making your own Fein Multimaster blades


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Old 12-21-08, 04:07 PM
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making your own Fein Multimaster blades

I came across a thread on this topic at another forum (which shall remain nameless) and thought I'd share my first attempt at making said blades.

Bought a $10 backsaw at Lowe's, and cut off the metal "backbone" with a grinder. Divided it up into 11 equal sections of 1 9/32". Used an existing Multimaster blade and some spray paint to mark the approximate shape of the star-shaped hole. Drilled out the center of each hole with an 1/8" drill bit, then used the next size larger bit (by 64ths) to enlarge each hole... until I got up to 25/64", which is roughly the diameter hole you want to end up with. Once the 25/64" center hole was established, I used a jigsaw with a fine toothed bi-metal blade to slowly saw each "point" in the 8 sided star. The size and shape of the hole is fairly flexible, provided the 25/64" circle in the middle does not get enlarged. So here's a pic of the saw blade so far... I just need to send it with a buddy of mine who works in a metal shop- he'll shear each section off for me so that each blade has a nice crisp edge.



So for just about $.90 each, I've made enough blades to last me a while! With the regular price of these blades being about $20 each... I feel like I saved about $200!

...a fun little Sunday afternoon project.
 
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Old 12-21-08, 04:26 PM
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Nice work... though I'm thinking you have too much time on yer hands. But you do have a Fein, and I don't...so WTH do I know. lol

Let us know how they work out!
 
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Old 01-02-09, 08:18 AM
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saw blades

nice work, just wondering about the set of the teeth. The back saw teeth are angled, and fein teeth, I believe are straight. The back saw only cuts on the push stroke,whereas the fein blades cut in both directions. With the price of those blades, it'll be nice if it works.
 
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Old 01-02-09, 08:47 AM
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You are right about the set of the teeth. These wouldn't be good blades for flush cutting on anything you didn't want scratched (like a floor) because of the set (and because I never put a bend in them) and they do want to jump around a little bit as you start your cut, but not much. I plunge cut a nice triangle out of a piece of stained and varnished wood on my first test cut.

For a general purpose blade they're great, and I don't have to worry too much about dulling them since they're so cheap. What they will enable me to do is to save my expensive Fein blades for only those cuts where it's critical they be perfect. I'll definately be making more as I have time/ need them.

I'll also have to experiment with retrofitting new blades onto old Fein blades. Back saws are about the only saw wide enough to make a straight blade that doesn't need an extension. If I want to make blades from pull saws, for instance, I'll need to spot weld them onto an old Fein blade... or make my own extensions.
 
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Old 01-03-09, 07:57 AM
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Good to hear they're working. I've been debating on buying a multi-master, but wondering how much I'd use it. They are pricey. Could have used one this weekend, cutting 1/2" off baseboards, without having to take them off.
 
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Old 01-04-09, 03:04 PM
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There are a few other tools similar to the Multimaster... Dremel is selling a kit for about $99, but I have yet to see any replacement blades for it. Harbor Freight sells one too, but I think it's either on backorder or only available via internet. Rockwell also has one, and Bosch is probably the highest quality imitation.
 
 

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