Choosing Blades

I haven't watched the videos yet. I like my oscillating tool but the blades have been a huge source of frustration and expense. Even the bi-metal blades don't last long when you do hit a nail. And they are so expensive. Fortunately, I have just tried a carbide blade by Dremel (I just recently saw it for the first time) and I have been cutting nails to my heart's delight and the blade just keeps going. What is even better is that it is not more expensive (or barely) than bi-metal blades. I really recommend the carbide blade.

Another way I have been killing my bi-metal blades is when I cut the metal lath at the corners of my old plaster walls. The lath is imbedded in sand coat (mix of sand and cement and then covered with plaster) and after less than 5 minutes the teeth on the blades are completely gone turning my blade into a scraper. So now I cut the lath with my numerous toothless blades... it requires more muscle but it still gets the job done and is the way I have found that makes the least cement/plaster dust. I have tried other types of blades (even grout removal blades) but nothing worked any better than my toothless blades which are not great either. The good news is that the instructions on the Dremel carbide blade say that it is good for cement. I'm looking forward to testing that out the next time I cut the corner lath.

already I used these tools, Really this machine worked very well.

what is the best blade for the fein multmaster to cut plaster and lath walls for an outlet.thanks

Hello George,
I would recommend a segmented or full round bi-metal blade. I would use the round blade because with a straight blade you will be often banging into the latch as the saw punches through. Understand that the plaster will dull the blade quickly, but it will cut through with the least dust of any cutting tool.
- Jon

It may be surprising to you Doug, but that soft gypsum is almost as hard on blades as trying to cut through a sharpening stone.  In fact it is recommended that holes for anchors in drywall be cut with carbide tipped drills.  In fact that is why drywall is cut through the paper and snapped using disposable utility blades. The blade cuts very little gypsum.

Yes the renovation bi-metal blade would be a good choice for any drywall and certainly for metal lathe and plaster.  The blade will wear, but not because of the metal.  The beauty of an oscillating tool for cutting through old plaster walls is that it is as close as we can get to a dustless operation.

Jon...Do you recommend a bi-metal blade for cutting dry wall? My house was built in 1948 (St. Lambert) and in previous reno projects I needed to cut and remove existing dry wall which contained metal mesh in areas. My recip saw metal blade wore out in no time. Looks like the Fein oscillating tool is the ideal tool for this job. I would appreciate your thoughts.