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While using my last good e-cut blade to cut out some framing, I inadvertently ran it into a framing nail... before I even knew what happened, half the teeth were gone.
In spite of the fact that I have a 2007 issue of Wood where there is a picture of the MM clearly sawing through a giant framing nail with an e-cut blade... you cannot cut nails larger than 2mm thick, perhaps finish nails and brads are about the limit.
So, I set off looking for some reasonably priced replacement blades, on Ebay, of course.
I found a company ("specialtydiamond") selling set after set of blades, in sets of 3,10 and 15.
They have 4 varieties: 1 1/8 wood, 2.5 wood, 1 1/8 bi-metal, and 1 1/8 "Japan" toothed.
They mostly sell 15 packs (5 each of the 1 1/8 wood,bi-metal and Japan). If you wait around, you can get them for $100, but typically they sell for $120 for a set (currently with free shipping).
Searching the individual's other listings, they also sell a Fein MM knock-off branded as SECCO.
If you do a search for "15 fein blades" you will find the ads. In each of the ads there is a video showing the guy zipping through a bunch of nails, some even seem pretty large. In the video he is going through them like they are made of butter.
Multimaster blade nirvana: reasonably priced blades that can cut through nails.
I got a set for $120 (shipped), that's $8 a blade. I'll try anything once.
They arrived in about 2 days from an individual's address (i.e. some guy is selling these out of his garage).
Having said that, they seem to be fine quality, well machined, no burrs, etc.
You can see from this picture how the mounting hole works on the star-post of the new MM, but in such a way that you can only mount it straight, or 90 degrees left or right.
The very first thing I did was to put the bi-metal blade on and try to go through some nails.
I started with some normal roofing nails.
And while it did eventually cut through the nail, it wasn't fast like the video - it took about 30 seconds to get through each one. And, after going through the nail, the blade still had teeth. Next I tried the most likely thing I would run into with these: a drywall screw.
Well, that was more than it could take. I spent the next few minutes trying to buzz through it, watching the sparks fly and the teeth round.
I tried multiple speeds (fast, slow, in between), and the result was the same.
These blades don't cut nails like they advertise - [sarcasm] color me shocked [/sarcasm]
.
So, $8 down
, I moved onto the wood blades.
I first tried the fine tooth (on some 2x4 pine).
A funny thing happened to that blade - it was like it wouldn't seat correctly, and was making a funny noise until I turned the speed down. It didn't cut well at all in that mode.
I removed it and replaced it a few times until it would make a normal sound on high speed - then it cut like crazy.
Nice fine, precise cuts.
Next, I tried the Japan blade - this one seated fine and MAN OH MAN does it cut fast.
The cuts are not as precise, but it seems to cut about twice as fast as the fine blade.
So... bottom line... these seem to be a fine set of wood blades for the money, but as for the metal cutting... don't count on it.
In spite of the fact that I have a 2007 issue of Wood where there is a picture of the MM clearly sawing through a giant framing nail with an e-cut blade... you cannot cut nails larger than 2mm thick, perhaps finish nails and brads are about the limit.
So, I set off looking for some reasonably priced replacement blades, on Ebay, of course.
I found a company ("specialtydiamond") selling set after set of blades, in sets of 3,10 and 15.
They have 4 varieties: 1 1/8 wood, 2.5 wood, 1 1/8 bi-metal, and 1 1/8 "Japan" toothed.
They mostly sell 15 packs (5 each of the 1 1/8 wood,bi-metal and Japan). If you wait around, you can get them for $100, but typically they sell for $120 for a set (currently with free shipping).
Searching the individual's other listings, they also sell a Fein MM knock-off branded as SECCO.
If you do a search for "15 fein blades" you will find the ads. In each of the ads there is a video showing the guy zipping through a bunch of nails, some even seem pretty large. In the video he is going through them like they are made of butter.
Multimaster blade nirvana: reasonably priced blades that can cut through nails.
I got a set for $120 (shipped), that's $8 a blade. I'll try anything once.
They arrived in about 2 days from an individual's address (i.e. some guy is selling these out of his garage).
Having said that, they seem to be fine quality, well machined, no burrs, etc.
You can see from this picture how the mounting hole works on the star-post of the new MM, but in such a way that you can only mount it straight, or 90 degrees left or right.
The very first thing I did was to put the bi-metal blade on and try to go through some nails.
I started with some normal roofing nails.
And while it did eventually cut through the nail, it wasn't fast like the video - it took about 30 seconds to get through each one. And, after going through the nail, the blade still had teeth. Next I tried the most likely thing I would run into with these: a drywall screw.
Well, that was more than it could take. I spent the next few minutes trying to buzz through it, watching the sparks fly and the teeth round.
I tried multiple speeds (fast, slow, in between), and the result was the same.
These blades don't cut nails like they advertise - [sarcasm] color me shocked [/sarcasm]
.So, $8 down
, I moved onto the wood blades.I first tried the fine tooth (on some 2x4 pine).
A funny thing happened to that blade - it was like it wouldn't seat correctly, and was making a funny noise until I turned the speed down. It didn't cut well at all in that mode.
I removed it and replaced it a few times until it would make a normal sound on high speed - then it cut like crazy.
Nice fine, precise cuts.
Next, I tried the Japan blade - this one seated fine and MAN OH MAN does it cut fast.
The cuts are not as precise, but it seems to cut about twice as fast as the fine blade.
So... bottom line... these seem to be a fine set of wood blades for the money, but as for the metal cutting... don't count on it.
Black wallnut
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