Customer Reviews

Dremel 6300-01 120-Volt Multi-Max Oscillating Kit

5 star:		(131)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I received my Dremel Multi-Max about a week ago and was anxious to try it out on a serious project. The Project: Cut out exterior window molding that had begun to rot. The tool did the job as expected; in fact I felt like a surgeon cutting out a tumor. However, after just a few minutes of use, the blade came off - not good. The tool oscillates at a high rate of speed which also means it vibrates. I must admit when I installed the blade I was skeptical that a simple hex nut and beveled washer would hold the blade in place. Obviously, it didn't (and yes, the beveled washer was installed correctly per Dremel's clear warning). I reinstalled the blade and re-tightened the hex-nut (forcefully to the point the amount of torque made me wonder how long the hub mount would last).

I contacted Dremel and they admitted the loosening blade was a known issue and a fix had been developed in the form of another washer (I presumed a lock washer, but the customer service rep was not sure). She offered to overnight express the washer to me and of course I declined the generous offer and suggested they simply drop it in the mailbox.

Aside from this mishap, I'm pleased and the prospects of the tool are very good. As the first reviewer points out, the blades that come with the kit are wood only blades. However, metal and grout blades are available. Here's my rating of the various aspects of the tool:

1. Ergonomics - 5-star. Ergonomically, this tool feels good in your hand. Not too big with enough heft to feel like a quality tool. I have used the Fein Multi-master which is bigger and heavier than the Dremel version. However, I like the feel of the Dremel.

2. Power - 5-star. Although I cut through relatively easy-to-cut pine, the tool never felt under-powered. For most projects where you'd use this tool, I don't think power will be an issue. The ability to cut through materials is likely to be dictated by the blade used (true of any saw).

3. Durability - ?-star. Time will tell. My guess is that the blade changing hub will be the first to go if you end up changing blades frequently.

4. Blade Change Feature - 2-star. In the era of quick blade change everything, Dremel missed the mark with a conventional hex screw setup. It is a slow process of switching from one blade to another. This is where the Fein tool has a distinct edge.

5. Carrying Case - 5-star. Surprisingly nice, well made, attractive, and can hold a few extra blades.

6. Cord Length - 3-star. It's 6' feet long and of avg quality. Would have been nice if longer and more rubbery than plastic (just doesn't uncoil like you'd expect from a good quality electric tool). However, tools with long cords can introduce some baggage.

7. Dremel Customer Service - 5-star. My experience exceeded my expectations. Other companies should take notice.

8. Value - 4-star. In case you're unaware, Fein had the patent on the oscillating saw until September 30, 2008. This is why it cost $400+ all these years. On October 1st, Dremel, Bosch, and Chicago all came out with competing versions. The Chicago version is on sale at Harbor Freight for $39 while the Bosch (which is battery operated) is just under $200. At just under $100, the Dremel is likely a little over-priced, but, still a decent value. I suspect once Hitachi, Makita, Milwaukee, Ridgid, and others get in on the act, the price will get closer to $50. Their money is made with the replacement blades.

Washer Update - I received the washer from Dremel. As I said above, their customer service was impressive; at least over the phone. The washer I receiver appears to be more of a passifier instead of a solution. It is a flat washer that is significantly over-sized; not fitting the hub's shaft. I finally bought a right-sized lock-washer and it appears to have done the trick. I retract my 5-star Dremel Customer Service rating above, however, I still recommend the product.

I've always loved my Dremel tools so I jumped on this & bought it as soon as it was available. I didn't read the "fine print" that it's for WOOD ONLY. I wish someone would have warned me.

The Dremel Multi-Max does NOT have a "REAL" METAL=IRON=NAILS cutting blade! It is not ready for prime time, i.e. a busy worksite! Even Bosch makes their PS50 use a Fein blade adapter.

One the other hand, it is SUPER on wood by itself (= 5 STARS !!). Plunge cuts into 3/4 sub-floor plywood for air ducts are wonderfully smooth, pencil line thin, cuts with very little dust thrown about. Detail smoothing, edgeing, shaping around hard to get at places is as easy as can be. I've even "planed" slivers off of cupboard doors, and other tightly fitted pieces, so they fit snug but don't rub/touch. The more I use it the more I LOVE it!

But even home DIY projects have nails in them. Careful! Just get a Fein 250Q instead ($$), or get the Bosch PS50 (8 minute battery)(Dremel's parent company) and use Fein blades for small projects. Save yourself some frustration & dull/broken blades if you are out of a wood working shop.

Bosch/Dremel says that they will actually send "replacement" blade stock to stores sometime in November. Here's hoping (After CPODremel unceremoniously CANCELLED my order through Amazon!)! I've hit a couple of nails so far and the kit included blade still works for now. I'm getting the 422 blades when available because they are the strongest.

Two week owner Update: Lovin' it more each time I turn it on! I'm now glad I got mine before they raised the price! You betcha!

Three week update: The blades haven't actually broken on nails yet. And it still seems to cut OK, as in - not too dull. Got a B&D CHS6000 6-Volt Handisaw for those pesky nails when I find them. Seems to be a good combo as the Handisaw will cut a bit faster on heavier wood after the M-Max defines the cut line & corner shapes, which it is super at. The limited amount and lack of dispersion of sawdust still surprises me every time!

I've tried several ways to make my overall review 4 stars but Amazon doesn't change it. Sorry, Dremel...

12-02: Added three images of a sub-floor patch showing the use of a Guide Board to get real square straight & parallel to the supporting joist. Wore out the first Wood Cut MM440 blade to butter knife sharpness. It just smoked when pressed to the wood-- after several dozen yards of 3/4 plywood and hitting numerous nails. Not too bad for a one inch cutting surface.

Jan-09 update: Blades seem to last longer now that I know to work around nails (when I can). Another things that makes cutting easier, especially in thicker wood, is to wiggle the blade from side to side as cutting to give it a little more air around the blade. This reduces friction (=heat) and allows the dust to escape. When cutting I use almost no pressure (hard habit to break after using other power tools) so "the blade does the work". Seems to go even faster!

I've gotten so used to this tool I need to remind myself to use a sawsall or bigger power tool for bigger jobs (just to save the blade). It doesn't get hot (small efficient motor?) or uncomfortable in the hand after long use. And I did get the extra washer to hold the blade on (thanks!) but never had one come loose myself. I've finished most of my big projects with the MMs help so I thought I'd give a shoutout "Thanks!" to Dremel while I remembered.

I have watched the advertisement on television for the Fein Multimaster but not having deep pockets I decided to purchase the Multi-Max and try it out. I have used it for a number of different jobs and for the most part it did a good job. Here are some of the tasks that it took on.

Cutting holes in drywall: It works great for cutting holes for electrical boxes - the straight blades leave a nice clean hole without a lot of dust. For those times when you need to get access to plumbing to make changes or to repair a pipe it works nicely. In one case I removed the drywall, made the necessary changes then I was able to reuse the drywall to close up the hole.

Making a flush cut in wood siding: I installed new sliding glass doors that opened on a deck. It worked perfectly to cut the siding at the deck plate so I could get the old door out while leaving a clean cut for the new trim.

Removing underlayment (flooring) next to cabinets: The old underlayment was not reusable and I did not want to remove the cabinets so I made a cut in the the underlayment at the cabinets then removed the majority of the underlayment.

Cutting plumbing tubes and pipes: It did a good job on copper pipe buried in the wall and it did ok on plastic drain pipe. It would cut the plastic but it would melt if you didn't move fast enough.

I probably used this tool for 16 hours total over two months and it worked fine. I didn't have problems with the blades coming loose and it never got hot enough to stop because of overheating. The only blade I didn't use very much was the half circle - with drywall it seems to throw a lot of dust.

Could I have done this work with other tools? Almost certainly but it would have taken longer or there would have been a lot more extra work to repair the damage from other tools. The last job I did with it was to add an electrical box inside a cabinet above a stove. I had to cut through 1/4" of plywood and 1/2" of drywall. It was really tight and this little tool allowed me to get inside a make a clean cut that was a perfect fit for the box.

I plan on getting a grout blade next for replacing the grout lines in a tile surface. If I did a lot of remodeling I would purchase the Fein but even so this tooled payed for itself on this one remodeling project.

I've been using this tool for two weeks. My use is mostly for making dollhouses and miniatures. I do a lot of sanding, some cutting, some scraping. So far I have found the sanding to be very quick, very efficient, and super easy to switch from working with bare plywood to painted finishes with the Velcro-like attaching system.

The scraper is a good size and the design seems to work well. I have used it to separate glued parts, remove beads of glue, etc. and it has worked well and been easy to control. The lower speed settings seem to help with the control so that I don't get gouges when I misdirect the tool.

The cutting is still a bit of a mystery. I'm not sure why the included blade just has teeth on the end of it. I was expecting to be able to cut a line, but can only do that with the half-round blades, which are sometimes too big for the tight spaces I work in. I may need to learn better technique with the larger blade or maybe cut one in half. For that matter, mounting it sideways might work, so I'll have to try that.

The size and feel of the tool is very good. I was surprised by its size, expecting it to be like the rotary tool, but it is larger. Very comfortable for longer sanding jobs, though. All-in-all just the right power and flexibility to make it very handy on the miniatures workbench.

Bought the Dremel at Home Depot. Under a $100, cheap compared to the Fein. But it is only good for crafts and soft woods or non-ferrous metals.

This is not for the contractor or professional as NAILS and SCREWS are often encountered and need cutting.

I was trying to remove exterior trims (Miratec) using the MM442 Wood & Metal cutting blades. However, I hit a nail and the blades teeth were immediately blown out.

Tried using the MM450 Wood and Drywall blade to plunge cut through 1/2" OSB. Took for ever to cut. Blade was dull after one plunge cut.

Tried the MM440 Wood blade to cut some douglas fir studs and it too was a struggle.

I gave up on the Dremel Multi-Max and used my circular saw.

I would only recommend this for soft woods, plastics and gypbd.

The most frustrating thing for me, when it comes to reading customer tool reviews, is trying to decipher some bad reviews and determine whether the tool in question received a negative due to the tool or to the owner of the tool. This is more of a finesse tool, something you would use when you need to sand, cut, or scrape those areas where a sander or large cutting implement is not practical. It is not really meant to replace a circular, jig, or reciprocating saw. So when I read a bad review on here and I see that someone finished the project with some 13-15 amp tool, I have to believe that the tool was probably not used for what it was meant for.

I purchased this tool a few months ago. I have an older home and I have a "to do" list that is quite expansive. Piping is old, the staircase is in the process of being stripped and sanded, I had to repair a badly cobble job on a roof, etc. I pick up tools to help me with the job from time to time. This one I used for sanding tight spots, cutting copper pipe, scraping narrow and tight areas, etc. So far, I have been impressed with the tool, but it is not the first tool that I reach for when I am working on a project. It is a tool I use when I need a small tool that can help me with a number of uses that require finesse.

When I pick up the tool, it feels good in my hand. It doesn't feel cheap and the casing is pretty solid. I have been told that the Fein feels and works much better. For the price, I would hope so. But I didn't have it in my budget to spend so much for a tool that I would only use in certain situations. The tool is an oscillating tool so I expected the thing to feel like I grabbed a tiger by the tail. I was quite surprised that I felt no vibration and that I had a good deal of control when applying it to a specific area. I didn't experience any issues with the attachment staying firm on the tool, so I believe the issue encountered by some others has been resolved.

So far, I have mostly used it for sanding and scraping, with a little bit of metal cutting thrown in. I had gooped up paint in areas of the stairs that I am refinishing that was in tight areas that I could not seem to reach with a sander and was too tight for me to effectively get to with a hand scraper. I applied this tool and within a couple minutes, the paint came off in a nice clean strip. The tool is quite powerful in such tight areas and it made me immediately glad I purchased it. I did dig a little too deep at times but the fault was mine and not the tool itself. It does feel warm after a short time of use, but I never felt it become uncomfortable to hold. Again, I am not using it to sand the floor or crosscut 2x4s, I am using it for tight areas that I cannot reach with a more powerful tool.

I have viewed online tests and I have not seen any bad professional reviews. The Dremel blade attachments are not as high a quality as the Fein, so I believe some of the complaints that people have are related to the blade, not the tool itself. Dremel does not make an adapter to use Fein blades but I did see a clever article where a man snipped an old dremel attachment and used it as an adapter to fasten a Fein blade to the tool.

When some have referred to this tool as a "hobbyist" tool, it ruffles my feathers a little. I have plenty of large jobs around the house. I do not have plenty of large jobs in several different houses, but I am definitely doing more than playing with small wood blocks for crafts. It may not be suitable for the excessive wear and tear that comes with contract work (actually the attachments are probably not suitable for such excessive wear and tear), but it has held up to the challenges here.

And the thing I really wish people would remember is the warranty. If the tool stopped working, take it back or have it fixed. Dremel does have good customer support and their reputation is pretty solid.

The only real complaint I have (and it is a petty one) is the blow molded case. It was not designed well. There are slots that seem to be designed for holding the attachments but they are hollow and the blades slip inside and I had to shake the case once or twice to get the thing out (Picture a pick slipping in a guitar hole and you get the picture). Otherwise, I am pleased with the performance of the tool.

I think many of us have come to this product due to the commercials on TV for the Fein Multi-Master- a similar tool that sells for hundreds more. Frankly the quality feel of this product coupled with its performance has me convinced that Dremel belted one out of the park on their Multi-Max.

I have already put this thing to the test by using it to cut very precice holes in our plaster walls for the purpose of installing new power outlets. We have very old heavy plaster walls that use a "scratch coat" material which approaches the density of concrete. While there is no real masonry blade for this unit, the Grout Removal blade performed very well, but I admittedly wore out one half of the edge of its blade already on that rough dense plaster. The grout blade works on fine plaster as though it is not even there. And the wood blade cut through the lath like butter.

What was such a success was the control and precision that I had with the cut- there was nearly no damage to the wall outside of where I was cutting, and the hole itself had nice square edges. This, in comparison to drilling into the wall with a masonry bit, then with a wood bit, at each corner of my planned cut, then using either a jigsaw or a reciprocating saw to do the cutting; this old process does nothing but damage your walls and create really rough cuts that need a lot of repair afterwards.

Not to forget the dust control. With the old reciprocating saw method, dust gets thrown everywhere due to the violent nature of the cutting blade. With the Dremel Multi-Max, the dust simply falls straight down. (to be sure, very fine dust does go into the air, so wear a mask) For the most part the dust is controlled to a very close perimeter, and will not be all over the room.

This tool is going to revolutionize the repair and renovation work that I do on my house. Its not very loud, its compact, solid and high quality. The blade change is simple and robust. My two criticisms 1) that it does get hot during prolonged use, and 2) when cutting into deep plaster (which is was not really intended for) it takes a bit of time to get the cut done. BUT! The quick cuts that I will now be able to make, with the level of control that I never had before will be well worth this tool even at twice the price.

Note also that these things sold out at our local big box stores prior to Christmas, and they haven't received a re-order yet. Buy it now while its available!!!!

Dremel 6300-01 1.5 Amp Multi-Max Oscillating Kit
This is a great tool, and no, I don't work for Dremel. The problem with the screw has been solved by using a beveled washer on the allen screw that holds the accessory on the tool. This is the same method used to hold the harmonic balancer on the crankshaft on a car engine.
The storage case is pretty good with good hinges and above average locks. The only issue I have with the case is I wish the case contained a storage area for the accessories.
This tool works great. I am sure my friends will be borrowing it.

I bought my first one six months ago to use in my remodeling business. At first I thought it would be good for trim work. Well, it is great for trim work. But it really, really excels at window repair work. Regardless if you are repairing rotten frames, sashes or sills, this is a must have tool. I know that Fein has had this tool for years. My hardwood floor man has one and I always thought it would be handy, but $300+ was a little steep for me at the time. What I like about the Dremel and the cordless Bosch over the Rockwell and Fein is the accessory mount. I like not having to remove the screw to change blades, especially when I'm 20+ feel up on a ladder. I can't help but think the cordless version would really be handy for window work. Being able to get new blades at Home Depot and Lowe's is the icing on the cake. Now I have 3 multi-max tools working nearly every day. Buy one, you will love it!

I've been a finish carpenter for 25+ years, and I've owned my own remodeling company for over 15 of those years. I'd used other's Fein tools on almost a daily basis but the price always upset me. I finally bought the Dremel Multi tool and I can honestly say that it does everything the Fein does for a whole lot cheaper. It does sound a bit different, the motor whines at a higher pitch. The blades are harder to come by but they are much cheaper. I make my own blades out of Japanese pull saws, they aren't offset, but they work just as well for a fraction of the price.
In my opinion.....Save your money and buy the Dremel.......