Cross-posting this from Ricochet, where it appears on the main feed here.
Speaking only for myself, I nominate my Fein Multimaster. (I’m not sure if the one in the link is exactly what I have; it may be a newer model. But it looks the same):
I bought it several years ago when the guy I enlisted to install my new set of stairs showed me his. (No, for those of you who are wondering, I did not have to show him mine first.)
By the time he turned up, I’d already worked my way through three different multitools, ones made by Dremel, Rockwell, and DeWalt. (Love DeWalt. It was my only major DeWalt disappointment.) All those ended up being gifted to Habitat for Humanity, which ought to establish some sort of “Platinum Patron” level on my behalf.
But the stair guy showed me a new level of accessorizing and control, and I totally fell for it. And I’ve been very pleased ever since.
The Fein is expensive. And the special-purpose blades, while wicked sharp, and wicked efficient, are wicked expensive. I tried a “FitzAll” brand a couple of years ago and it lasted about five minutes and then gave up the ghost, so now I just suck it up and buy in bulk.
What’s the sharpest tool in your drawer? (Speaking literally, not figuratively, gentlemen).
PS: For those who don’t know, I’m a power tool junkie. And I know what to do with them all. I was devastated to discover, about a week ago, that DeWalt makes a 20v Li-Ion band saw which must have missed. (I thought I had all the DeWalt 20v cordless tools.)
The two proudest days of my life–aside from the day I got married, and the day I became a grandmother–were the day a registered electrician looked at the entry-point into the house breaker box which I had completely rewired, and said “this is the best job of something like this I’ve ever seen,” and the day that the construction guy who does my drywall looked at my preliminary work and said, “this really isn’t bad.” (Full disclosure: he’s a nice guy, but a bit of a pig, and we started off on a bad note when I asked him to take a look at something I’d done and he said, “you mean so I can tell you if you did it right?” Since then, we’ve both mellowed. Just as well. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure there’d have been blood. And probably more of his than mine.)
I think my multitool is the corded Rockwell one. Like you I went out and bought mine the first project excuse that came along, after a remodeler showed me his while building out a bedroom for our 4th daughter, then on the way. It remains one of my most used tools by a long shot.
My 20 ton shop press is by no means sharp (rather the opposite), but it likewise has been put to more uses than I can remember now. I’ve used it on everything from firearms to wheel bearings to school projects for the kids.
The Rockwell tool is pretty good; For me, the Fein has better speed and impulse control (by that I mean it stays were I put it when I’m cutting something hard like metal). I have a press (I don’t know what its tonnage is, but the images that appear when I put in 20 ton look about right), and I’m grateful for the reminder, because I tend to forget about it and don’t use it often. Now that you mention it, though, it’s been incredibly useful a time or two.