The oscillating multi-tool is the most versatile tool you can have in your power tool collection. Whether you are working at home or a job site, the tool's versatility allows you to accomplish numerous tasks quickly and easily. You can cut, sand and scrape any material as long as you have the right blade. An Oscillating tool makes flush cuts, plunges cuts and undercuts very easy to do. Here are a few more ways you can use your oscillating tool.
1. Trim Door Casings
When installing new flooring in a home, you might need to cut the bottoms of the door trim and jamb to make room for the new flooring. An oscillating multi tool makes this an easy task to complete.
To make a good undercut, take a piece of the new flooring and place it upside down next to the door jam to measure how much you need to cut off. Make sure you set the new flooring upside down before performing the undercut, to avoid damaging the surface of your new flooring. Next, you will want to choose the right oscillating tool saw blade to perform the undercut. We recommend the fine tooth wood blade or the Japanese tooth wood blade. Once attached, place the saw blade flat against the flooring and make the cut by plunging straight into the casing. Remove the cut piece of wood, and the new flooring will slide into place right beneath the casing.
2. Sand Smooth Wood
Every multi tool manufacturer offers a variety of sanding attachments and accessories that can be used to sand wood, fillers, and clear topcoat finishes. These sanding attachments use a hook-and-loop system, making it easy to change the sandpaper when it is worn out. The large triangular-shaped pad is the most popular sanding accessories which is perfect when sanding large surfaces. There are also smaller "finger" pads available, that you can use in sanding narrow crevices and tight corners.
3. Cut Plumbing Pipes
When fitted with the appropriate oscillating tool blade, the multi tool can quickly cut through PVC, plastic, copper, and even old galvanized metal pipes. Due to the compact size of the multi tool and the ability to attach the saw blade at any angle, you can work in tight spaces at awkward angles, inside of cabinets, behind walls, and ceilings and under the floor.
4. Remove Old Paint
Removing peeling paint is not the easiest job, but it's a lot easier with a multi tool. To remove old paint just attach a steel scraper blade to the tool and scrape away applying a little pressure letting the tool do the work. After the peeling paint has been removed, change to a sanding pad to sand to finish removing all the remaining paint. Start with a coarse abrasive grit and eventually move to a finer grit sandpaper until you reach the desired smoothness.
5. Salvage Room Moldings
It can be virtually impossible to pry off wood molding and baseboards without damaging them - unless you use a multi tool to assist you in the process. Attach a fine-tooth metal-cutting blade to plunge into the molding and easily cut through the finishing nails. Use this technique to salvage any trim on your home including shoe molding, baseboard, door casings and chair rail.
6. Grind Away Mortar
Before the Multi Tool came along, there weren't any quick and easy ways to removed hardened thinset mortar from a subfloor. Attach a carbide-grit rasp to the tool, and use it to grind away mortar, cement, and dried adhesives. The coarseness of a triangularly shaped rasp quickly removes the hardened mortar to and turns it into dust in mere seconds and due to the shape allows it to fit into tight corners.
For more information about saw blades for your oscillating multi tool, you can visit www.rykerhardware.com
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