We posted about the new Diablo oscillating multi-tool blades the other day, and a question came up via email.
Why do the “universal” OMT blades have two sets of holes?
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Diablo hasn’t provided any information about these new accessories, but luckily Dremel has. If you recall, Diablo, Dremel, and Bosch are all owned by the same parent company. The new Diablo oscillating multi-tool blades look to be nearly identical to the interface Dremel used to offer on their accessories.
From this diagram by Dremel Tools, we can see that one set of hole and notches are to ensure compatibility with several power tool brands’ oscillating tools, and the other set of notches is to fit tools by another set of brands.
Thanks to this dual-interface design, Dremel – and now Diablo – universal-style oscillating multi-tool blades are compatible with tools from:
- Dremel
- Bosch
- Makita
- Milwaukee
- Rockwell
- Dewalt
- Fein
- Porter Cable
- Ridgid
There could be some exceptions, aside from these accessories not being compatible with Bosch or Fein Starlock oscillating multi-tools.
Diablo’s product listings say that their accessories fit most tools, no adapters needed. This is why.
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And, they should work with brands’ tool-free interfaces as well. Some brands’ oscillating multi-tools are only tool-free with broken-ring accessories, requiring a hex key and adapter for use with accessories that have a full ring with no slot down the middle.
Starlock accessories are also compatible with a wide range of brands’ oscillating multi-tools, but won’t work tool-free with the tools that require an open ring design.
Any questions?
Price: $50 for the 5pc set
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fred
Many of the Bosch OMT blades are made in Switzerland, many of the Dremel OMT blades hail from Switzerland, now these Diablo blades are also made in Switzerland too. They are all from the same parent company – so one suspects that they may come from the same factory
OldDominionDIYer
I agree that all these blades are likely made in the same factory and then stamped with whatever brand they’re producing that day, and based on the Brand rep they charge different prices, truly a scam!
Chris
Here’s a question: Why are these blades so expensive? I mean, I can buy name brand carbide tipped 7 1/4″ blades for less than these multi-tool blades. I got my first OMT last year for a few projects around the house where it seemed to be the best tool, but the blade price (and their lack of longevity) keeps me from using it more. I know there are cheaper options on amazon, but I’m guessing they only last a few cuts.
John
No kidding. I bought a Fein when they first came out. Check out the cost of their blades if you want a laugh. I have found some bargain no-brand blades and they are not up to the task. Given the proliferation of these tools, I am surprised someone has not come out with good blades at a reasonable price. They would own the market.
Stuart
Additional manufacturing steps? Sales volume? Because they can?
fred
Probably all 3 of the reasons you state are correct. Most have welded 2-piece construction – different from one-piece jigsaw and reciprocating blades. Being made in Switzerland (Bosch Brands), Germany and Liechtenstein (Fein) and the USA (Imperial, Dewalt and Milwaukee Blades) does nothing to reduce costs.
But a 3-pack of China-made blades I bought on Amazon (said to be metal-cutting) for about $5.50 each could not even make it through a few finishing nails in some baseboard – despite some good reviews.
I should have known the moment I saw their “titanium” coating.
fred
The last 3 Imperial blades that I purchased – were made in 3 different locales:
IBOA5505-1 – China
IB0A800-1 – USA of global components
IBSL520-1 – Germany
I did not observe any discounted price on the China-made blade
When Imperial Blades launched they made a big deal about their products being American-Made. Now that TTI-Milwaukee owns then – I guess they source production wherever seems best to them.
fred
Btw – I noticed that Champion Cutting Tools is sourcing some of their circular saw blades from the Philippines, drill bits from Brazil and Reamers from the UK. The world is a big place – not everything is being made in China.
OldDominionDIYer
Great question! The exact one I’ve had for sometime! Love to understand why?
JoeM
Okay NOW I’m sold on the Diablo blades. Expensive though they are, I think I’ll invest in the universals. I can easily do without the DeWALT blades I still have. Keeping the badass sanding pad though. I know they’re all badass, but still. I like mine.
I guess I’m going Diablo for the first time.
chad
As much as I hate the price, I have to say that the carbide versions are worth the extra cost. I’ve been using the dual interface style on my dewalt for over a year without issues.
You’d think a cheap Chinese version (but serviceable) of these would be all over the market.
Cr8on
I’ve used the Dremel blades on my DeWalt, they seem more aggressive cutting than regular blades, I feel is do to the extra length the other mounting holes adds.
JoeM
I never got around to grabbing any of the Dremel dual-interface blades. They didn’t come on any of the blades I genuinely wanted for my DeWALT. I kept waiting for something like the carbide grout remover, or the grinding plate, or the Drywall Knife, or that awesome string saw… No… None of them came in the dual interface. Then Dremel stopped doing the duals, and I missed out.
I DID snag myself the contour sander from Dremel… but like an idiot, I didn’t check the compatibility, and now it lives on the bolt-on adapter for my DeWALT.
These Diablos, Carbide OR BiMetal… They’ll be a GIANT step up in quality over the sample DeWALT blades and scrapers I have from the initial purchase of the 355. I am especially looking forward to trying a 180 or 270 degree saw blade. No clue what I’ll use it for, but I imagine it makes it easier to attack the same slice, from different angles, without even releasing the trigger.
And if BOSCH isn’t going to release the Dual Interface versions I see on these Diablos, then I guess I’m going Diablo. Whatever makes Oscillating Tool Blades so expensive is a mystery to me, but if I’m going to have a gun to my head to buy consumables for my Oscillating Tool, then I’m going for some German Made Quality blades to justify the price.
charles
I’ve bought some of the Tool Shop and other off brand blades just to have throwaway blades when working on unknown quality projects (random staples/nails/screws/brads) and it’s false economy. good blades cost money and last. I have a Fein Multimaster Top Kit bought just before they came out with the newer style toolless change system, mine has toolless but the center bolt falls free. I love the tool, glad I bought it even though I might end up with a Dewalt brushless battery version at some point. this tool will outlast me and probably my child’s children. great tool.
Joatman
I will definitely buy the sanding backing pad and triangle paper when I see they’re available. I can’t tell you how hard it is to find the sanding triangles that fit my brushless Dewalt OMT. The only ones that I can find are the Dewalt brand, which I cannot find in stores…and are pretty expensive…and if it’s not Dewalt, then they have holes in them, which will wreck the pad. Otherwise all the other brands are too small. I’ve tried other backing pads but they don’t work even though they state they will. If the Diablo backing pad will accommodate the common, non-Dewalt, paper, then I’m sold.
Paul
So I mostly work electrical and NOT residential so I don’t generally ever have any drywall or wood to cut. So I bought one of the tools and quickly found it is pretty limited.
My main use is cutting LFMC aka “sealtite” or a bunch of other names for what is an interlocked flexible metal conduit with a PVC jacket. You can use a hacksaw, sabre saw, sawzall, or band saw to cut the stuff. But with an of these other than the bandsaw on the sizes I mostly work with (NOT 1/2″). But what I’ve found is that as far as I can tell, the multitool is the most perfect tool for cutting these with just about any size. On the small sizes just go right through it. On the larger sizes I can cut a perfect ring all the way around one-handed then turn it 90 degrees and cut right through the interlocked armor. Then turn it slightly and the whole end slides right off. The cut is almost one-handed and very clean and neat. It’s just as fast as the other tools without all the trimming and cleaning that you need for most of the others (bandsaw excepted).
Question I have is…what are the best tools for cutting metal? I’d say 99% of the blades out there are not metal blades or barely metal blades.
Nate B
Oooo, I’d love to see a video of that cut technique! I don’t work with the stuff much anymore, but I sure used to, and getting a clean end was elusive on the best days.
fred
Stuart did a comparison of metal cutting blades:
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/oscillating-blade-best-metal-cutting-performance/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Stuart
I’ve done some similar testing since then, and each and every time carbide-toothed OMT blades prove to be vastly superior to bi-metal.
Bi-metal has its place though, but not for cutting metal.
fred
Not to kill good Fein blades on some really old baseboard that seemed to have random finishing nails scattered about under almost 90 years of paint (1929 house) – I picked up a 3-pack of what were dubbed metal-cutting blades on Amazon. I don’t recall the brand (probably some made-up name anyway) – but the titanium coated teeth were shot one after another when they encountered an iron (not steel) nail head. After several expletives, I finally ended up prying the baseboard loose – something I wanted to avoid – to make the cutouts. Maybe I was expecting too much – since I was encountering a nail in what amounted to a head-on orientation. As it turned out – 1 finish nail bested 3 x $5 blades. Like a lot of one-off jobs – this was one where I said to myself “what were you thinking? – why didn’t you try to spot the nails first? Or just pull the baseboard to start out with?” Before I had my first Fein Multimaster – there would have been fewer choices on how to approach this job (drill and jig saw? or risk using an old-school chisel and hammer?) so I guess that I’m grateful for the advance of tool technology and the learning experience.
Thomas
99 percent of the time the reason any of these blades don’t last is because they don’t clear the chips then heat up and lose their temper. I have found it’s pretty easy to take a thin grinding wheel and cut new teeth in a worn out blade and get more cuts. The bigger gullet works well and surprised no manufacturer has made blades with more coarse teeth with a large gullet
Chris Fyfe
I have a fein with Starlock , I plan to buy the new Milwaukee M12 Fuel tool . As a result ,I would be interested . My experience with Diablo blades has been generally very good !