Cool ding repair tool

General Discussion
1

Anybody else using the Rockwell Sonic Crafter for ding repair?  It’s similar to the Fein Multi Master that’s schilled on TV, but costs a lot less.  I use it as a detail sander for blending small patches on flats.  The “sanding finger pad”  attachment lets you sand/blend very small areas without scuffing up the surrounding, un-damaged gloss.   I’ve been using a bunch of the other attachments for home remodeling, but the tool is also great for ding repair.  The Fein Multi Master is probably a higher quality tool, but it (and its replacement attachments) are VERY pricey.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Rockwell-RK5102K-Sonicrafter-Deluxe-72-Piece/dp/B001EYUGMS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1269224173&sr=8-1

2

Actually, I was looking at those, buddy of mine bought one. And .... what happened was that with the Fein patents expiring on the multimaster, a whole lot of similar tools have come out good, bad and indifferent - including an offering for $40 from Harbor Freight.

Now, I have been burned on detail sanders before, the Porter Cable ain't too good. Least used sander I own. Great for sanding moulding but not much else; it sands linear, not orbital.  So before throwing money at one, I wanted to check things out. Wasn't real trusting about the Harbor Freight or the other no-names, and the Rockwell hasn't been out very long.

But the patent thing and more competition has led Fein to drop the price on the basic Multimaster kit a lot. And the reputation is that they are a little better for production work, all-day use kinds of stuff. . So, while it's around $40 ( US) more than the Rockwell, it's worth a look too. I find that justifying over $200 for a tool is a lot harder than under $200, let alone explaining where that went to the significant other.

Very wide variety of blades, etc. I still do a lot of boat work, plus house carpentry and some flooring, which means I can get some use out of those oddball blades that Fein charges so much for - the other brands are not interchangable, so far as I can see. I'll note that both have saw blades that'd be useful for getting out old fin boxes, scraper blades for those annoying stickers on used boards and more.

And sometime this spring and through the next couple of years, I've got a date with my Fein plus a scraper blade, 'cos I have three linoleum floors to get up ( scraper followed by saw), a bunch of windows that need new putty ( and thus the old putty removed) , fancy trim to sand and more. It's gonna get a workout.

For that matter, I have a cabinet to build, finish and then put into place today, which oughtta be interesting. It has to hold about eight feet of cookbook shelf, plus kitchen toys, and those ain't light.

Cripes, that now makes what, eight or nine...or is it ten or eleven? sanders. From 8" disc down to 1/6 sheet pneumatic .... argh.... lemme think -

8" disc Milwaukee

5" and 6" random orbit, electric and pneumatic, Porter Cable and auto-store brand

Two half-sheet ...no, three half sheet sanders, one Milwaukee, two Porter Cable or old Rockwell

1 quarter sheet Porter Cable

Two detail sanders, one Porter Cable and one Fein

1 3x21 belt sander, Porter Cable

that 1/6 sheet pneumatic jitterbug sander, another auto store special.

And I don't even particularly like sanding.....

hope that's of use

doc...

3

“those oddball blades that Fein charges so much for - the other brands are not interchangable, so far as I can see”

“But the patent thing and more competition has led Fein to drop the
price
on the basic Multimaster kit a lot”

That, I believe, is correct: each manufacturer seems to have its own, proprietary attachment configuration.
When you comparison shop brands, look hard at the number, type of blades included in each package (Fein, in particular, offers several different assessory assortment packages with the same, basic Multi Master tool unit, the price varying drastically according to how many and what kind of blades are included).  Otherwise, your price comparison may be scewed in terms of the number of attachments you’ll wind up with at a given price point, brand-to-brand.  In any case, I bought my Rockwell about a year ago, so the relative prices may have been further apart when I was shopping.

 

“I’ve got a date with my Fein plus a scraper blade, 'cos I have three linoleum floors to get up”

Depending on the areas of the floors, that’s probably not the tool I would choose for the job.  I used a big manual scraper called a Floor Bully to remove a linoleum floor last year and it made short work of the linoleum and underlayment.  The sub-flooring was still good.  With a multi tool, you’re going to spend a lot of time on your knees.  Unless you’re trying to salvage the underlayment, why would you put yourself through that?

http://www.amazon.com/Bully-91300-Flooring-Remover-Fiberglass/dp/B0000224PU

4

[quote="$1"]

"I've got a date with my Fein plus a scraper blade, 'cos I have three linoleum floors to get up"

Depending on the areas of the floors, that's probably not the tool I would choose for the job.  I used a big manual scraper called a Floor Bully to remove a linoleum floor last year and it made short work of the linoleum and underlayment.  The sub-flooring was still good.  With a multi tool, you're going to spend a lot of time on your knees.  Unless you're trying to salvage the underlayment, why would you put yourself through that?

http://www.amazon.com/Bully-91300-Flooring-Remover-Fiberglass/dp/B0000224PU

[/quote]

Ah, that's the thing, I am trying to save the underlayment, rather than trying to get it out and work in new around and under cabinets and so on when I go and put tile floors in two bathrooms and the kitchen. There's a mesh-plus-scrim you fasten to the underlayment that takes thinset nicely and the mesh/scrim acts as kind of a floating base so that when the (older house) structure moves a bit, you don't have cracking tiles and so on.

In one way it's extra work but in other ways it isn't.

Besides, my knees are shot already.

doc....

 

5

Well, good luck to ya.  I usually expect there to beat least  some water damage to the underlayment, if only in front of the tub and around the toilet/waste cutout.  With the multi-tool, you could score around it down to the top of the subflooring, remove the damaged sections and piece in new if you are so inclined. 

As a sidebar, these tools are also great for opening up holes in sheetrock quickly and cleanly when you need access to alter electrical circuits or plumbing in finished walls.  I use a light touch to score the rock along a pencil line with the “half round” saw blade attachment, then go back and saw most of the way through and finish up with a mat knife to cut through the last/inside layer of paper (helps avoid break-out/tear-out).  Just locate your studs before laying out the hole and place the vertical cuts on center so you have something to nail or screw to when you replace the piece. Way quicker and easier than using a knife for the whole procedure.

Repair your house, reapir your board…it does it all!

6

Doc--------------  Didn't see a die grinder equipped with a 3-M Diskit incdluded in your list.  The right angle with out the safety on the trigger is $14.99.  HF has the Diskit too.

7

Damn, forgot those, a cheapo dump find electric die grinder/overgrown Dremel-type thing and a Chicago Pneumatic 1/4" arbor die grinder - both straight shaft rather than right angle. Also a 4 1/2" Milwaukee grinder, but I use the three of those for metal work, mostly.

The little grinder - had seen a welder buddy using his a lot and after killing a couple of cheapos ( don't drop your grinder into bilge water ) I found the little Milwaukee and have liked it these past seven years or so.

doc....

8

My grinders:

•Milwaukee 6140 (4-1/2", 10,000-RPM) metal work, welding slag

•Milwaukee 6068 (7", 15-AMP, 6,000-RPM) a real beast: eats just about ANYTHING for lunch

•Makita GE0600 electric (1/4", 25,000-RPM) great for fine metal work, nibbling ceramic tile and ding repair

•Chicago Pneumatic 5542 (1/4", 23,000-RPM) fine metal work

 

Tell you what: that big Milwaukee is one torquey mutha! Side handle is just about a “must” for control and safety.  Not a tool to mess with after a couple of beers!

 

9

I'm with ya - have the 6068 variable speed 13 amp little brother to yours, well, I can do more damage in less time than you'd believe. But it'll hum through big sanding jobs with a light touch and care.

As for torquey muthas- ever work with a Hole Hawg? Ferocious, they are -