Yes, you have to have a Fein oscillating sander to use the blade. The sander has a lifetime warrantee and can be used for hours at a time without problem. The blade turns out to be way cheaper than the multiple Dremmel 1/16" diamond grout-removal blades you can eat up on a large project (though I stll used one for small places). If you can swing it, the Fein sander is usually available for $290 somewhere-- plunge cuts, sands, rasps-- and is far safer than a rotary tool because of it's oscillatory motion (like a bone saw for cast-removal). It's not cheap, but is is the best tool I've found for this. Fein 63502118016 2-1/2-Inch Segmented Carbide Grout Removal Blade
This item, though not recommended for cutting ceramic tile, cut ceramic tile for new flooring. It made the job easier, faster and more professional looking. I have also used it to remove single tiles from the bathroom wall for replacement. When used as directed by Fein, it is an efficient and easy way to make repairs to ceramic tile walls and floors.
This blade is a must if grout is to be removed where a bad ceramic tile is to be replaced. First, use this blade to cut away the grout around the tile piece. Second, use a hammer drill or hammer and chisel to break the tile, working at the center and moving to the edges. Third, cleanup the mastic/thinset using any or all of these tools.
Blade never finished removing grout from the first tile. The blade was useless. The original blade that came with my kit worked 100% better, and it was almost completely worn off. I agree with most reviewers the cost of the blades are to high, I check e bay daily for deals and buy when available. Othrerwise the Fein Multimaster is a great tool for the home handyman
I borrowed the multimaster tool from a friend to remove the grout around floor tiles in my bathroom. The bathroom is 9x8 with 12 inch tiles, and it took 2 of these blades to complete the job, and I also had to use a manual grout removal tool to actual get all of the grout out. I can't say that the multimaster didn't help at all, but it is definitely no miracle grout removal tool. I used the multimaster to cut into the grout; then used the manual tool to scrape out the remainder of the grout. It took 6 hours to finish removing the grout, and I didn't waste any time.
Both of the blades ended up going from round to almost rectangular once I was done, and more importantly, the star shape where the blade attaches to the tool wobbled out to the point where the blade would not stay tight to the tool rendering it completely useless. I had to take the blade off and rotate it so that it attached via the remaining good points.
If you plan to use it for one tile at a time, then you might get 36 tiles or so use out of it. I my case ($.78 per tile or 2 blades @ $40+) it may have been a bit cheaper for me to just replace all of the tiles!
As a side note, my friend had already returned 2 DOA tools to Fein, and this one started making some not so encouraging sounds after only 4 hours of use. You would expect a tool that costs as much as this does to be a little more reliable.
Just be forewarned that you WILL be replacing the blades often if you plan to do a bunch of grout work. However, it will take some of the work out of removing the grout if you're willing to pay the price.
This is a great tool that does lots of jobs. Unfortunately the blades are not up to the task. I use this tool for my remodel and repair business. I have had several different blades that get hot, get dull and don't work for long. I used this blade brand new to remove grout from a 32x32 tile shower pan. Before the job was finish I noticed that ALL of the carbide was gone from the blade. I was not forcing the tool. I don't mind paying more for the blades but I do expect that they will last for several jobs, not several blades per job! Fein has a serious quality problem that needs to be addressed. - Razor Blade - Multimaster Accessories - Grout Cleaner - Fein Multimaster Blades'
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