Dremel Multi-Flex Is No Yoke
With the proliferation of oscillating multi-tools, we’ve seen an array of new accessories — but the Dremel Multi-Flex is the most curious yet. Dremel designed the the Multi-Flex bracket, or yoke, to hold a variety of blades and wires for cutting and sanding materials such as wood, metal, and plastic.
The downside to this tool is the same as the old C-arm scroll saws — you don’t get a flat cut, as the yoke swings in an arc. But unlike a scroll saw, you’re holding it in your hand, so maybe you can compensate for this shortcoming.
Available online at Amazon or at a nearby Lowe’s, you can pick up a Multi-Flex cutting kit with the yoke, four spiral cutting blades, three saw blades, and one carbide sanding wire for around $25.
Multi-Flex [Dremel]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Coping saw. 10 bucks
I’m with Johnnyp. I’d reach for a coping saw first.
Looks like a power tooth flosser.
There are also a variety of tools for adapting jig saws for coping moldings. Gary Katz has a good review of the Collins Coping Foot. I have seen it work very well but don’t tend to do enough coped mill-work to justify buying one. There are also the EasyCoper and Speed-Cope but I haven’t seen them used by professionals.
We’ve put a Collins coping foot on several older Bosch barrel-grip jig saws and like this setup better than the trusty coping saw
The Multi-Flex looks interesting, and I’ve heard lots of good reports from users of the Collins coping foot.
After using a coping saw for 30+ years, I saw this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EijqMNYBsLg that demonstrates using an angle grinder with coarse sanding disks for coping. I was skeptical, but after some practice, I can cope with at least equal precision and much better speed using 50 grit disks on the angle grinder compared to a coping saw. The down side with this method is that it creates more dust than coping-usually not a problem in a production situation.