Technical HF Professional Tool Line

I've been following this thread since the beginnings of it and posted previously that I was more than pleased with the cost/benefit ratio of buying/using these tools.
In years gone by I had a sideline business of power boat motor prop sales and repair.
In the repair part there was a helluva lot of grinding involved in shaping the weld beads I had used to replace damaged metal, aluminum, bronze, and stainless steel. And a good deal of this was done with 4-4.5" angle grinders. I had 1 Makita, and all the rest were HF, which performed/lasted as well as the Makita for one helluva lot less money. I agree that the low end "Drill Master" black ones won't last under heavy use, but move up to the next level and you will have a good grinder for a fraction of the cost of a Milwaukee or Makita.
One use I made of the "Drillmaster" was to put a diamond wheel on it and use it strictly for regrinding tungsten electrodes for my tig welder. It handles that job and allowed me to not have to swap discs to do a quick touch up on my electrodes.

 

My dad had me sold on craftsman when I was a little kid but their tools are not what they were in the 60s , absolutely garbage now harbor freight is probably a couple notches better than craftsman these days ..

there is nothing like a good tool truck grade ratchet or the nice thin wrenches to get in cramped areas if someone says their craftsman is just as good as a tool truck tool they are lying , but it’s hard to justify 20 times the price for that quality , especially when doing mechanical work pays a lot less than it used to

 

Kinda similar, I bought one of those miniature HF Chop Saws to cut electrodes off. Then I put diamond wheels on a grinder with fine/medium/coarse wheels. Little overkill as I ended up using the coarse ones mostly. It quickly puts new points on the electrodes. Then I used a Craftsman beltsander I had to take the repointed electrodes from a circumferential (? is that a word) tip to a linear finish tip.

 

HF has definitely stepped up their quality a bunch. however their good line of tools are not always the most cost effective option. I bought some of their 18 Volt brushless battery operated stuff, And they worked really well and still do. But a buddy of mine was looking at them and used them and was interested in getting one until I told him what I paid. To my surprise his Milwaukee stuff was cheaper than what I paid at Home depot everyday. So knowing how well Milwaukee stuff has always been, It is a little tough to take a chance on a HF tool for more money. Just my 2 cents

 

Had a buddy who likes cheap tools come into the shop yesterday. He has a Rodac long board air sander that he says he's had for a long time, and thinks it's great. He was helping me sand some filler down, and grabbed my Hutchins Hustler, that I recent replaced, as the old one was over 40 years old! First thing he says, is " wow, this thing is smooth and cuts great!" Guys who use cheap tools will never appreciate how well made tools work and feel.

 

When I was selling tools over 40 years ago, I had Rodac air tools on the truck. I would explain, when it dies throw it away. It costs more to repair than what it is worth. Hutchins and National Detroit were two of the best.

 

Buying tools is an art ........... There are lots of tools that are very good quality and reasonably priced, but some people think they must have certain brands no matter what they cost. Personally I don't care what it says on most tools as long as it does what I need and lasts a decent amount of time. My tool boxes are well stocked and I almost always have some tool that will accomplish what I need to do. If not, I buy what I need. A tool someone can't afford is the most useless tool there is.






Currently there is a used Snap On Mig welder "used once" "like new" on the local Craigslist. Its 110 volt and 140 amp.
"$3200.00 is the barter price and 2800.00 is the Cash purchase price." It says Snap On on the side but I suspect it may have been manufactured by Century. When it comes to buying a welder, I think a smart buyer should realize that retaining its value for years as well as parts/service availability and reliability make the more expensive name brands a good choice. Its a "lifetime" tool. The thing is, you have to realize that just buying a name does not always mean you got your moneys worth. You have to research what you are buying.



In this case, my opinion is the Miller welders which are also NAME brands are far better buys than the SnapOn. $2800 vs $1350 or $2200

Now, I also have a Harbor Freight Hydraulic Crimper that probably would cost me $500 or more....I don't know.
But for $65 -20%, I own one thanks to HF and it works great for battery cables . Better than not having one.
I also have a hydraulic Body jack kit . $140 - 20% Only used it for one thing I needed to do. Again, I can afford to buy it and I can always resell it for $100.......but I have it because it was affordable and accomplished what I needed to do. If I had to buy something like this from a NAME company, I simply wouldn't have the tool I needed.





Its all about being able to afford a tool "that suits your needs". Again, buying tools is an "art". Sometimes you need to bite the bullet and spend more money for a tool that will receive a lot of use over a lifetime. Other times its more logical to accept somewhat less quality because the tool won't see much use. Just like the welder comparison above, don't blindly pay "$$whatever$$" just for a name.......do some research.

 

Yep! I heard the one on 7-mile Rd. in Livonia is closing up soon.... And also the one in Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn.... Sad!

 

What is closing up at those locations? HF?

 

Oops! My bad.... Sears stores....

 

Call that at tool box? I was at HF yesterday, I thought these were a cardboard advertisement until I walked up to them. Good for the 8 foot tall mechanic.

 

I guess size does matter..............

I can just hear some young mechanic with a Harbor Freight Box telling some oldtime Snap On mechanic. "Yeah, well mines bigger than yours" while the customer sits nearby.

 

Check out this guy’s channel. Funny as hell..,

 

To begin, I will readily admit that I'm a HF fan boy. I'll wear that monacher. That said, while there was a long time that HF tools were disposable junk, those days are long gone. For those paying attention, HF has steadily upped their quality and has been consistently putting out high quality tools for a while.

HF's "US General" boxes are the obvious example, and have been shown on countless YouTube videos to be objectively superior to offerings by Kobalt, Craftsman, Husky, etc. that are more expensive. The same can be said for the EarthquakeXT impacts, that perform the same IR or Snap-on for literally 1/5 of the price. I'll concede that the low level HF tools are virtually disposable, but by stepping up to the better brands, I've found that the tools are good quality and perform just as well as the USA made tools I have in my box, if not better. I've been absolutely abusing their newer Chief brand air tools lately and they have been truly outstanding.

One of the major benefits of HF is that because the tools are less expensive, it's allowed me to buy more tools. I don't doubt for a second that a "pro" brand tool is better than HF, but the pro brand tool does me no good if I don't have it because it was too expensive. For example, I don't doubt that an $8000 Metal Ace English wheel is better than the $300 HF offering, but the HF English wheel is more useful because if the only option was the $8000 Metal Ace, I'd have no english wheel at all. I can give plenty more examples. HF has done a great job of pricing many specialty tools in the price point of the average hobbyist. I've said it before, it has been a rare day that I'm unable to perform a task because the tool I have is not high enough quality. It's far more common that I can't perform a task because I simply don't have the right tool for the job. And because I've bought a load of HF tools over the years, that has happened far less often.

As far as their warranty, I've broken exactly 1 HF socket, an impact Torx I shredded with the Earthquake XT impact wrench. I went to HF, and no questions asked handed me a new set. HF even price adjusted an engine I bought when it went on sale a week later. Their customer service has been top notch IMHO.

 

I have a large us general tool box and I love it. 54" box with the side cabinet. Very heavy duty. I actually convinced my work to stop spending 3-4 grand on boxes from MSC or Grainger and drive to HF for a box. Everyone so far loves em!!

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Never enough toolboxes. I've got 4 roll-arounds, two are Sears that date back about 50 years and two are Craigslists of unknown parentage and age. Ya know what, they all hold tools and the drawers open and close. Tools are Sears and HF and many brands in between. Have broke a few and welded a few back together. Use quite a few every day.

 

I understand that not everyone is a full time flat rate tech but if you are there is no replacement for the best tools money can buy.


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AND THAT MY FRIENDS, IS WHY GOD GAVE US MORE THAN ONE COLOR. !!!!!

 

I don't want to work in your neighborhood.
Looks like you need more sockets.

 

I have some of the MAC, Snap On, & Matco tools left that I bought off the tool trucks 40 years ago, but these days, none of those tool trucks are around here anymore. Their warranty is pretty worthless. I can say, having owned some of each of these tools off the truck tools, I'd never again pay their prices for the tools they sell. The quality was never much better then any other tool, their selling point was the truck was there every week and would replace the broken stuff (probably because you still owed them for the broken stuff.) If you didn't owe them a bunch of money, they were not very happy about replacing the broken tools unless someone that owed them money was on the truck at the time.
I have several Craftsman tools left I bought after the tool trucks went away, the nearest Sears store closed up 3 or 4 years ago, but they wouldn't replace the broken tools long before they closed. Their warranty is pretty worthless.
I have some store brand tools I bought from our local farm store, but a few years ago, they quit selling that brand and changed to something different. Guess what, the warranty on those tools is also pretty worthless.
I have some tools I bought at a Harbor Freight store many years ago. We have a new Harbor Freight store in my home town now. If I take one of their broken tools in, they replace it without hassle. I don't buy many tools these days, but guess where I'd buy from?
I probably won't buy many of their Pro Line tools, I'm not using tools as much as I used to and probably couldn't justify the price difference between the expensive tools and the mid grade. What makes me wonder is how long they are going to honor the lifetime warranty on the cheap tools I bought all those years ago. " Sorry, the old life time warranty on the cheap tools now means that when it breaks, its dead so the warranty has expired." Gene

 

Then why do you own a Glock?

 

Hahahaha, I was really hoping someone would say that.


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In keeping with my HF theme, I keep a Lorcin and Hi-Point in my box.




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They’re so cheap that it’s really tempting to get one.


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I have one, very fun gun, works amazingly well. I was going to say, for a cheap gun, but really it just shoots well period, cheap or not. It won't win any beauty contests, but it will reliably consume any brand of ammo and place said ammo very consistently right where you point it. I think you could drive over it with a tank and wouldn't hurt it.

 

I thought this was a thread on HF tools, not pistols or rifles. Where are the moderators?

 

I deleted my comments...back to talking about Chinese tools

 

Sounds good

 

To get the convo back on topic, many of Harbor Freight’s better hand tool brands are not made in China, but instead made in Taiwan. Quinn branded sockets are made in Taiwan, and is further evidence that they’re just rebranded Kobalt.


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Yes that is true, and Taiwan quality is much better than China quality