Here’s what the Fein oscillating multi-tool blade selection looks like at one of my local Home Depot stores.
As you can see, they have yellow price stickers (usually to indicate a product is on clearance), and the selection is sparse.
The situation is similar at another nearby Home Depot store, but there are also now Ryobi OMT accessories on nearby pegs.
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So… does this mean that the Fein Starlock-compatible oscillating multi-tool blades are all going on clearance to clear up some space for Ryobi accessories? This certainly looks to be the case.
Looking online, Home Depot’s website says there aren’t any Fein Starlock OMT accessories available for pickup near me at all.
This could be a big deal for some tool users.
Let’s say that you bought Makita’s 18V Starlock-compatible multi-tool. Well, that tool can only work with Starlock OMT blades and accessories. So, if you have that tool and need replacement blades, Fein’s blades were the only compatible options you could find at Home Depot.
Once the Fein blades sell out, if they are all being cleared out and replaced with Ryobi SKUs, you won’t be able to find any Starlock-compatible accessories at Home Depot.
None of the other cordless power tool brands that Home Depot carries have Starlock-compatible multi-tools, and so perhaps such a move wouldn’t affect a lot of users.
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I should point out that Starlock blades are backwards-compatible with many tools that feature “universal” blade interfaces. So while Home Depot doesn’t have a wide selection of Starlock-compatible oscillating multi-tools, most if not all of the multi-tools they do sell should be compatible with Starlock blades.
Whether impactful or not, this is still an interesting development.
Plus, this could be a chance to snag Fein blades at a discount.
I also noticed some empty pegs and yellow price stickers within Home Depot’s selection of Dremel rotary tool accessories. I wonder if this has anything to do with all of the new rotary tools and accessories that Ryobi recently announced.
Dcl
They might as well just go ahead and rename it “Tectronic Depot”. No thanks, I guess I’ll order my blades online from now on.
matthew
Exactly!
Gordon
I was really hoping to see more Diablo blades in store. Especially after Bosch drill bits sort of went to Lowe’s.
I’m pretty disappointed in HD’s Diablo selection in general. Over the holiday season they advertised a Diablo reciprocating saw blade bundle that had 14 blades plus 2 carbide blades for $18. It had a nearly identical sku to the normal 14 blade pack. So every inventory listed stock for the normal pack, and I couldn’t find the promo pack anywhere.
As for the Fein blades, well I’ve heard mixed opinions on them. Some people love them, others don’t think they’re worth the cost. While it sucks to lose the only starlock blades that you can run out and grab, I never felt like I needed one bad enough to spend $30 on one blade. It feels like HD keeps raising prices and wondering why no one is buying. I got a 5pc set of diablo OMT blades for $45 shipped. And two of those are carbide too!
Stuart
My HDs have a decent selection of Diablo OMT blades with universal-style mounting holes.
Frankly, I like Fein blades, but they’re priced a bit high. I can’t remember the last time I bought one. I typically buy Bosch carbide or Milwaukee blades.
Gordon
Interesting. Especially because we’re fairly close to each other. All the stores near me have a large selection of Milwaukee blades and a few Fein (up until now), plus a few Dremel and the Ryobi cheap blades.
I’m very surprised that they don’t carry the Diablo starlock blades given their compatibility with non starlock tools.
Kevin
I agree, I like the Diablo/Bosch blades the best. I think they’re actually the biggest contract manufacturer for these blades and just rebranded (such as Makita). I also think FEIN blades are a tad overrated. Their carbide blades are good, but not THAT good. They’re above average performance for sure but in my experience Diablo/Bosch hold their edge longer; I’m assuming they use a better carbide for the task (ultimate hardness isn’t everything).
Jim Felt
I no longer notice these product placement shell games. Some of my local HD’s are nearly as poorly arranged and restocked as most nearby Lowes. It seems to be very much tied to the local Store Management skill sets.
Fortunately we’ve many local commercial tool suppliers that more then make up for these kinds of retailer inconsistencies. And apparent lousy employee “training”.
No Menards or Tractor whatever nearby to compare though. Darn.
Aaron S
haha almost as bad as lowes! I buy stuff at home depot because they have stuff I like and some good deals. I buy stuff at lowes because they make insane pricing mistakes and if you pay attention you can get things for 10% of MSRP sometimes.
OldDominionDIYer
My local Home Depot has been suffering with organizing issues as of late and I wonder if it has something to do with the reset of employment due to COVID and I’m hoping things get better soon. I’m always more comfortable when things are organized and logical and lately, I haven’t been very happy. My local store has never been super organized but it hasn’t been the mess I’ve encountered recently. Still my local Lowes has consistently been worse off than HD so it is always a last resort in my shopping needs.
fred
I remember when the Fein Multimaster and their blades were the only game in town – a great combination but you paid dearly for it. I guess that HD will sell more Ryobi blades than they do Fein – probably with a higher profit margin too – thanks to the TTI-HD romance. I know that that’s life – but sad to see Fein disappear from a big retailer. I don’t imagine that their Ryobi replacement will be of the same quality – but maybe the typical HD customer won’t notice so long as the price is right.
Franck B.
I think you’re right about the typical customers not knowing the difference. Most of our crew prefer to get super-cheap blades off of Amazon, because they burn through a blade on each job. I tend to like the Dremel carbide blades when on sale, for me they’re the sweet spot of longevity and price. Then again, I got the Dewalt with the max speed switch (the Makita with the dial wasn’t ergonomic). The rest of our guys got the one without the speed limiter and just pull the trigger all the way, which is why they burn the blades.
Joshua Morris
I hated the dremel carbide never got the blade to the point the blade was ruined the blade portion always broke first
Only blade i had this with happened several times. Once i ran out i switched to the imperial blades which are unfortunately owned by tti
But a good balance on value and longevity
Now that i have a festool omt i basically just use Bosch blades
Franck B.
That’s interesting to me that you had that experience, to me the Dremel blades looked pretty much the same construction as the Bosch blades, except with universal mount instead of Starlock. Sort of like the Bosch reciprocating saw blades, made in Switzerland, are just blue painted Freud Diablo.
I’ve also had decent luck with the Milwaukee blades when on sale at HD. But like you mentioned with the Imperial, they’re another TTI blade.
Jason. W
I love Ryobi tools but their accessories are trash.
Frank D
More Ryobi accessories? Gee … that is not what we need!!!
Gives us more mid range instead of cheap import at inflated prices.
The accessories and tools departments at my HD are pretty weak (smaller than Lowes, layout blows, … ) . Limited selection, limited stock, combined with high prices probably means nothing much moves unless it is on sale or special over the holidays.
And, it still baffles me how much each OMT blade costs. Even the el cheapo disposable ones.
MM
I agree, it is strange to see what OMT blades cost, especially given their pricing relative to, say, jigsaw or recip saw blades. I can’t think of any technical or manufacturing reason why their price would be so high.
It also seems strange for HD to replace a high-end brand with a cheapo one, but I suppose that’s what the market ultimately wants. I suppose they will still have Diablo OMT blades, which in n my experience are above average.
Julian Tracy
I’m old enough to remember buying Fein blades at $27 each 20 years ago, lol. These days, I’ve had great luck with the Amazon 35-50packs of blades that end up being $0.65-$0.85 a blade. They do a decent job in general, can handle a plunge cut in 2x lumber and at that price it’s a paradigm shift of how you think of multi-tool blades.
Re: Amazon blades – the “Japanese” tooth versions are near useless, the 14-18tpi standard tooth versions work great.
And as far as “clearance” prices go, $5 off a $20 is def not clearance pricing lol.
fred
I recall when 30min Betamax then VHS blank video tapes were $30 each, when you could get them on sale. You kind of pay for being an early adopter or buying tools and their accessories when they are covered by patents.
With decent quality OMT blades – it might be that the bit of complexity in manufacturing them may add to their cost – even now that Fein patents have long-ago expired.
Brian
Depots definition of “clearance” is a joke. The yellow clearance end caps are pathetic. Items marked down from $17.99 to $17.59 are pathetic.
With that being said, the clearance deals in the lumber department (e.g. purple spray painted lumber) are INCREDIBLE! Typically 70% off. I bought a $32 2x6x16 banana for $10. I only need it for blocking and nailers, so why not.
Gordon
BTW, any plywood cutoffs are usually free. They’re supposed to throw them out but if it’s a big enough piece they’ll toss it in the pile. Just ask someone in the wood section “How much is this going to me because it’s not a full sheet”. They normally take the sticker off and say “tell the cashier Ed in Lumber said you can have it.”
I watched a woman get 2 sheets cut into 6’x4′ panels and the 2’x4′ pieces were tossed straight into my cart. Saved me from buying an overpriced “project panel”.
Frank D
Hah … Maybe that is a regional thing.
I have stopped asking, because either they refuse to sell it ( goes back to … whomever wherever ) or you have to buy everything that is on the cart or pallet, and it may be 50% off.
Franck B.
It sounds like HD’s clearance is a much better deal than at my local Lowe’s, where I often see the yellow sticker markdown price to be exactly the same as the regular price.
Luis R.
I buy my blades from Amazon or Ebay, about 1.00 – 1.50 per, not as good quality but im always runing into hiden nails which would rouin most blades, jnles uou go for metal cutting or carbide both of them are slower cuttin wood.
My experience blades I buy last about 50% compared to Fein or brand name blades, but I can buy 10 blades for the price of a brand name blade which is not going to oulast 10 blades.