New-to-me MultiMaster

[orionschild]

I just bought a Fein MultiMaster in an online auction and I have a few questions. It was advertised as a 636 model and came in a case labeled as sander, I thought I was buying more of an oscillating plunge tool. There are blades and sanding pads in the case so I guess it does both. The "bit"(?) that the blade mounts to has a smooth surface. Is this normal? My Harbor Freight version has raised pins to engage the hole pattern in the blades. The only marking I can find on the tool are cast into the orange body of the tool, PA6-GF35. The reason I bought this is because the pins on my HF version are wearing down and the blades get loose and won't cut. Is this tool missing something or was it designed with no pins?

 

[luvmytoolz]

I'm trying to recall with my Fein MT, I think it has a thin disk with the pins that engages the blades, maybe you're missing this part?

If no-one else chimes in to confirm, i'll take a pic for you when i'm home tonight.

 

[orionschild]

Thanks for your reply, a picture might be helpful. This is what I'm dealing with. It seems to me that friction isn't going to be enough to keep the blade oscillating. I've looked through everything else in the case but don't see anything that might engage the blades. There are several blades with various generic patterns.

 

[luvmytoolz]

That just doesn't look right, definitely having a look at mine tonight.

 

[tjbnwi]

That’s an older model that just clamps the blade, they were a pain to work with.

Tom

 

[orionschild]

Well, not what I wanted to hear but thanks for the feedback.

 

[Cheese]

Ya, I believe your tool is either a Gen 1 or a Gen 2 machine. The versions that followed, had male protrusions on the blade mount that positively indexed the blade and prevented its rotation.

 

[orionschild]

Ya, I believe your tool is either a Gen 1 or a Gen 2 machine. The versions that followed, had male protrusions on the blade mount that positively indexed the blade and prevented its rotation.

 

[orionschild]

Thanks for your input. Do you know if Fein made an adapter or upgrade available?
Nice bike.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Thanks for your input. Do you know if Fein made an adapter or upgrade available?
Nice bike.

That tool is gen 2 or 3 but the arbor is still the original style. The round arbor was designed to work with the round blade and it works fine with that blade, which is still my favorite general purpose blade.

Round blades are by far the smoothest cutting but when you need to make a narrow cut to avoid cutting adjacent material you have to change to a narrow blade, which will loosen the arbor screw when the corners of the blade bang into the ends of the kerf. So they had two problems to solve, the loosening of the screw and the time it took to change blades. The result was Starlock, which makes switching blades very quick.

 

[Cheese]

You likely have a Gen 2 Fein. Here's a quick rundown on the visual differences.

Gen Original was the first cast cutter, notice the flat surface that the blade rides on.

Gen 1 still offers a flat surface for the blade to ride on. I owned one of these and you needed to use leather gloves to continue to use it after about 15 minutes.

I think this is your tool a Gen 2, notice the flat surface for the blade.

At any rate, here are some photos of genuine Fein cutting tools that my Gen 1 Fein used. Like Michael said, the round blades are by far the smoothest cutting of the bunch.

 

[Michael Kellough]

@Cheese, I bought the 1986 version, back then. Wouldn’t that be Gen 2? So the later version with the black head would be Gen 3?

 

[Frank-Jan]

I never owned a multimaster, but the supercut uses a blade adapter for the sanding attachments. The fsc2.0 had one for the type you have, I think there was an O-ring on it. The toolless bladechange model Fsc 2.0Q I have has an adapter with the X pattern for the slightly newer multimaster blades. (I have a starlock adapter for that one too)

/edit: I think the O-ring was on the toolside of the adapter, not the blade side; not 100% sure though, I lent it out to a colleague, so I can't check at the moment.

 

[leakyroof]

Thanks for your input. Do you know if Fein made an adapter or upgrade available?
Nice bike.

Contact a Fein dealer or Fein USA, they 'might' have an idea if the Arbor can be changed out for the later version with the pins .

 

[Cheese]

Nice bike.

Thanks... ...purchased it new in 1973 and it now commands its own space in the garage. The paint is still really nice considering it was done back in 1975 but the bright work oxidation needs to be cleaned up with some Semichrome...a project for over the winter.

 

[Cheese]

@Cheese, I bought the 1986 version, back then. Wouldn’t that be Gen 2? So the later version with the black head would be Gen 3?

Just my thoughts Michael......I always considered the 1986 version as Gen 1 because it was the first commercial offering available for woodworkers. The white model was a medical tool.

Also, the lines are pretty blurred because Fein released a bunch of different models on what seemed like a bi/tri-yearly basis and each one was different.