Oscillating tool vs Rotary tool – Picked That Fits You!
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Versus things always confuse our minds and we feel deeply about which one is the best and has the most advantage. While comparing, there can be a slight difference that may not seem to your eye, and the unseen thing creates a margin difference for your work.
But if you know the good and the bad side of a tool like an oscillating tool and a rotary tool, you can easily compare and get yourself the best tool to add to your toolkit for your work and can avoid your valuable money wasting on a tool that you don’t need at that time.
So, let’s find out the point-to-point difference and get you the comparison between oscillating tool vs rotary tool and know which one is the best.
Contents
Oscillating tool vs Rotary tool – Comparison Table
| Choosing factors | Oscillating tool | Rotary tool |
| Versatility | Good | Good |
| Attachable Accessories | Yes | Yes |
| Beveling cuts | Easy | Easy |
| Cutting Edge | Precise and quite smooth | Precise and smooth |
| Cutting Power | Less | More |
| Blade Change | Easy | Easy |
| Portable | Yes | Yes |
| Adjustable Depth | Yes | Yes |
| Adjustable Speed | Yes | Yes |
| Workspace | Small | Small |
| Vibration | More | Less |
| Noise | Less | less |
| Dust | Less | More |
| Cutting Materials | Wood, steel, drywall, tiles, iron, plastic, cardboard | Wood, pipe, drywall, sheet steel, steel rods, Masonite, aluminum, brass, plastic, and copper |
| Safety | More | Less |
Advantages & Disadvantages
Before getting to the comparison, get to know about the Rotary tool vs Oscillating tool that can give you some thought of the idea about them.
Rotary tool
A rotary tool is a multi-functional hand tool where you can attach multiple types of equipment one by one to do the carving, cutting, cleaning, polishing, grinding, sanding—all these things it will do quite fast and nicely.
Oscillating tool
Like the rotary tool, an oscillating tool is also a multi-functional tool having a wide variety of attachments. Those attachments are used for cutting, grinding, sanding, scraping, and grout removal.
Point to point comparison
Design and cuts
The design of these two tools is mostly the same also; both can be corded or cordless. But the rotary tool is smaller than the oscillating tool. That’s why it is a little bit harder to grip for the beginner to create curves and shapes, but once you get used to this rotary tool, you can get delicate work on tight spaces.
Another hand, because of the larger size of the oscillating tool than the rotary tool, it is a little bit easy to get accurate cuts on larger pieces of materials.
Working Technique
Both rotary and oscillating hand tools can do most of the same tasks easily. However, the working technique is a little bit different. Rotary tools motor spin blades quickly and creates curves and shapes perfectly in tight places.
Another hand, oscillating hand tool, moves back and forth rapidly and cuts larger pieces of material smoothly and accurately.
Attachable accessories
On both, you can attach multiple versatile accessories. Those are easy to attach one by one on the tool head and easy to remove. Those accessories are not very expensive, affordable to anyone if it breaks or damage.
With their own attachable accessories, a rotary tool can do the carving, cutting, cleaning, polishing, grinding, sanding, and an oscillating tool can do cutting, grinding, sanding, scraping, and grout removal.
Noise and vibration
It’s really obvious that a machine or a cutting tool makes noise and vibration while cutting. But some machines or tools make noise and vibration much and some less. Here both create noise but adjusting the speed in low level both produce less noise.
In the rotary tool, you won’t feel much vibration because of the design of the quick spinning blade. But in the oscillating tool, you will feel much more vibration than the rotary tool because it cuts on very fast oscillation and is designed to move back and forth rapidly to cut.
Dust
In this case, the oscillating tool gets the advantage over the rotary tool. The oscillating tool creates less dust than the rotary tool. The oscillating tool has bigger attachments for that it is easier to cut through the material that creates less dust.
On the other hand, the rotary tools blade small kerf spin very fast and cut the material smoother and create dust than the oscillating tool.
Safety
No tool or machine can provide you 100% safety. But comparing these two oscillating tools provides you much more safety than the rotary tool. The oscillating tool is designed for rotating back and forth rapidly, and its vibration head moves 3degree while cutting; that’s why it’s safe.
Another hand rotary tool is a small machine, and it spins very fast with its small attachments, and in the blink of an eye, your finger can be cut by the blade.
FAQS
Q. Is a rotary tool the same as an oscillating tool?
Both are not exactly the same. They work or cut in different techniques: rotary tool cut while spinning the blade at high speed and oscillating cut while moving back and forth rapidly.
But they are both hand tools and cut most of the same material and do the same task. Also, both are portable; they can be corded and cordless.
Q. How deep can an oscillating tool cut?
cutting deep is dependent on the attachments or the blade you attach to the oscillating saw. Usually, an oscillating tool cuts 1 to 3inches. So, choose the best blade to do your work perfectly. Also, you can adjust the depth to cut the perfect depth.
Q. Can a multi-tool cut tile?
Multi-tool such as oscillating tools and rotary tools can easily cut a tile. But these can’t replace a tile cutter or a wet tile saw. Also, the oscillating and rotary tool won’t provide smooth edge cuts.
Final Thought
Both tools have most of the same capability to cut materials smoothly and precisely. Also, both tools are good at their own position to do their task, and you can’t disagree with that.
So read the comparison well and think about what you need if you need a tool that can curve and shape delicately in a tight place or you need an oscillating tool that can easily cut large pieces of material.
If you understand the facts, then you are ready to purchase another tool for your toolkit. I hope you like the article.
