Secco 916 Oscillating Tool - Part 2...A Tale of Woe

I'm a DIY'er and happened to see the Fein on tv, and as others have said, it was out of price range. I had told my mother about the tool. Today she called me and told me about another oscillating tool on an infomercial. I tuned in to see the Rockwell. At under half the price I came looking for reviews; I ended up here. Excellent site. Anyhow, while looking through the list of Oscillating tool reviews, I noticed this review or the Secco. I read it, determined I'll avoid them on ebay and read on. Then I saw the review for the Harbor Freight's Chicago Electric oscillating tool. I have a local Harbor Freight, so I followed the link to the tools web page. That is when I noticed the blades center round hole surrounded by smaller holes. I then came back to this site and compared the pics of the Secco here and of the Chicago, the only difference is the Chicago has an orange handle and the Secco has a blue handle.

I believe they are the exact same tool. Since Harbor Freight is only asking $39.95 at this time, I feel sorry for the reviewer that bought the ebay item for $150+. But for anyone else reading through these reviews, I would like to inform them of what I found. If this was covered elsewhere on this site, I missed it.

caveat emptor
(ps, by profession, I am a programmer, hence the name, computer geeks will understand)

I bought a Voss 911 that looks exactly like the secco 916 on there web site www.oscillatingmultitool.com by The King Group, But when I received the tool I got a tool that looks exactly like the Hardin AZ318-2 sold on Ebay by Specialty Diamond. The Secco does not look like the Harbor frieght oscillating tool. So I don't know what the heck is going on. I do have a harbor frieght and it works very well at 1100 ppm the blades get hot fast but it has paid for its self a 100 fold. The voss911-hardin AZ318-2 is much faster and cuts very smooth and quik. My advice to myself and others especailly if you use the tool alot don't be cheap buy a Fein. If you r a DIY buy the harbor Frieght it worth every penny and the blades are inexpensive. I am sending this one back and ordering a Fein. LJmoyaConstruction

After making a call to king tools this morning I found out the the Voss 911 and the Hardin AZ318-2 is also a secco and the new model at 250 watts is replacing the old tool since the return rate was 30%. Hardin by speciality Diamond also sells the 250 watt oscillating tool for $79.00 with a good assortment of blades this tool is a Secco also. I will keep this tool for awhile, I have a 30day no hassle satisfaction if I dont like it they will refund the full price to include shipping. King Tools sells the same tool offered by specialty Diamond for $30.00 more. So the bottom line is the Hardin offered by specialty Diamond and the Voss 911 offered by King Tools are made by Secco and have been inproved so time will tell. Since I got a refund for $30.00 to meet the Hardin price and I ordered a ton of blades I will keep the tool and put it to some test and see how it holds out. I tried it out once and I was very pleased at the speed compared to the HF tool, and it has a good feel to it as well.
Hope this helps. LJM Contruction.

Larry, I'm not into the price for the Fein but I'm wondering about the Hardin for $79. I just today bought a HF for $32 and have yet to try it but I like the sound of a faster, variable speed tool. Do you think the Hardin is worth the extra $48?
I do a lot of remodeling work and think I'd use it on occasion but not every day.

Thanks,
John

I think for the money the harbor frieght works great try it for a while and see how much use you are going to get out of it. I just bought a fein 250Q top on ebay for $327.00. I use the tool enough to justify the better tool and because I do like the best but the harbor frieght has been great and the Hardin/secco works fine too, but I really hate to say this but I do like the Harbor frieght better then the Secco altough the secco is variable. I used the same blade on both tools and I felt the the HF was a smoother cutting tool. If you dont want to buy a fein just stick to the HF at that price you can buy 10 for the price of 1 Fein and the blades are inexpensive. larry

After comparing and thinking that the Hardin 318EZ-2 with the collection of blades ( $149 ) may be the best value, I tried to find out where the tool is made, first by emailing, then calling, only to be told that it just says Hardin, no place of manufacture. I find this very hard to believe, since any tool I've ever bought ( that was worth anything) had where it was made on the label. Most likely it is made in China. That said, it would be nice to know of anyone who has used this tool, or it's predecessor for more than a year or two and find out how it holds up. Hardin makes it hard to determine any real info on it's product. The address on the SD website just has Goleta,CA....possibly also a residentual place of business.
still skeptical from Pittsburgh.
CMU

TO CMU
The Hardin 318EZ-2 is made by Secco. It is an improved model over the Secco 916. This has a variable controland 250 watt motor the design is also different compared to the old Secco 916. They haven't been around that long. I beleive they come with a 3 year warranty. I bought the Secco model sold by King Tools which is a Hardin. Only time will tell how they hold up. I think for the money you get alot, and yes they are made in China. The tool really has a nice feel to it. The seller Speciality Diamond also sells quality blades and they will work on Fein and just about any other tool. Harbor Frieght also just came out with a new improved model it has a variable control, I have the old style HF tool and I am also happy with that one. Now I own a Fein and still find myself using the HF more. I havent put the Secco/Hardin to the test yet. You might want to go to HF and take a look at the new Oscilating tool they just came out with I wouldnt doubt of it was nothing more then a Secco/ Hardin. Good luck CMU

I finally got a chance to try out the Voss tool and at a real big job site and it let me down. I did not take the fein as a back up I took the harbor freight and it saved the day. i cut door jams, door trim, baseboard and removed vinyl flooring with out missing a beat. I did call the tool company I ordered the tool from and they are sending me a new one. now I know if I go to a job site I need to take a back up in case this happens again. I don't know if this is an isolated incident or if the Voss is just crap.I still recommend the Harbor Freight Tool or if you really want the best buy a Fein. I will never leave home without the Fein again. The only reason I didn't take this time around was to test the Voss out and I have to say at this point I am disappointed.

I finally got a chance to try out the Voss tool and at a real big job site and it let me down. I did not take the fein as a back up I took the harbor freight and it saved the day. i cut door jams, door trim, baseboard and removed vinyl flooring with out missing a beat. I did call the tool company I ordered the tool from and they are sending me a new one. now I know if I go to a job site I need to take a back up in case this happens again. I don't know if this is an isolated incident or if the Voss is just crap.I still recommend the Harbor Freight Tool or if you really want the best buy a Fein. I will never leave home without the Fein again. The only reason I didn't take this time around was to test the Voss out and I have to say at this point I am disappointed.