I Never Knew This TRICK About the OSCILLATING MULTITOOL?!

The best trick is buying blades online for roughly $1.00 each, instead of Lowes/Home Depot for around $10.00 each

Pointing the blade backward is great for tool storage if you don't want to remove the blade. It compacts the tool and keeps the teeth from biting into hands, tool bags, etc.

I tend to keep my blade at about a 30° angle - just one notch off from straight - switching it from left to right depending on my access to the work. That seems to give me the best visibility and control. It's easier that way to pull the blade into the work at a slight angle, drawing your cut line with just one side of the blade before plunging in and going to town on it.

You’ve learned why Japanese hand saws cut on the pull — much more control and ability to apply more force

A cutting trick that I use on straight cuts is to temporarily attach another piece of wood a long the cut line using Brad nails or double sided tape. The attached piece helps guide the blade straight and square improving the cut. Additionally, changing the speed on the multitool to a lower setting helps improve the quality of the cut, especially when cutting thick pieces of wood.

The great thing about changing blade angle is for tool clearance and work position. My oscillating saws really shine when cutting drywall. Great video!

With utmost respect. Your comments about the cutting action is explained in the name of the tool. Oscillating Multitool.

I recently used mine in a spot where the only way was straight ahead. In some situations, left or right facing might be best - or the only - way to use it. Due to the length and width of the tool, different blade orientations are needed at time, and no one direction appears "best".

I have used this exact tool for probably at least a 100 hours. I always keep it straight on and almost never turn it to 90°. Just do what feels best and you will do your best to work that way. This is a great tool for cutting out drywall.

I find it very hard to believe anyone would not know the blade moves in a very short arc

GREAT advice! When thinking about the "draw" first, it's like a hand saw - in that case, the teeth are positioned to cut more on the draw than the push forward. And when striking an initial groove before, it's always on the pull. Like you were saying you'd now prefer with the multi.

I bought an oscillating multitool in 2012 when I was refurbishing/remodeling a house built in 1945. I don't remember what angles I used the most because I used the tool more for demolition and prep work. I used many styles of blades depending on the task at hand and accessibility. They work great and saved me a lot of time on the job.

I trimmed all around the bottom of my bedroom skirting board (baseboard) using a multitool, to prepare to lay wood floor under it (removing it would have caused too much plaster damage). I found that a 45° blade angle worked best, with one hand around the front of the tool, between tool body and skirting. I had really good control of blade depth with my knuckles, giving a really good feel of when it had cut through. I think 45° helps for such long cuts because it "flows" in one cut: if you do it straight on, you make lots of short cuts that probably wobble in their horizontal angle more.

I use the round, half circle blades to score a line. Then switch to the regular blade to cut through the material. Way easier than pushing that square blade at an angle

Great examples, particularly the pulling vs pushing and multiple points of contact. For most things, I use the half round blade which seems to allow me to not focus on the exact orientation of the blade to the work, less chatter and a straighter cut.

it's the tension. when you pull the blade, the blade is in tension, making it stable. when you are pushing, the strength is pushing outwards, with the material being cut functioning like a pivot that want to throw off the blade. Same principle applies to Japanese handsaw which are pull saw and western saw which are push saw. The former immediately pull the blade in tension, giving much more control especially with the start of the cut

2 years of use and I’m finding this out now!. Straight to the shed and tried it and it’s a game changer…. Thx champ

I would be interested in seeing this comparison with other style cutters too. I am impressed with the half moon for straight cuts.

Here are some useful but hard to describe insights I hope I can get across. Curved cutting edges on blades are always better than teeth laid out in a straight line. If you can imagine the oscillating action of the tool, you can understand why. As the cutting edge travels back and forth around the fulcrum, the teeth closer to the end of a straight blade push outward just slightly but enough, depending on the length of the cutting edge, to bounce against the bottom of the cut and vibrate the tool out of your hands. Another insight; the longer the shaft of the blade or the bigger the diameter of a round blade, the farther the cutting teeth will travel, increasing cutting speed and cut depth but stressing the motor more so lighter pressure may be warranted. Curved blades also will clear out sawdust better. Straight edge blades push the cutting dust towards the center of the blade, if you can imagine the same phenomenon I described during the first insight.

Thank You, That is not enough for you, you are truly amazing for doing what you do to help and inform us. I am a 60+ yr old female Diy-er, and I have learned sooooo much from you. You explain in simple, yet depth. As far as this one video, I use a multi-tool a lot, and I am so glad you did this video. How truly cool to learn all this. I have truly learned so much from you, and can't Thank you enough. You are truly a God send!!