Crescent’s new Odd Job tool (model CMT1000) packs 11 useful features and functions in a compact package. The Odd Job is equipped with a hammer, ratcheting screwdriver, and removable utility knife, which seems perfect for homeowners, college students, and ready to assemble furniture enthusiasts who have few tools.
Odd Job Features:
- steel hammer face (for driving small nails)
- soft mallet (for tapping surfaces and dowels)
- utility knife that stows away into the tool handle
- small nail puller
- ratcheting T-handle screwdriver (reversible)
- 6-bit storage (1 Phillips, 2 slotted, 3 hex, but you can swap in bits of your choosing)
- flexible shaft bit extension a “bonus”
We only count 7 tools, not 11, but apparently the flex shaft is a “bonus” and the 6 1/4″ hex screwdriver bits each count as separate tools. Overall, the Odd Job multi-tool seems to be quite versatile and will strongly appeal to those with small or non-existent tool sets.
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Priced at around $20, the Odd Job seems to be one of the more useful and less gimmicky all-in-one household tools we’ve seen in a while. Our only major complaint about the design is the bright and almost toy-like color scheme. But on the upside the bright colors will make the Odd Job tool easier to spot in a cluttered drawer or cabinet.
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Go back to a time before you had many tools. Would you use something like this?
Schmidt
Honestly this looks to me this product is a toy rather than a tool. That alone is a pretty good indicator of the country of origin of this tool.
jesse
Yeah, no kidding.
Jerry
On the other hand, my sister in law would buy it in an instant, because it is both useful, and ‘cute’.
Tools like this are geared towards light do it yourselfers, (of which more women are becoming all the time), and not construction workers.
In fact, I could see me getting one for my 6 year old, as she is getting the age, where she wants to help me out when she can.
James C
Yep, based on how it looks, it’s clear it was made in Santa’s workshop on the North Pole.
Steve R.
It does seem to be skewed toward light-duty (kitchen) or emergency use only. The yellow “hammer head” can probably be best used for tapping dowels into place; trying to drive home finishing (pin) nails or even regular nails could result in a lot of scuffing damage to the tool’s plastic handle. And the flex (spring) extension for screws should only be used after the screw is broken loose or before final tightening in difficult spots. Breaking loose or final tightening with it could result in twisting it into a pretzel shape, rendering it useless. The tool should come with a set of instructions that clearly describes its limitations to users.
Stuart
One hammer face is non-marring (yellow?) and the other (black?) has a steel insert for striking small nails.
I agree, this tool seems designed for light-duty use, but that’s okay. One doesn’t need full-size hammers to hang picture frames and hammer cardboard or hardboard backings to RTA furniture.
Steve R.
Stuart–My fault; I missed your listing of features and went by what I could see in the photo. Perhaps a second (or third) photo showing the features would have highlighted its versatility. Incidentally, what does the unit weigh, and how long is it?
Stuart
I’m not sure about the weight, but Amazon describes it as almost 12″ long.
Video showing size. There also appears to be 7 insert bits included – 6 in storage and 1 in the bit holder.
george
maybe take a look at the amazon site first ??
if i find one much cheaper i’ll buy it. looks kinda handy to me.
Galadriel
I bought a few of these when the price was $7-ish on Amazon. This thing is really, really spiffy to have handy when you just want to grab something and do a quick adjustment, quick job, etc. It’s easy to use, well balanced for its size, and much higher quality than I was expecting from the price.
I left a glowing review, gave a couple away because they were so nice and nifty, then went back to order more and the price had doubled. Sigh. I’m still keeping one in each car and one in the barn. It does make things immensely easier when something breaks or needs adjusting out at the barn, not to have to come to the house and get a tool…then come back and get another, because the job turned out to be more complicated or different than I thought. It’s not THE tool for building or pre-planned projects, but it is great to have on hand for spur of the moment adjustments.
If you don’t mind, I’ll cut-and-paste my Amazon review, since I already typed it out there.
Looks like the Multi-Tool of the Gods
I received this yesterday and spent quite a while fiddling with it. I am very impressed with the quality; I expected something at this price, and claiming to do this much, to feel cheap and flimsy and prone to breaking.
It feels solid. The attachments on either side of the handle are secure and smooth and do not interfere with the use of the hammer, but come off easily enough when you want them. They’re a very clever way to store a utility knife and a bit driver set, and they pull it off well. The bit driver ratcheting mechanism doesn’t wobble or jiggle. It does drive bits with a good firm ratcheting mechanism. I’m impressed by the feel of the dual-sided hammer; that’s hard to get right in any circumstances, much less with all the rest of the tool’s uses.
It’s terrific. I need one for each car, every room, and the barn.
I had one small disappointment. In the image of the package, I did not see the flexible bit driver shaft extension, so I had thought it stored inside the handle somehow. However, it is separate from the tool in the package; it’s just in the back, where it’s blocked from view by the packaging. I could not work out a way to open the handle itself to store the flexible shaft in it. The packaging does not have any instructions for opening the tool to store the shaft inside. (In fact, it has very little in the way of instructions, but really, how much do you need?)
I am mostly disappointed that this all-in-one tool isn’t actually all in ONE. There’s two pieces, and I’m pretty much guaranteed to lose the extension shaft almost immediately. Which is okay; if I really need a flexible shaft, I can go get the dedicated tool I have specifically for that purpose.
While doing my initial inspection of the tool, I even managed to accidentally pull out the magnet from the base of the bit driver while removing the extension shaft. It appears the magnet is only attached magnetically. Now, none of the driver bits had any effect on the magnet, so using it normally does not seem like it will be a problem, just using it with the extension shaft. And it was easy enough to replace it once I realized it was stuck to the bottom of the extension shaft. It just shouldn’t do that.
So. Aside from the separate and nearly-disposable extra piece, which can easily “break” [with infinite fixability] the main tool, I am entirely pleased with this multi-tool. It vastly exceeds my expectations.