Fein multitool - a word of warning.

[AJB Temple]

Fein is supposed to be the gold standard for these. I bought my first one (350Q with quick release starlock system) in late 2016 and it failed earlier this year. It had not had heavy use. Armature had to be replaced. It was used for about 2 hours post repair and then the front bearing failed.

Bought a cordless Makita as a standby, and returned it a day later as it was rubbish.

Whilst Fein was in for repair again I bought another from Amazon for £182 complete with sustainer and blade package. This was 6 weeks ago. It had a tendency to get very hot and it failed yesterday. Motor makes a feeble bussing noise then quits. Amazon return and refund in progress.

One failing is acceptable. For a brand new replacement to fail inside 6 weeks is not acceptable.

By chance last week I bought a Festool Venturo off the bay. He had used it twice and decided to upgrade to cordless. Not sure I get this mindset, but anyway I had the Venturo, a Domino (also used twice and looks brand new) off him for £400. When I picked them up he had a track saw as well that I gave him £100 for (don't need it as I have a Mafell, but seemed cheap as a backup).

Anyway, the Festool Venturo is basically a Fein clone with a few layout differences. It's built a bit more heavy duty and in some respects it is superior to the Fein. I have used it all weekend cutting cement board for cladding, and drywall, and various bits of timber. Super impressed with it.

Fein is German made. I am very surprised by these failures.

 

[RogerS]

...

Fein is German made. I am very surprised by these failures.

But where do the sub-components come from, I wonder ?

Have you tried dropping a line to Fein directly ?

 

[AJB Temple]

No. Good idea. I will.

 

[AJB Temple]

The most bizarre part of the whole experience, was meeting the DIY guy and his parents. Lots of high end tools, that he basically doesn't actually use. Then sells them when a new model comes out. The Domino was a case in point - he showed me what he had made with it. Altogether he had used 16 Dominos. He had a systainer full of them, plus a handful of bits, which seems to be a kit. We shook hands on £60 for that, which seemed quite fair.

The track saw was used to make two ends for a plywood wardrobe, which he showed me. Demonstrably out of square, but he said the walls were out of true. As far as I can tell the blade has done 8 cuts and the spares are unused. He had a Festool vacuum but sadly would not sell that as it has not been upgraded.

I have never had any Festool gear before, so I am now on the dark side.

 

[petermillard]

Fein is supposed to be the gold standard for these. I bought my first one (350Q with quick release starlock system) in late 2016 and it failed earlier this year. ...

Fein make two multitool ranges, the Multimaster and the Supercut; Supercut’s a much more industrial tool, and the Vecturo is a tweaked version of this.

I gave my old Multimaster (non QR) up after a couple of years, and replaced it with a (corded) Makita. Works great for the limited use I put it to.

Edited to add: excellent haul with the Festool gear! Great price on all that !!

 

[Doug71]

Fein make the standard multi tool and the supercut. The supercut is the more expensive and more industrial version. The Festool vecturo is made by Fein and is just the Supercut rebadged.

 

[Trevanion]

The most bizarre part of the whole experience, was meeting the DIY guy and his parents. Lots of high end tools, that he basically doesn't actually use. Then sells them when a new model comes out. The Domino was a case in point - he showed me what he had made with it. Altogether he had used 16 Dominos. He had a systainer full of them, plus a handful of bits, which seems to be a kit. We shook hands on £60 for that, which seemed quite fair.

The track saw was used to make two ends for a plywood wardrobe, which he showed me. Demonstrably out of square, but he said the walls were out of true. As far as I can tell the blade has done 8 cuts and the spares are unused. He had a Festool vacuum but sadly would not sell that as it has not been upgraded.

That really is strange, especially for a guy who isn't using the gear much, it's practically tossing money out into the wind every time he upgrades.

As for the Fein, I've heard many similar experiences amounting to "They're not what they used to be" and "X is a much better machine than a Fein" and on and on from several different people now, even people who had sworn by Fein since they'd practically released the first Multimaster. I've heard a lot of good things about the Festool one and I've even used one and it was sublime Not sure if it was just good blades or the actual machine was better but it would just glide through wood like it wasn't there. I know someone else who buys Einhell ones for about £40 and replaces it when they go pop as "They all go pop eventually, this works out cheaper than buying a new Fein every couple of years"

I've got a fairly cheap SMART multi-tool and it works well, doesn't get used often because all my work is perfect and I never need to dig myself out of a hole :roll: :lol:. Very handy for when you need it!

 

[AJB Temple]

Ah, I was unaware of the Supercut. I will get my Fein back and keep it as back up. Festool clearly superior to the 350Q and I might buy another if I find a cheap one on line. I use multitools a lot.

 

[tony_s]

I bought the basic fein multitalent and it has been fantastic. Have used it for all sorts of things including cutting through brick when widening door openings with no problems whatsoever.

 

[Sideways]

I'll be interested in the ongoing story.
Where it's practical I prefer quieter tools and bought the cordless / brushless Fein AFMM 18 QSL model because it was the quietest when I compared a bunch of multitools. Th supercut is noisier and I don't need it's extra power and reach.
I haven't used it heavily but it works well for me and is coming up 1 year old.
Fein still make a good grinder and their brushless drill with the 4 speed gearbox is comfortable and very precise.

 

[Sideways]

The most bizarre part of the whole experience, was meeting the DIY guy and his parents. Lots of high end tools, that he basically doesn't actually use. Then sells them when a new model comes out. The Domino was a case in point - he showed me what he had made with it. Altogether he had used 16 Dominos. He had a systainer full of them, plus a handful of bits, which seems to be a kit. We shook hands on £60 for that, which seemed quite fair.

The track saw was used to make two ends for a plywood wardrobe, which he showed me. Demonstrably out of square, but he said the walls were out of true. As far as I can tell the blade has done 8 cuts and the spares are unused. He had a Festool vacuum but sadly would not sell that as it has not been upgraded.

I have never had any Festool gear before, so I am now on the dark side.

Sounds like those folk who buy a new car every 2 or 3 years
He gets something that smells nice and new and feeds the used market for those of us who need it ...

 

[mbartlett99]

If you fancy offloading the saw I might be interested - got a 110v one and lugging the transformer is getting on my nerves.

 

[sunnybob]

Can you PM me his contact details please, (but dont tell anybody else) :roll: :lol:

 

[Keith 66]

You are not the only one who had problems. I bought a multimaster twenty years ago, its one of those tools that doesnt get used much but is very useful now & again. So it got bouts of use & then sat in the drawer. One day ten years later it blew up, big flash & the magic smoke came out, Capacitor had fried, It went in for repair & as fixed, a year later after little use the same thing happened. It went in the skip.
My dad gave me his identical one, this was a similar age but had never been used so was basically new old stock. A month later that one went pop the same way except this time i got an electric shock as it died, that one needed a new capacitor & armature so was scrapped.
To happen with one fair enough but two dying the same way? These were clean well looked after tools that had only had light use. Overpriced & Overated junk.

 

[TFrench]

I hope you left your number with him and told him to ring you next time he upgrades something! Love people like that....

I've got a second hand bosch GOP multi tool, its been fantastic. Every time I use it it gets me out of trouble. It's been so good if it broke I'd happily go and buy another straight away.