Even those of us who are not exactly on the cutting edge of technology seem to be jumping ship from traditional power tools over to oscillating multi tools.  It just seems to make good sense.  Oscillating multi tools are made by pretty much all of the major tool manufacturers these days.  They use a back-and-forth motion instead of the rotational motion that most of us are familiar with, and they can be used for a wider range of tasks than the traditional spinning attachments.  Anyone who spends any time at all doing construction, woodwork, renovations, carpentry, masonry, sculpting, crafting, boat building, or anything of the kind should probably invest in one of these things.  They don’t cost much, and they will make your work faster, easier, and probably just better overall.

Multi tool blades come in dozens of variations, and they are the real key to these tools.  With the right blades, you can turn one multi tool into several different pieces of equipment, pretty much getting rid of the need for half a garage or truck full of tools.  If you already have a circular saw, band saw, reciprocating saw, power sander, polishing wheel, rasp, power scraper, chisel set, and full set of traditional hand tools, that’s great.  The question is – how much of that stuff do you feel like carrying around with you?  Those of us who have practically every tool known to mankind can enjoy them all in a nice, well-powered workshop where we can spread things out.  If that’s the only way you work, then you are really lucky.  Most of us don’t have such convenience.  The majority of repair and construction projects don’t take place in the hobby shop.  They happen on-site.  That typically means you have to transport your tools across rooftops, over ice, through mud, up in trees, underneath sinks, behind refrigerators, up in attics, in tiny bathrooms, or other cramped or hard-to-reach spaces.  If this sounds like your life, you have GOT to get a multi tool if you don’t have one already.

Multi tool blades in the pocket and an oscillating tool in your hand or in a case or bag with a strap – that’s all you need for a lot of jobs.  You can travel really light and still do an incredible variety of work: shaping wood, cutting plastics and fiberglass, trimming carpet, scraping up dried concrete and paint, removing tile grout, cutting linoleum, polishing metals, ripping through branches, or making precise custom moldings.  The tools tend to be light and very easy to handle, giving you tremendous control over your job.  In terms of speed, it tends to be much faster to switch out a blade than it is to witch tools entirely.

The one potential drawback of the oscillating multi tool is really the same drawback of using any power tool – eventually, you have to replace the attachments.  Multi tool blades are not typically cheap, especially the brand name blades.  However, there is a way to escape paying brand name prices for your blades.  There are a few places that manufacture off-brand replacement blades.  Some of them are definitely better than others.  Most of the buzz these days seems to be centering on fitzallblades.com because they are supplying really precise, high quality blades of every variety.  They are compatible with every make and model, and the prices are impressively low – a small fraction of what you would have to pay if you got the blades from the name brand tool manufacturer.  If you use your multi tool a lot, having the option of replacing your blades less expensively through an off-brand manufacturer may be the best way to reduce your costs.  There are a few good sources out there, so it’s worth it to do a little bit of shopping around.