I've owned the cordless Makita version of the oscillating multi tool for around 3 years now and use it very frequently. I don't think I've ever needed any blade other than the standard 1 3/8" wood cutting blades. If anything I get slightly different variations of that blade, for example more or less TPI for fine work vs rough work. I generally like to have a few on hand, and always one or two that are near new condition for fine work such as cutting trim in place, and I use the older more dull blades for cutting drywall or trimming shims or whatever else they come in handy for.

I would advise to avoid nails as much as possible as these blades aren't cheap and dull out fast against metal. Switch to a sawsall if you can for nail embedded woods.

well, I'm not going to go buy a Sawsall, because I don't expect to cut through metal very often.

The project that prompted me to get this tool is that I need to cut away a wooden box that was attached to the back wall of my kitchen cabinet to create a bump-out for some pipes in the wall behind that cabinet.

(pic here)

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/how-to-fix-this-undercabinet-drain-pipe-mess-dsvw-vd~5650155?n=6

I'm assuming that my kitchen remodeler used a nail gun or maybe a screw or two in addition to the wood glue.

So I don't know how I'd get through that without cutting through the screw. I suppose I could cut up TO the screw, and then see if I could pull the wood off. But I think I'd rather just ruin a blade and cut through it.

Kudzu9, thanks for your info on which blades you actually

use.

Remove any screws that you can see and have access to. Then what you can do is cut each piece of ply wood in to a couple different pieces and bend them back off of the cabinet. For example one of the vertical pieces of wood, cut horizontally 2-3 inches down from the corner, and up from the bottom corner, leaving you a section in the middle that can then be bent away from the cabinet. Do the same to the other vertical piece, and the horizontal pieces. Attacking it this way, cutting it into smaller pieces will let you pry it off more gently, and if it's glued you'll only be fighting with a few inches of glue at a time rather than trying to pry the whole box off, or trying to figure out how to get your blade in around the pipes.

There is a blade that cuts metal.

There are no screws that I can see or that I have access to.

I'm just guessing about how it's attached; I *know* he used construction adhesive, and the corners of the box are held together with screws, so I'm thinking that makes it highly likely that there are screws instead of brads from a nailer (I don't remember him having that tool).

I don't want to be bending anything--I'll rip the back of the cabinet! It's just a thin piece of wood, like all kitchen cabinets (maybe thinner than some), and it's a little loose at the bottom anyway bcs of the water damage.

I don't want to make things worse by trying to pry off or bend off something that's glued. Glued joints are stronger than plain wood, and the plywood isn't going to give, so it's the thin back of the cabinet that will rip. And then I'll really have a mess.

That's the point of the multi-tool--to lay the blade flat against the back of the cabinet and cut into the joint where it's glued, and just cut that box off (well, the bottom half of it; I figure I'll cut across the side walls, and leave the top undisturbed).

I think it would be a heck of a lot more sensible to cut through the metal of any screws; as Jim Mat points out, there is a blade specifically for metal, and maybe I'd just need to get one, and switch to it when I run into the screws.

Re blades, I did not click on the link above, but my multi tool came with an assortment of blades. I used many of the blades repairing a travel trailer. I used/broke all of the blades that came with the multi tool, replaced a couple at $10-15 per blade at the hardware store to complete the job. I later purchased an assortment pack of blades from Amazon, maybe $30 for 20 assorted blades.

FWIW, different blades have different cutting surfaces, maybe try a “cut everything” blade and go slow.

Maybe 10 years ago, my father gave me a multi tool, based on his experience on a DIY project. A few years I replaced a window in a travel trailer. The multi tool was used to cut: aluminum, wood, and fasteners. I also used a Rigid reciprocating Saw with different blades.

8 hrs of demo over two days.

After the project, I purchased an assortment of multi tool blades from Amazon.

The pack I purchased I cluded:

3 metal

4 wood/plastic/soft metal

4 wood/plastic/precision

3 bi metal

3 wood/plastic/metal

3 wood/plastic, precision

different length blades.

Well we only know what you tell us, hard to recommend things from afar. :) Good luck.

I have used my tile blade a lot...not sure if that's what they're called but it's for tile, so?