Oscillating Tool Adapters – Bringing Accessories to the Masses

Follow me back to a bygone era circa 2008. Although the US economy was on its way to implosion, it was a simpler time when it came to oscillating multi tools. You could buy any color tool you wanted, as long as it was orange (meaning, of course, that it was made by Fein).

Fein had the monopoly on the oscillating tool market for decades, and monopolies usually mean the product or service being provided by the monopoly is: a) incredibly expensive, and b) sucky. Just think about Microsoft ten years ago, or your cable service, or AT&T back when we all had land lines. However, in Fein’s case, they managed to put out an awesome product that didn’t suck. In fact, it rocked. Even so, Fein’s accessories were almost universally despised for being over-priced (although most begrudgingly admit their high level of quality). Fein would likely say you get what you pay for, but that was little reassurance to someone regularly shelling out $40+ for an individual accessory. Times have changed, and as tool bloggers know all too well, Fein’s patent expiration has unleashed the floodgates of oscillating multi tools, accessories and adapters. We’re pretty sure ice cream stores, monasteries and Nike will start releasing their own oscillating multi tools soon too.

Making sense of all the new oscillating tool options can be daunting. And, it gets even more daunting when you start to have different tool brands fraternize with different accessory brands. It’s like dogs and cats living together. That’s where oscillating tool adapters come into play. The tool selection is vast: Fein has their MultiMaster, Bosch the Multi-X and now MX25EC, Dremel the Multi-Max and Multi-Max cordless, Milwaukee the M12 Multi-Tool, and the list goes on an on. Now, imagine that every manufacturer uses their own proprietary oscillating tool accessory. The result would be (is?) mild chaos. Thankfully, several of the manufacturers also stepped in with adapters to make oscillating tool accessories more interchangeable. However, now even those adapters are getting a little confusing.

Stu over at ToolGuyd has stepped in with an adapter roundup to shed a little light on your oscillating tool adapter options. Stu covers the Bosch OIS Adapter, Dremel Universal Adaptor, Bosch OSCAD1 Adapter, and Sonicrafter Adapter.

Our buddies over at ProToolReviews also did a nice write-up of the Bosch OIS adapter and Bosch accessories, and our sponsor Jay of Ohio Power Tool / CopTool fame did a great overview on OIS as well. So if you’d like to try your luck with accessories that don’t require your first-born child as collateral, then check out oscillating tool adapters like the OIS. Do you have a favorite oscillating tool adapter or accessory? If so, let us know in the comments below.