On Saturday, October 25, 2014 11:51:31 AM UTC-5, Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Sat, 25 Oct 2014 02:40:11 -0400, Lee Michaels wrote:

I have read numerous posts here and elsewhere about this tool. It is a
much cheaper version of the tool offered by others but seemed to do
quite well in real world situations.

Cheaper is a vast understatement. I bought mine on sale for $16 !! When I was at HF purchasing the tool I bought a nylon tool bag to fit it for $5, so my investment was $21 with the carry bag. Note in the link Ed posted above they are comparing the HF tool to others that cost (literally) 5 to 13 times as much! I would hope those other tools would do quite well against it, but especially if I was a casual user, I wouldn't pay more than I had to for a serviceable tool. Like I said earlier, mine has been in the job for years now, same one, and has worked very well in practical application.

I bought one a few years ago and couldn't keep the blade from coming
loose. I finally returned it. Posts at the time indicated I wasn't the
only one with that problem. Have they fixed it?

It's fixed. Mine never comes loose. I remember those threads well, and apparently they needed a stronger hold down washer to get the blades secured. Locking the blade in with a hex key, I like the fact I have tactile feedback when attaching the blade so I know it is tight.

As far as blades go, I can usually find a set on sale at Lowe's when I make my every 3 months journey to that store. They sold their own flavor of oscillating tool under the "Blue Hawk" brand (may not be exclusive) and for a long time they had frequent sales of blade sets at 15 pieces for $20. I use the tool often enough that I usually buy one of their blade kits whether I need them or not, just so I will be ready with the blades on hand. These blades last me well, but not so much for some of my contracting colleagues.

They have a tendency to over stress this tool, not keep the blade straight, and push the blades hard enough to not allow them to cut. Most of them don't allow the blade to have any open areas to allow the cut wood to clear, so they wind up resawing the sawdust they have already cut. Many is the time I have lent mine out, only to have the borrower come back to me and announce "I couldn't get it to work". I look at the blade on the tool when they return it, and they have cut or two pieces of wood and the blade teeth are ground down or off, and the blade has blue streaks in it from the heat. They would have trouble with an oscillating tool regardless of maker or blade manufacturer. They don't know how to use the tool and have a tendency to think if it as a saw, not an oscillating tool.

Robert