Just got my Mountain MTN7308 Cordless Rotary Tool with Aluminum Case. I hadn't seen any reviews on the product, so I took a leap of faith and purchase one.
Boy, am I glad I did! This kit is nice. Fit and Finish and overall quality is much better than expected.
I'm very impressed, it's a nice kit.
I purchased this Rotary Tool over others mainly because of the price and the features. Following are the features I was looking for and the MTN7308 has.
1) Variable Speed - from 5000-25000 RPM
2) Ni-MH 9.6V battery (I prefer Ni-MH over Ni-CD and Lithium batteries are still quite expensive)
3) Flexible Extension (Yup, it has a nice flexible extension which, itself, is worth perhaps $18-25)
4) Has threaded case end for mounting various attachments. (The threads are a little longer than the Dremel but seem to be the same thread, or very close and work fine)
5) Nice, durable, Aluminum Case to keep the Accessories and attachments together so they won't get lost.
6) Killer Deal - I got mine from Monstronix for a little over $36 with free shipping!
I love the fact that the tool seems well engineered and nicely constructed. I think it will last, just like my corded Dremel has. The Battery is way better than a Ni-Cd and has a large capacity (1200 mah @ 9.6V) which means that it should run for quite a while on a charge and have plenty of torque. The flexible extension fits and works nicely and although it adds a little noise while running the tool is still MUCH quieter than our corded Dremel.
Included is a nice, well made telescoping stand to hang the tool from when using the flexible shaft. You get some basic accesories (burs, sanding drum, drills, etc) but all the Dremel and Dremel-like tool tips will work fine.
It has the same sized two collets (these are brass ... nice)
I will assume that this tool would work fine with the Dremel Router or little circular saw or drill press setups although I have not tried these yet.
The Aluminum Case is the frosting on the cake, it's sturdy and looks fairly durable. Perhaps some types of plastic cases may be better for throwing the kit around like into the back of your pickup but the aluminum looks nice and will protect the tool nicely for home use.
I don't really hate anything about this kit but there are a couple of things that I noticed and should be taken into consideration.
1) The instructions recommend placing the battery into the charger for 10 hours before use. Mine had some charge left when shipped and was recharged in about 3 hours. The battery was hot (didn't want to leave my finger on it for very long, for sure) which indicates to me that the charger is not a really good Ni-MH charger. Actually, the charger is probably fine but the wall-wart transformer is supposed to have 12VDC output and it was putting out 14 V which is probably what is causing the overheating. My solution is to use the charger but to not leave it unattended and check the battery at least every hour while charging. I may just find a good replacement wall-wart transformer that actually puts out 12V and call it good. You definately will want to keep an eye on the charging of this battery though! I will probably email the vendor and see if they can replace it with a suitable (and safe) charger.
2) The case handle is kind of small and doesn't look very durable but the foam insert inside the case is nice and craddles the equipment nicely.
I highly recommend this Rotary Tool but want to CAUTION about the charger, I think it will work fine but KEEP and EYE on it and don't let it charge for long periods of time (certainly NOT the recommended initial 10 hours charge).
I feel like I got a KILLER DEAL on this and it will be a nice addition to my shop. It's ideal for hobby work and way more affordable than the Cordless Dremel with Lithium Battery. I imagine that's a nice Rotary Tool but I don't have the bucks to spend on that, I believe it's nearly $80.
This should be much better than Dremel's 4.8V Ni-CD Rotary Tool I doubt it has much torque at all.
I think the MTN7380 is a great comprimise and extremely affordable.
I'm very happy with it overall.
FYI: I got this Rotary Tool to use with the Peticure Nail Guard which is a nice little guard that attaches to a Dremel or in this case Mountain Rotary Tool. It attaches nicely and will make a wonderful kit for trimming the dogs nails (we have three large dogs and I don't like to clip their nails since I cut one too short one time and hurt my pup and I felt absolutely terrible)
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