There’s a new versatile multi tool in the AEG line up. As a plunge cutter it’ll reach areas you just can’t get into with a circular saw, and as a sander or paint stripper it’ll tackle those 90º corners a round sander always misses.
Features-wise there’s a handful of great inclusions that all contribute to the depth of this little overachiever. The 18V brushless motor, in true AEG style, has plenty of go, providing maximum power, runtime and efficiency. There is also a well-positioned variable-speed dial under the grip with a range setting of 1 to 6. The lowest setting gives a no-load speed of 5000 OPM and the highest rating up to 20,000 OPM, so it’s easy to select an ideal setting for a wide range of tasks. Tool-free blade change was a good inclusion, making for a simple and fast blade or accessory change time, and on the top of the contoured slimline body and ergonomic grip, right where your thumb naturally wants to sit, is the on/off slide switch.
Finally, a cool little LED sight light illuminates the work area to help stick right on those guidelines.
To help put the multi-tool through its paces I caught up with the team from Woodley Projects, where chippy Matt Woodley gave the 18V Brushless Multi Tool a solid workout.
TEST #1: CUTTING
We kicked off with cutting an opening through yellow-tongue subflooring.
Normally, due to the density of the yellow tongue, most tradies would use a circular saw and then just finish off the hard-toreach corners with a multi tool. But to test the power of the AEG we decided to cut two of the rectangular edges with the multi tool.
It zapped through the thick and dense yellow-tongue panel. For a unit weighing in at 0.92kg this thing has some serious grunt.
It was a solid test for this compact multi tool, and it delivered more than enough power to cut the two full test sides.
After that Matt used his circular saw on the other two sides and finished off the uncut corners with the multi tool.
Next we decided to make a few cut outs in some gyprock and ply. As you would expect in these thinner and softer materials, the multi tool sliced through with ease.
TEST #2: SANDING
To cover off another use with the included accessories, we swapped over to the triangular sanding disc. It was spot on for getting into tight corners and hard-to-reach areas.
Matt had some external architrave around a window that was yet to be sanded. The dried glue pushed out of the join was sanded flat and looking amazing in no time at all. The comfort in using the AEG was evident as Matt worked the tool in various positions to complete the task.
“It has a nice ergonomic design,” said Matt. “It feels great in the hand with the rubberised slimline grip. We have a competitor multi tool on site that’s a lot thicker and wider, and I prefer the precision and control of the AEG.
“There’s also a new, cool-looking belt clip. I haven’t seen one designed like that before and it works well.”
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
The AEG multi tool is going to be a winner at making cuts in hard-to-reach places, stripping paint, sanding awkward places and quickly ripping through steel, copper pipe, PVC and all sorts of other material. It’s also worth mentioning we used two brand-new batteries which had just been added to the AEG FORCE battery range: a 2Ah and a 4Ah. Even with a new look and compact design, AEG has still managed to fit in overheat and over-current protection. For AEG’s tools that are more about control and precision than brute force, these two new batteries at the smaller end of the range are going to be welcomed additions.
Visit: www.aegpowertools.com.au