OK: How About a POSITIVE HARBOR FREIGHT Thread???

maybe we can extend this thread beyond harbor freight and include all the positive stuff about nazi germany as well....... i'll start with the autobahn.

using harbor freight equaled one 911 call and a falling 700lb motor from an exploding "2 1/2 ton" engine hoist/leveler. the stuff was cheap.... almost cost me my life.

-scott noteboom

 

OH, and i did think of one... a small tackle box looking thing with dividers that perfectly holds 16 lifters in order, and oil, for 88 cents.

 

most of their abrasives for sure,i did buy the 20 ton press and after a little work it works fine,clamps hammers,engine stand jack stands,but welding clamps,porta power i know it is not high qaulity stuff but i can make it all work for me.in the end you just have to pay attention to what you are really buying,and the tools dont build your cars its how good you use them to build your car that really matters anyhow.

 

I like thier step drills, they are 1/4 the price of Lowes, Craftsman etc. and work great if you are careful they last and last. Lots of thier other things are just cheep junk.

 

They also had that cool X-looking symbol thingy.

 

Has anyone used one of these on 18 gage? Not looking to use it commercially, just some general fab stuff. Thanks JC

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=45689

 

Now that is something positive about Harbor Freight.

 

More often than not on the same label I'm seeing...
designed in the USA, Made in China.
We have a local HF here. Bought a cheapo set of those air tool fittings. GARBAGE.
Finally went back to my Milton stuff and went out and bought more Milton.

 

I like thier step drills use them for everything and they seem to hold up.

 

Has anyone bought the big red tool chest? I could pass it up on sale with 20% off the bottom and 15% off the top and side, built better than a Craftsman box. the shrinker/stretcher seems to work fine. the 9 x 20 lathe works fine for small items. the 20 ton press hasnt let me down. The die grinders cant be beat, straight and angle. I have 5 and use them alot. Keep them oiled and they wont quit. I havent had a problem with any of their air tools,
air saw
nibbler
air shear
air ratchets
greas gun
d/a
long board air sander
air angle sander(mini d/a)
60 Gal. air compressor
and numerous others I cant think of.
I cant say much for the 1/8" micro die grinder, not much power to do anything. I dont really buy handtools from HF. Most all my wrenches & sockets are craftsman and a few S/O. I would love to be able to afford to buy all American products but the reallity is I wouldnt have half the stuff I do have. Next on the list will be the bead roller. Now if they would come out with a tubing bender.

 

ive bought many things from harbor freight for my motorcycle shop...
-motorcycle lift, eventhough i had to adjust the thing that says "DO NOT ADJUST!" to get it to work but works great now.
-my drill press. which has never let me down.
-my set of number and letter stamps!(makes matching numbers so easy!!)
-my 20 ton press, been using it for 4 years with no problems.
-my small english wheel which i use alot on seat pans and fenders on bikes
-my plenishing hammer is awesome for small scale things
-and small things like cutoff wheels, razor blades, sand paper, emory cloth, polishing wheels, drill bits, air chucks, grinding wheels, cheap screw drivers to gring on or bend, and shitty wrenches to customize to fit in just the right places!

 

I use the hell out of their die grinders, fing love them, 10 bucks, and like said before, outlasted the pile o shit mac one i have. Their yellow fiberglass ball pein hammers are amazing also.

 

How do the knock-off Beverly shears work ?

Do the blades stay sharp if you "use as directed"

mostly need to do 18-20 gauge steel sheet metal, and a real Beverly shear is close to $500

Beaulieu

 

Their knock-off Beverly shears work great.
My blades are 2 years old and still cut like new.
I mostly cut 18-14 gauge.

 

We have one down the street from here and you cant beat their prices. I think as long as you buy a $10 dollar grinder and treat it as such you will be happy. Even if you go through 10 grinders in ten years, still beats the big box store price and service. And on that note, I have never had an issue returning a broken tool to Harbor Freight, trying taking any tool short of a socket or such to the big orange box store and see how many weeks it is sent out for. Straight up returns almost are a thing of the past. Just my 2 cents.

Jon

 

I bought a sun dial at H.F. over 4 years ago and it still works!

 

Anyone use one of these? 110v

 

How about some flied lice with the HF Clut off tool.

 

Hey, I have 2 roofing nailers, a framing nailer and a cut off saw from HF and I am happy with them. I am building my garage and I didn't want to spend a ton of money on tools to frame and roof it. They worked flawlessly.
The cut off saw I bought like 8 years ago to cut a bunch of 4" x 4" x 8" clay street paving bricks for my sidewalk and patio. At first there was alot of vibratio0n and sparking going on around the brushes. I found that the brush holders were not put in straight to the commutator. I adjusted those and it worked very well. I probably cut 200 bricks with it after that. I think it was worth my money.
I agree with alot of you guys about getting what you pay for. We have to be smart with your money, that's why we build our own stuff to begin with.

 

I think the American companies are missing the boat on this one.. why couldn't they sell a grade of tool that would see limited use, build them cheap sell them cheap. You get what you pay for, we know right up front that stuff at HF is crap, but it's ok it fills a need. Sears has Champion tools, a lesser tool than Craftsman. But even then the selection is limited. I have to confess if I need to use something for just a few times I don't need the best I just need something to work a few times. I don't need a $12 socket for one bolt I need to tighten one time! I rather buy cheap American than cheap imports.

 

Our Harbor Freight has a well-endowed young lady - I have not asked her about jerking any beef, but she is quite healthy-looking and browsing and ogling are what I like best about ChinaWest Tool Corp - aka Harbor Freight

dj

 

I thought I should add that I've also had *surprisingly* little problem exchanging broken tools or ones I was dissatisfied with, without receipts. They even gave me cash back when I simply didn't like the tool's performance, I just wanted credit.

I've also never had a problem getting the internet or 'inside track' club price, as long as I bring a printout they honor it.

The inside track club is worth it IMHO , and I'd swear my membership should be over by now but I keep getting the catalogs , so who knows?!?

 

I did a little research on transfer punches. Harbor Freight-9.99, Snap on (says china made online) 49.99, Graingers (doesn't say china made but is) 19.99. They all look exactly the same and have the same indexing stand.

 

I take my daughter into HB and say...dont do cristal meth or you will end up working here. thats positive? right

 

I got one of those wire windshield removers one time, to try and make life easier on me with all the racecars. It's easier just to break 'em out and use the shop vac. Oh, and I got a plumbob. Works great, but how hard is it to make a plum bob? I probably could have bent up a beer can to get the same effect.

 

I buy Harbor Freight tools from time to time and have had no more issue with them than Craftsman......... I know how to use tools correctly...... I dont break them....... and I use them in my full time body and custom shop!....and when they do break I just buy a new one, I dont cry to the snap-on guy about my broken $50 screwdriver....

 

I dont use the tools in my garage to make a living so I have a lot of H F stuff including power tools. all have been satisfactory so far and as someone else said "if it pukes i'll pitch it in the trash and get a new one.I do alwase laugh when the pimple face kid at the checkout tries to sell me the extended warrantee on a $10 air tool for $7 ???? I am a buy american person so it pains me to say that because of H F i now own alot more tools than i ever would have been able to afford buying from snap on or mac .

 

Ha!

 

First of all, I'm not a professional mechanic so Snap On, Matco and company's like that are out of my budget range.
My second point is that I'm just a simple weekend hobiest with a 60 year old home to maintain, I have a kid who constantly need help fixing stuff that breaks around his house and I have 4 old hot rods and an old Chevy muscle car that all need some work done to them.
Sears and Harbor Freight are my drug of choice. If their tools break.........they always replace it for me.
Most all my hand tools are 20 to 40 years old. My pneumatic air tools are 18 years old or newer. A lot of other tools are Craftsman and Harbor Freight and rest in that 4 or 5 year old range.
My compressor is a 230 Volt horizontal from Sears. It's my 3rd from Sears and they all SUCK!
It's slowly dying now and the next one will come from some other source.
I'm looking for the H.A.M.B to advise me on that one.
I did not skimp on my welder, it's a Millermatic 211, worth the extra money and I will probably buy a plasma cutter very soon and it will probably be a Miller too unless someone here convinces me otherwise ,to go with Harbor Freight (maybe).
Yes.....2 or 3 H.F. tools failed prematurely..........Harbor Freight made good on them and replaced them, immediately and no questions asked.
Sears jerked me around badly on 2 compressors that were 5 months out of warranty but did help me out a little bit at the end.
Tools and other stuff I've bought from Harbor Freight have all met or exceeded my expectations. I consider most of my Chinese tools as disposable ,once they fail, which they haven't quit on me yet, you just chuck em'.
Again, I use them sparingly and mostly on weekends out in the back shop.
My wife dropped almost 600 bucks there for my Christmas gifts and today she and I shelled out another 850 bones for some 9' aluminum ramps and a 54" long roller tool cabinet.
We love their place!
A customer shopping today at the Amherst store store summed up his feeling perfectly to us while we were loading our shopping carts.
"It's a Toys R Us store for adults".
Yes.......I have been injured a few times while working on my cars, but it was never the tools fault. Always something stupid that was caused by my own ineptness.
Never had a cut off wheel explode, never been electrocuted by any H.F. tool, never pinched a finger in something designed or built in China.
My wife and I praise the Harbor Freight family for the fine products and services they provide to weekend hobiest such as ourselves.
I give them 5 stars and thumbs up!

Sorry to take up so much space and for being so wordy, it's just the strong opinion inside me.

 

I am a professional mechanic, and have plenty of expensive Snap-On, Matco, Mac tools. You pay extra for the tool because it supposedly comes with service and warranty. Bullshit. Those drivers bail on any shop that doesn't buy enough every week. I spend my money at Sears and HF for tools.
If I had to do it all again, I'd buy a big toolbox from Sears/ Home Depot / Lowes and fill it with their best stuff. That includes HF for certain things.