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

Last week we told you about the Secco 916 Oscillating Tool. At the time, we were a little suspicious of it because it was only being sold on ebay and there was absolutely no information available on the manufacturer. In the post, we asked if anyone had any experience with the tool.

The other day, we received the following comment from a reader. You can read it in the comment section of the original post, but we thought it was worthy of its own article. It seems that the Secco might not pass the sniff test after all. (Update: we just received another comment on the tool, this one mostly positive. Read that one here. Second one down.)

As RkyMtnRon reports....

Hi:
You asked for feedback on the Secco 916, so I've got some.

Bought one on Ebay on Jan. 2, 2009, for $157.50 (plus shipping).

They are misrepresenting this unit! The description clearly states that it can use the Fein Multi-master blades. Not true!

Their blades have a circular center hole and a pattern of smaller holes that fit onto a circular array of raised pins on the blade arbor, allowing the blade angle to be changed.

There is no "adapter" disk to allow the use of the "star" hole on the Fein blades.

I challenged the seller about their claim and they hedged and said "Ya well, just tighten down the blade bolt and they'll work". Well, I tried that and a Fein blade just spun around in a heart beat!

There also does not seem to be any other blades available for this unit, other than the ones in the kit. No "bi-metal" blades at all, or recessed hub "flush-cut", circular blades.

Specialty Diamond Products does not even have any replacement blades for this unit on their web site!

One other interesting fact. My sales slip that came with the unit has an address in Santa Barbara, CA, that I looked up on Mapquest and found to be in the middle of a residential area, so some dude is selling these out of his home!

Currently, I'm trying to return my unit and plan to contact Ebay to report this misrepresentation.

I would urge anyone considering this unit to forget about it!

Read More in: Oscillating Tools | Power Tools

Share this Article with others:

Secco 916 Oscillating Tool - Jan 22, 2009
Oscillating Tool Roundup - Nov 30, 2008
Chicago Electric 120-Volt Multi-Function Power Tool (Oscillating Tool) - Nov 13, 2008

Came straight to this page? Visit Tool Snob for all the latest news.

Posted by Tool Snob at January 29, 2009 4:58 AM

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)

Posted by: trash80 at August 8, 2009 4:15 PM

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

Posted by: Larry Moya at November 8, 2009 2:10 PM

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.

Posted by: Larry at November 9, 2009 11:48 AM