Does the Milwaukee 2526 M12 FUEL Oscillating Multi-Tool have the guts to hang with the M18 FUEL Multi-Tool, or is it just a 12-volt wannabe tool? While the M12 FUEL cordless multi-tool doesn’t have the Auto-speed feature like it’s M18 big brother, it still delivers on performance better than most other brands. You can get the Milwaukee 2526 M12 FUEL Multi-Tool for $159 (bare tool), and it comes with a 5-year warranty.
Milwaukee 2526-20 M12 FUEL Multi-Tool (bare tool):
Milwaukee 2526-21HO M12 FUEL Multi-Tool (kit):
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The Milwaukee M12 fuel oscillating Multi-tool is it the little brother to The M18 fuel oscillating tool or is it The mean sister This is the Milwaukee 2526 which is the M12 fuel oscillating Multi-tool now just about a week ago or So we reviewed the 2836 which is the M18 Version of this tool there's a lot of Similarities here but there's also some Differences we're going to be going over That we're not necessarily going to Compare the two head-to-head on Everything but we will wait make mention On the M18 as well because we know you Probably want to know should you buy the M12 or should you buy the M18 is one More powerful than the other and is one Have some better features than the other Well we'll go over all of that so let's Dive in on the features and then we'll Actually use it come back talk about Warranty about pricing and what we Thought of it this is not exactly a Brand new tool but this is the Milwaukee Model number 2526 which is their M12 Fuel version of the oscillating Multi-tool now they've had an M12 Version in the past but it was not the The fuel but this one's been out I don't Know a year or so so it's a newer tool But just so you know there's a gen 1 Version of this that was again not a Brushless and not a fuel tool and what
Comes in this kit here is the XC looks Like 4.0 battery And the M12 25 26 Oscillating multi-tool and a charger And obviously the beautiful carrying bag Case whatever you want to call that Nylon case looks like we also get a Sanding pad and some sanding discs Probably 240 120 and 80. yeah 120 240 60 and 80 grit sanding discs or Triangles and the pad And probably a versatile no would a wood Blade as well made in the USA blade by The way so these Milwaukee blades most Of them are made in the USA on their Oscillating multi-tools now if you'll Notice something on their oscillating Multi-tool with the M12 they've added These uh kind of metal detents if you Will that hold this battery securely in There since it's a vibrating tool it Holds it in there really tight so it Doesn't move around keeping that battery Nice and secure as I mentioned if you Follow our videos a week or so ago we Did review the M18 big brother to this Tool and that's a that's a great tool as Well so I'm just curious if we're going To come anywhere close to the Performance of this guy which is the 2836 oscillating multi-tool again M18 Fuel a lot of similarities between these Two but there are some differences as Well I'll keep this in the background I
May refer to it a couple of times I'm Really not dedicating this to comparing These but if there are some glaring Features that are different or even the Same we may bring that up to to talk About for the most part really close in Size as well we'll get an exact Measurement here in a moment a little Bit more slender of a body through the Center of the tool for sure but again a Lot of similarities as well a very Simple on off switch to turn the tool on Turn the tool off and then we have a They call it a variable speed dial I Really don't like calling it that Obviously we can vary the speed based Off of this dial it says there's 12 Speeds and really that's the point is It's kind of variable there are some Small detents you can feel but I think You can kind of just set this at Wherever you want to so obviously the Odd numbers are in between each of the Other numbers and this is going to vary Anywhere between ten thousand On the low end and 20 000 on the upper End as far as oscillations per minute so It's not a complete Revolution so it's Not going to be RPM and so the Oscillation is going to be back and Forth which by the way that's a 3.9 Angle Arc and to bring in the M18 I Believe that was a 4.2 degree angle of Arc so again 3.9 degrees of arc on the
Oscillation so that's not measured in a Millimeter or an inch because that's Going to depend on how far you are out From the Axis or from the center as to How far that would be so it's measured As an angle at 3.9 degrees which is very Close to the M18 of a 4.2 degree Another difference here talking about The two tools is the fact that here we Have 12 different speeds if you look at The M18 you have 11 and then you have an A for kind of the automatic if you will And what that does the auto mode it Actually senses how much power you may Need and ramps it up accordingly and it Starts off slow and once you get into The wood or into the cutting material That you're cutting it'll actually ramp That speed up making kind of a gentle Approach and then ramping it up as you Need it that's not gonna you're not Going to have that auto feature on this Tool however what you do get on this Tool is look at this axis here you can See with my thumb I can move that I can Rock that back and forth now that's not A mistake or that's not a problem that's Actually aiding in the not only Performance of this tool but also in the Ergonomics of this tool in cutting down On vibration so basically we have a Rubber found in there where this is Mounted so you're not feeling all those 20 000 oscillations per minute through
This tool that's the drawback of many of These oscillating multi-tools is the Fact that when you're holding this thing Man it's almost beating you to death Because you're feeling all of those Oscillations so again mounting that to Where it's kind of floating if you will Or dampened is going to lessen that Effect through the body of the tool now I'm curious the M18 was awesome in that I'm curious if the M12 is going to have That same effect where it's a very good Isolation of those of that vibration or Those vibrations like typical M12 tools We get our battery indicator right there As the lights telling us how full the Battery is because there's no gauge on The battery itself so as soon as we turn The tool on turn the tool off we'll see That battery gauge right there light up Those in this case I've got roughly half A battery left or two out of the four Now just like the M18 we also get a Toolless blade change lift this all the Way up and then down here we do have a a Screw or a thumb screw or whatever you Want to call that and you can take that Off by hand and you really don't have to Take it off unless you're using like the If you're using the sanding pad then yes You got to back this all the way off and Let me go ahead and take it off so we Can see what else is down there And you can see not only do we have the
Different pieces where it meshes up to Uh to lock those things into place But there are also magnets there that's Going to kind of hold that in place Until we get that screw in there or In this case if we put on one of our Typical blades no matter where we put it Those magnets are going to help just Kind of hold that in place we don't have To hold it with one hand and then start The screw with the other But changing out your typical blades That has the the Gap in the back Regardless of whether it's a Dremel Blade a Milwaukee blade a Diablo blade Doesn't matter most of those are going To work and you're just going to hand Tighten that Then flip that down and that's going to Lock everything into place So really easy blade changes Again lift that up back that screw off Remove that Clamp it back down we're ready to go Now you also see that we get an LED on The front Now that's not quite as big as the big Wide LED we get on the M18 tool I really Love that light it really shines a lot Of light here but we still get a Headlight here on the front of the Multi-tool which many times you may be Using this kind of a darker area maybe On baseboards or you know underneath a
Vehicle somewhere but somewhere where a Little bit of light is definitely going To help you out Excuse our fighter jets flying by that's The the Blue Angels here at the Sun and Fun fly-in so we get the beauty of Seeing the Blue Angels most every year Anyway let's get a weight on this M12 Tool with that 4 amp hour battery three Pounds three and a half ounces And if you want to know without the Battery two pounds five and a half Ounces But that's going to be hard to Hard to use without a battery so again Three pounds three and a half ounces Three pounds four ounces so just over Three pounds for the tool versus if you Look at the M18 Four pounds two and a half ounces so you Know you're looking at almost a pound Three quarters of a pound difference so That might add up to something Now let's look at size Again sorry about the fighter jets so With the four amp hour battery you're Looking at just right at 13 inches for The whole length of the tool And if we look at the body here Toward the back end is 1.84 inches And here your 2.25 inches 2.28 so a Little over two and a quarter inches so Still not a huge tool but it is a little Bit thick through here not I don't know
Probably about the same as the M18 but Not as thick as many of these Oscillating multi-tools from other Brands feel like you're holding an angle Grinder you know a full body angle Grinder and that's just not very nice When you're trying to do more delicate Work but anyway Let's uh let's take this Over and actually use it and see what we Think okay we have some pretty typical Products up here we have some two by Pressure treated looks like a two by six And then we have some hardwood here that Is uh stapled or finished nailed up to This as well so we'll cut for with some Of this we'll do some plunge cutting and See how this works we're using the wood Blade that comes with it and let me go Ahead and offset this blade here So simple lift the lever unscrew the Screw and we'll turn this 90. again to Cool the magnet holds that on Made in the USA blade And we'll go ahead we're going to put This about halfway let's go to six All right So I will say it cuts very well the Vibration feels like it's a little more Than the M18 but still not bad at all And you saw that plunge cut I didn't Really have to move it I just had to let The tool do the work Foreign Easy work
For the M12 Now this is hardwood I don't know if That's uh oak or if that is Ash either Way There we have it Easy cut through Hardwood All right Pretty easy for the M12 nothing tough on Cutting regular Lumber so we'll put a Couple of 20D Nails in here And a couple of finished nails Okay we're going to change out our blade Since we're going to be cutting some Nails here Which by the way this is a great value Of a kit here I think it's a nine piece Kit for like 50 something bucks uh so Looks like multi-material right there so I'm going to grab this multi-material Blade again made in the USA So we've got our multi-material blade on Here going to cut through these finish Nails and 16 details Let's go ahead and turn the speed up to 12. No problem whatsoever for the Multi-material blade titanium tip And 12 definitely cut through much Quicker so I am curious I'm on speed 12 Now and I switched over to the uh the Hardwood blade which has kind of got uh I believe this is like a Japanese style Blade with his teeth on the top layer And on the bottom layer
And let's see if it cuts quicker Wow yeah that is very quick The hardwood Pro curve blade and Something simple like PVC Foreign To start off let's talk about vibration Dampening the M12 does a very good job At it the M18 does a little bit better But as we mentioned in the video for the M18 probably the best vibration Dampening of a multi-tool that we have Seen or used but again very good job on The M12 the M12 also does not have that Auto feature will it where it will Actually ramp up when you when you start To cut something but as far as power the M12 had all the power that it needed to Cut through to buy material and even Nails and PVC what have you I think the Power is not going to be the issue is The M18 more powerful yes probably but Again the M12 compared to most other Brands out there is still going to Outshine them love the ease of use of The tool-free blade changes where you Just have to loosen the screw by hand Change out the blade or change the Position of the blade clamp it back down And you're Off to the Races so let's Talk about pricing on this I 159 dollars For the bare tool now bear tool in the M18 is like 229 but get this you can get This tool right now I'm sure this will Change so 159 dollars for the bare tool
For 179 dollars you can get the tool With a 2.5 amp hour battery now that's Not this battery so for 179 you can get The 2.5 amp hour that's usually 279 Dollars and that comes with the charger As well so you're saving a hundred bucks Right now if you buy that we'll have the Link in the description hopefully that Price is still the same uh if you're Wanting to go up to the 4 amp hour Battery obviously that's going to be Even more but bear tool you're looking At 159 which is not a bad deal if you're Already on the M12 platform that may be What you want to do is just buy the bear Tool alone I also highly recommend to Check out some of their blade kits again Many of their blades are made in the USA And these blades are not cheap any Blades are not cheap for oscillating Multi-tool especially good ones they're Typically ten dollars a piece or even More but you can get a nine piece kit I Think this was down as low as somewhere Around 50 bucks fifty Seven dollars a Week or so ago not sure what it's at Right now well again we'll have a link In the description uh but typically you Can save a lot of money if you buy a Multi-bit kit or a multi-blade kit but Make sure that the blades in the kit That you're purchasing are actually Useful blades to you so you're actually Saving money on them hey be sure to
Check it out again it's the Milwaukee 2526 also keep track of us on Instagram Facebook Twitter and even Tick Tock and If you don't mind would you hit that Like And subscribe button if you haven't Done so already and by all means did you Hate our video well give us a thumbs Down but would you let us know in the Comments why have a great day keep And keep smiling