  Just as with a handsaw, you will actually speed up your cut by having fewer teeth engaged in the wood at one time.  I try to keep about max 1/3 of the blade cutting at any one time.

Another thing to consider is as you plunge into wood that you keep the cut wider then the blade.  I go for blade width plus about an minimum of an additional 1/4" to allow room for the blade as it follows its' path during the oscillations.  If you plunge straight into the wood the side teeth actually have no ability to cut the wood fibers, as the teeth dont have the room to move past the wood fiber.  Instead the outermost teeth are crushing the fibers and pushing them out of the way, if you dont actively try to make a cut that is just a little wider then the blade.

As other posters have said, dont push too hard, let the saw do the work and make sure the blade is sharp, they are easily heat tempered at which point you might as well throw them out.

During renovations, the multimaster is indispensable, but it is ridiculously expensive to operate, though it still saves me money, when I compare it to the time that it saves.

 

[Peter Hamilton-Scott]

Sound advice on letting the tool do the work. I recently had to cut into some wood and I was mindful about keeping the side-to-side oscillations away from the side of the adjoining material. Once I learned to get the initial angle of insertion correct (the MM is a heavy puppy) it cut true with no evidence of burning or scorching.

I also envy you US guys who have access to cheaper attachments for it. The cost of buying a MM is only the beginning. One of my local hardware shops stocks other attachments and some I've been interested in can't be justified because of their price. If anyone in the UK knows of a local stockist of generic attachments I'd like to hear from you.

 

[monstrol]

The Fien is like no other cutting tool....
What sets it apart from the rest....
1) Overly priced consumables (I never consider a blade you can sharpen a consumable)
2) Blades can't be sharpened
3) Blades last about 5 seconds
4) It costs about 50 bucks an hour to use (use it for an hour and tally up the bill for blades)
5) Only 5-10% of the attachments are actually useful... but very expensive!!
enough for now...
Regards,

Mirko

LOL! Mirko.  So true.  And yet I swear by mine.
Matt

 

[timbo]

Sound advice on letting the tool do the work. I recently had to cut into some wood and I was mindful about keeping the side-to-side oscillations away from the side of the adjoining material. Once I learned to get the initial angle of insertion correct (the MM is a heavy puppy) it cut true with no evidence of burning or scorching.

I also envy you US guys who have access to cheaper attachments for it. The cost of buying a MM is only the beginning. One of my local hardware shops stocks other attachments and some I've been interested in can't be justified because of their price. If anyone in the UK knows of a local stockist of generic attachments I'd like to hear from you.

I find the more agressive and deeper japanese tooth blade better in wood, Ithink that the small teeth of the standard and bi-metal blades cant get rid of the sawdust fast eneough, and so starts to burn.
Blades availableon E-bay from here; http://stores.shop.ebay.fr/specialtydiamondproducts__W0QQ_armrsZ1 UK orders are dispatched from London.

 

[MartinW]

I think I've probably ruined the blade with all of the heat buildup, so I've ordered some of the japanese toothed blades from the Multiblades site recommended by Steve.
I'll use the techniques suggested and hopefully that will solve my issue.  I was beginning to think that I'd got a defective unit, but it seems that you just need to get some practice with it.
Does anyone have an opinion on the quality of the blades from the Multiblades site verses the fein blades?

Thanks again for all the great responses.  I knew I'd get the info I needed here.

Martin.

 

[erikfsn]

Interesting, with my supercut, I've stopped buying the longer toothed japanese style blades because they are so fragile, the teeth get knocked off just cutting wood.

I use only Fein blades, and usually the metal/wood ones seem the toughest. They last long enough to more than pay for the kinds of cuts I can do with them.

 

[Rob-GB]

The blades can be re-sharpened. If you manage as I did to get a dull blade hot you can resharpen it using a file, mind you I did ruin it trimming some hard to get at fibreglass, it got so hot it softened the GRP ;D. The only down side is they need a lick with the file every other cut.
Excellent tool and like the Domino reports we read, a new use every day!

Back to OP, the short stroke of the blade really begs to let the weight of the tool do the work, or for you to mimic the weight while defying gravity, with practice you will get the 'feel' for it.

Rob.

 

[jmbfestool]

The Fien is like no other cutting tool....
What sets it apart from the rest....
1) Overly priced consumables (I never consider a blade you can sharpen a consumable)
2) Blades can't be sharpened
3) Blades last about 5 seconds
4) It costs about 50 bucks an hour to use (use it for an hour and tally up the bill for blades)
5) Only 5-10% of the attachments are actually useful... but very expensive!!
enough for now...
Regards,

Mirko

Worth the money I have saved many hours where I couldnt get studding out with out damage to ceiling or wall and many other things where it has saved me loads of money well worth brilliant tool.  4x2 soft wood the blades last long enough. I agree Plywood it does stuggle abit and it struggles in hard wood when your cutting with the grain. but if ur cutting panels or flooring out where you cant cut deeper than the thickness of the sheet material. You cut most of it with the circular saw then use the fein the cut the corners you have a perfect clean cut out which other whise would of been impossible to do because you cant use your hand saw nor can you use a chisel. So it makes some impossible jobs possible.

 

[jmbfestool]

Think of the cutting teeth of a multimaster like a handsaw.  You would rarely cut into framing material with the teeth of your handsaw blade fully engaged in the wood, instead you change the angle of the saw so that you decrease the number of teeth that are cutting at the same time.  Just as with a handsaw, you will actually speed up your cut by having fewer teeth engaged in the wood at one time.  I try to keep about max 1/3 of the blade cutting at any one time.

Another thing to consider is as you plunge into wood that you keep the cut wider then the blade.  I go for blade width plus about an minimum of an additional 1/4" to allow room for the blade as it follows its' path during the oscillations.  If you plunge straight into the wood the side teeth actually have no ability to cut the wood fibers, as the teeth dont have the room to move past the wood fiber.  Instead the outermost teeth are crushing the fibers and pushing them out of the way, if you dont actively try to make a cut that is just a little wider then the blade.

As other posters have said, dont push too hard, let the saw do the work and make sure the blade is sharp, they are easily heat tempered at which point you might as well throw them out.

During renovations, the multimaster is indispensable, but it is ridiculously expensive to operate, though it still saves me money, when I compare it to the time that it saves.

Do what he says he is dead on right best way is to move the fein from point to point less contact is better!!! It flys through 4x2 as quick as you can cut it by hand

 

[Rob-GB]

I have to agree JMBFESTOOL, my first use of this tool was while in Germany, trimming vinyl wrapped door lining and architrave sets to let laminate flooring fit under them. I was sold on the concept there and then. While the replacement blades are not cheap they do save more work time than than they cost and save against numerous barked knuckles in tight places.

 

[jmbfestool]

I have to agree JMBFESTOOL, my first use of this tool was while in Germany, trimming vinyl wrapped door lining and architrave sets to let laminate flooring fit under them. I was sold on the concept there and then. While the replacement blades are not cheap they do save more work time than than they cost and save against numerous barked knuckles in tight places.

Perfect for that taking bottom of door frames and architrave. You know what els its helped me out alot with is when you are ripping out old large timber but you cant prize it away anough the get the nail to let go either becuase you have not got the strength or the room but you can pull it enough to get the Fein to cut the two large  6inch nails holding it to gether cutts through nails pretty easy I cut about 12 off them and still cuts wood. It doesnt really work with screws though they are to hard. I snapped a screw head off so I couldnt remove the door frame so tryed to cut the screw because I had removed the architrave so I could get to the screw behind the wood but unlucky for me the fein wouldnt cut it so I just got a chisel gave it a good hit and snapped the screw.

 

[Rob-GB]

My go to kit for hardened modern screws is a really sharp electricians bolster and a big club hammer, one wack it's gone!. Quite satisfying too  [big grin].

 

[danrush]

OK Rob, I'll bite...  what the heck is an electricians bolster?  a chisel?? (I got the big club hammer bit). 

Thanks

 

[TheToolPlace]

OK Rob, I'll bite...   what the heck is an electricians bolster?  a chisel?? (I got the big club hammer bit). 

Thanks

I found some info on Bolsters here.

I was wondering too!  [unsure]

Chad