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I took a chance and I’m glad I did !!

I debated a couple of years about purchasing a tool like this. At first, Fein was the only option and just for home use it was too much money for me to justify purchasing. Now that there are reasonably priced choices, I purchased the 37 piece Rockwell kit and added some accessories. Honestly, I felt like it was a gamble. Many reviews say the blades don’t last and they come loose all the time. I rolled the dice. I WON!!!

This is a solid tool. I love working with tools and I own a lot of professional quality tools. I put this in the same class as my Bosch, Dewalt, Porter Cable, Rigid, and Makita tools.

For $208 I bought the 37 piece kit and a diamond segment saw, a carbide triangle saw, and a blade cleaner. (the 37 piece kit is the cheapest with variable speed; the least expensive kit is not variable speed). The harder the material you work on, the higher the speed needs to be set. According to the manufacturer, it is running the tool on too low a speed that causes overheating and excessive blade wear. The tool and add on accessories cost me less than half as much as the equivalent from Fein would have.

I immediately went to work taking out thinset from an old tile job, probably 1/4 inch trowelled. I had tried hammer and chisel and hated that. I bought an angle grinder which worked but threw dust everywhere. That lasted about one minute before I had to quit because of the dust. Then I threw a rug over it. That was a couple of years ago.

This Sonicrafter with the diamond segment saw is the right tool for the job. It is powerful enough. I used it for an hour, it did not overheat or bog down. The blade shows no signs of wear. The blade never came loose. It did not throw dust everywhere. After an hour my hand was tired. Operating this tool feels very much like operating a random orbital sander. The gentle vibration over time is fatiguing.

Be careful when you mount the blade. Blades mount like a twelve point socket fits on a nut; but these blades and mount are thin like a hacksaw blade. Make sure the blade is seated on the nut before you tighten the mounting screw. If the blade is mounted correctly, it will not work loose. I have used three different types of blades and have never had a blade work loose. Just get it on there right to begin with.

I am more than satisfied with my choice of Sonicrafter over Multimaster. I used some of the money I saved to buy myself a new Stetson hat.

Update: I was digging a post hole in my back yard and ran into a one inch root about 18 inches deep into the hole. All progress stopped. I smiled a lot as I qucikly cut the root out with my Sonicrafter.

Update (2/8/2012): I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, Rockwell RK5102K Sonicrafter Deluxe 72-Piece Kit Tools & Hardware, was written by TTP3317.

The average rating for this item is 5 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.