Customer Reviews

Rockwell RK5100K SoniCrafter 21-Piece Kit

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I wish I had, had the opportunity to actually use one of these that had seen extended service before I actually bought one.

For the first few months the Sonicrafter worked OK. Then the mediocre workmanship started to show up. I sent numerous emails, and made several phone calls to Rockwell. They never answered or returned any of them. In desperation I called the sales number on the infomercial. The sales rep took all my information and said I would get a call the next day. Needless to say I did not.

In brief my problems have been as follows:

1. The Allen Screw that secures the blades now vibrates loose, as a consequence I had to stop to re-tighten the blades every few minutes.
2. The front end gets VERY hot. I mean hot enough you can't hold it! It will deform thin plastic sheeting such as the vapor barrier on wall insulation.
3. The blades are very poorly made. They dulled quickly. I don't know what kind of blades they use for the demonstration videos, but it certainly is not the same as what they sent me. Certainly the nails they show the unit cutting must all be cheap non-ferrous metals.
4. The owners manual that came with the unit must have been written by someone for whom English is a second language.

Supposedly there is a two year warranty on the product. Good luck getting Rockwell to honor that. They essentially have no customer support to whom you can talk to get a RMA number or arrange a replacement.

As a result, my unit is now an expensive paperweight. It does have one useful purpose. I show it to my friends and associates to let them use it if they are thinking of buying one. After using it no one I know wants anything to do with this product.

I ended up buying a Fein Multimaster. More expensive? Certainly. But I only had to buy it once, and it works as advertised. You do in fact get what you pay for.

In summary. Initially the Sonicrafter worked as advertised, but it did not hold up to long term use over a 3 month period. My personal feeling is that the high heat generated by this tool coupled with the high frequency oscillations were more than the cheap materials used in building it could stand when used over time. This may work for a hobbyist making wooden models. but for serious work, it just did not stand up. Customer service was oriented at making sure the customer has no way to actually exercise his right to use the Warrenty.

OMG, the Rockewell SoniCrafter is great. I was looking for a corded oscillating tool and looked at the Fein Multitasker and blades, but it is just way too expensive to purchase for my needs. So I bought the Dremel and the Rockwell to compare side by side...

The $100 Dremel is lighter and a bit smaller but the buzz the motor makes compared to the Rockwell motor [a little bit heavier and slightly bigger] which humms smoothly is like comparing a Vespa scooter to a Victory street bike.

Since the basic Rockwell is only $20 more than the Dremel and the extra blades are about the same price, there was no question about going for the quality/durability of a Rockwell.

The only convenience problem that I can foresee is getting replacement blades:
Dremel is carried by big box hardware stores; hobbyists who do crafts on the spur of the moment and do not need to rip open walls, will appreciate the around-the-corner convenience.
Rockwell is carried by speciality woodworking stores or the internet; the Home Proj. kind of guys have to plan ahead before ripping into a wall for remodeling. So ordering parts in advance should be a no brainer.

I also really liked the Rockwell case, it is created with niches and screw-downs to hold lots of blades/attachments in place.

I looked at the Bosch 12v battery operated version, and that would have been a good choice but I do not want to have numerous 18v tool systems and chargers for the various power hand tools that I use. I read that the Bosch delivers 20 min of battery power and I might need more time than that between charges.

All four tools mentioned above have variable speeds pretty much the same: 10,000 - 21,000 opm. The Bosch details that I read boasted of 5,000 - 20,000 opm, but I do not know if I need to go that slow. If I did I would have researched more into the rare Praxon version of oscillating tool, which is reportedly underpowered and equivalent to size and weight of the Dremel.

I purchased this unit 2 weeks ago. Take note, this version, $119.95, does not have variable speed.

Fein's patent ran out, so that is why we are now seeing some competition. The Dremel version does not have a blade that will cut nails which is also true of the Multitool ($59.95) from Harbor Frieght. The Rockwell claims it has a blade that will cut nails a useful feature if you are disassembly something with nails or screws like a countertop.

All of the competition uses a bolt to attach the blades which must be tighten properly for the blades not to fall off. The new Fein units have a new patented blade attachment system that is pretty fool proof.

So for home use I would recommend the Rockwell over the Dremel until Dremel brings out a nail cutting blade. If money is not an object buy the Fein Multimaster.

I bought the Sonicrafter delux version with vacuum attachment. I bought this tool because I was going to install a ceramic tile floor in my kitchen bath and hallway and needed to undercut the existing door way jams and moulding. The Saw works fine for pine and popular trim but doesn't work so well with hardwoods such as oak. A more aggressive blade tooth might help with hardwoods. The scrapper blade worked well for removing the vinyl flooring in the kitchen. The dust collector is worthless. I ended up using the shop vacuum to clean up after the cuts. The suction opening is too far away from the cutting surface and the flow is too restrictive. It really bogged down the vacuum. This is an ideal tool for undercutting woodwork and making cuts in confined places. For general purpose cutting there are better options.

First off I want to make people aware that the 20pc kit IS NOT VARIABLE SPEED. I made the mistake of going to Rockwell's website and reading the tech specs area and it showed variable speed but did not show it to be only on certain models. My mistake. I received the 20pc kit yesterday and was very disappointed to find that it was not variable speed. Now with knowing this I went back to the Rockwell website and looked at the individual kit contents and saw that the 20pc kit did not list the variable speed. I dont understand why underneath of that is a technical specs section that does show variable speed and doesnt show it as only being on certain models. Very frustrating. Rockwell needs to change that. I tried to leave a review on the Rockwell site making people aware of this but when I submitted my review I got a message saying that I already submitted a review. I certainly dont know how I would have submitted a review before as I just received my Sonicrafter for the first time and never used one before.

Now with that being said, I think for the $20 savings I can probably live without the variable speed since I dont want to go thru the hassle of returning and re-ordering and I have a project I want to get started on. I made some test runs with it and it didnt cut too easy thru small nails and that is what I really need it for. Its gonna be time consuming I can see. But with patience and by not forcing it thru I believe it will do the job. I need it to remove some 2x6s I have nailed,screwed and glued down to my subfloor. It was a platform for a whirlpool tub and I need to remove it for a new whirlpool tub with a different shape. It did cut thru the 2x6 as well, but again, it was slow. I believe they do work best when not applying alot of pressure and just letting the tool do the work.

Overall the tool felt good in my hand and seemed to be well built. For the little bit I did the blade did not come loose at all as I have seen others complain about. My belief there is that they are not tightening it up enough. Just make sure the allen wrench is firmly inserted into the bolt and tighten it up and I think it will be fine. After cutting thru 2 nails and a section of 2x6 there was no indication whatsoever of looseness to the blade. I do like the case as well for the most part. The long cord is a struggle to get stored back in the case and the velcro strap for wrapping the cord up is too short. I couldnt get it back around it. But as mentioned before, the case does have nice studs inside for storing the blades.

Overall I believe for the price it will be a fine tool. I just believe Rockwell could do better in describing. I see in the description that it is supposed to have the scraper blade but I didnt see one in my kit.

Unlike most of the previous reviewers, I use this tool mainly for sanding in tight spots that my other sanders won't reach. The Sonicrafter has two attachments for this, namely a triangular pad and a smaller sanding "finger". Upon initial use these pads and the tool did the job very nicely indeed. However, I quickly found out that the backing and hooks on the pads wore off (!) after about 15-30 minutes of use. The problem seems to be that the pad itself (which seems to be some sort of rubber or plastic) can't take the heat generated and thus quickly melts, burying the hooks into it and rendering the attachment inoperable. The first time that this happened I bought the "heavy duty" version of the sanding tongue, only to find out that the lifetime of this was even shorter, maybe about 5 minutes of use! Clearly these attachments have to be re-engineered for this tool to be useful as a sander.

I have not used the Fein version of this but it looked like it cut faster at the show demo. I really think the difference was the blade. In any case the Rockwell is adequate for home use so I'm OK with it. The deluxe kit does have dust collection but I have not used that feature yet.

The unit is variable speed which I think is a very good thing to have for plastics etc. I have used that feature.

The drive hub is a hex so the Fein blades will not fit unless you can make an adapter (which I will do) Rockwell does sell individual blades (I bought some at the show) but I guess you have to order them on the phone. I did not find a way to buy them online.

I think it's a well made tool so I think it mainly comes down to blades and whether you think you'll be able to get them.

These are very handy tools. I don't use it a lot but it's great to have when I do need it.

Vince

I do handyman work on the side for friends and neighbors. I recently remodeled a bathroom for a friend and this tool came in quite handy. My friend wanted to put in a tub surround in the bathroom of a rental property rather than tiling the shower area. However, there was a window in the shower area to contend with. I wasn't sure how I was going to cut the tub surround. I knew a reciprocating saw would possibly damage the tub surround. I saw an infomercial on TV about the Rockwell Sonicrafter so I decided to buy one (on Amazon) and give it a try. It cut through the tub surround very well with little effort. I have also used it on my own project remodeling my kitchen. I wish I would have purchased it before I started my kitchen remodel. However, I did use it to cut an opening for an electrical outlet under my sink. I also used it to cut through pvc pipe under the sink. It doesn't make the mess of a reciprocating saw and there is a lower risk of causing damage than there is with a reciprocating saw. Reciprocating saws are good for heavy duty demolition but the sonicrafter is good if you are wanting to do precise cutting and minimize dust and debris. I'm sure I'll be able to think of many DIY projects where this tool will come in handy.

First of all BUY THE 37 piece kit since it has VARIABLE SPEED which you will need for various tasks as the manual says. I am a hobbyist and put the unit through the paces and it cuts wood, metal well without kick back and with precision. You do not need a guide to make straight cuts.

I would highly recommend this to any hobbyist without hesitation.

I like these oscillating tools, and having a need to purchase a new one after the death of the motor in my Dremel Multi-Max, I decided to give this one a shot. I was initially attracted to this device due to it having a more powerful motor than found in the Multi-Max, and considering that's what died in the Multi-Max I figured this would be a big plus. I'm having Dremel repair that dead unit, so I also figured that having both models would give me a larger portfolio of attachments to choose from as jobs came up.

So I bought my SoniCrafter Rockwell and then returned it within an hour of that purchase. It turns out that the designers failed to take into account that the blades would be vibrating. A lot. The connection between the device and the blades was so poorly thought through that within 30 seconds to a minute of use the blade is already loose and wobbling around. I used my Dremel extensively over the past year and this was a problem I didn't encounter one time.

What's the difference? Blades attach to both units using a bolt that is tightened using an allen wrench. With the Rockwell the blades have a large hole with 12 (I think) points that lock into something similar to the top of a 6 point bolt head. Whose bright idea was it to use a different number of points? Had the points been the same in number the grip between the two would have been much tighter. Aside from that, it doesn't take much use before the blade slips from this grip and wobbles around. The Dremel Multi-Max, on the other hand, has about a dozen small teeth that poke through small holes on the blades and this eliminates wobble so well that I never had this problem one time. Obviously the Dremel engineer was awake during this stage of the design.

This is a problem that would have become apparent on day one of testing so why wasn't this problem fixed before bringing it to market? That's one of the things that bothers me the most: they must know about this and just don't care to fix it. I'm so sick and tired of buying products that give all appearances of being good only for their to be one big problem that ruins the entire thing.