cheap fein blades....

[danickstr]

the problem with lath is that it is so poorly nailed to the studs (and the plaster is usually hanging on loosely), that it tends to get messy when you start disturbing it. Sawzall blades changed often at least pull up against the shoe, so the lath does not tend to waggle around and break loose the other plaster in teh vicinity. You can also vary the speed of most sawzalls so you can keep dust to a minimum. But if you are really trying to avoid patching, then I would go fast to keep the cutting clean, and wipe up dust later. Drill holes in corners and even us a good jigsaw if you like. Less pulling than a sawzall.

 

[Fulthrotl]

I will be cutting in about 9 single gang boxes in plaster/lathe in about 2 weeks. I read about the Fein multi-master, Rockwell and Dremel, but I am skeptical about cutting into plaster and (switching blades if i have to) to cut the lathe.

I have been burned before by company reps saying, "yeah that this tool will work for that," only to buy it and then find out it works poorly for 'that.' I want to make clean holes and avoid leaving alot of lead dust behind.

Do anyone have any direct experience with these multi-master tools in this application?

cutting plaster dulls anything. so does wallboard, for that matter. why don't you
try this: test drive one of these. pick a store that sells one, like home dipsnit,
where you can return it if you don't like it. get some extra blades.

try cutting a hole. you'll know in about 2 minutes if this is gonna work for you.
i suspect it will. lath embedded in plaster will cut ok, but the plaster is going
to dull the blades. i'm guessing it'll take two blades to cut 9 single gang openings.

i've had a multimaster for about 9 months now. i do a lot of remodel work.
i would not even consider operating a service truck without one of these.
it's not even negotiable. that's how useful i find it.

if you have a *good* shop vac, (not an indoor leaf blower) use it while cutting,
and there won't be any dust. i'm partial to the festool CT22 vacuum myself.
absolutely no dust gets out of this unit. however, it's 'spensive.

good luck with this.....


randy