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

I love going into harbor freight. All the nerds who wander around in their fancy clothes with their girlfriends the dudes obviously never bought a tool in his life but tries to sound like he knows what he is talking about. he is looking at sockets dumbfounded while my bad ass is looking at the bead rollers and crap. I love it makes me fee like a super star. Kind of like how you guys must feel around me.

 

Has anybody used there 48" box & pan brake?
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=45876

Does anyone have a brake for sale in Ohio?

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93068

This is the CATS ASS!!!!! Throw it in your car and if someone gets in, it will set it off, throw it in your garage, it will set it off, throw it at the end of your driveway, it will let you know someone is arriving. When I work in my shop with the doors closed and I'm expecting someone, it lets me know. I love them. Been using one for about 5 years. If you are suppose to be doing your honey do list and you decide to take a nap, it wakes you before your wife enters the door!!!! Saved my ass a couple times. I just get up and look like I've been busy!!!! LOL!!

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I have a couple of their sheet metal brakes (48", 24" box-pan, 3-n-1 brake/shear/roller))....didn't buy 'em there, got 'em used cheap. They work well when used properly. Some people can break anything. I tend to take good care of my tools, regardless of it's quality.
Like Neal said...the bead roller is nice once ya reinforce it.
Also, all those little spring loaded clamps for holding small stuff together are nice to have laying around.

 

I've bought a ton of cheap C-clamps from them and I haven't broken one yet. But I use my old Armstrong forged steel ones for stuff that I need to really crank down on.

 

cheap hand brakes are disapointing to use, i have used a few and they flex when your bending, you see the bars at the top and bottom that are extra suports well they should be at least 5/8 or 3/4" DIA for starters, and all the parts need to be thicker, if you put a 48" piece of 16ga hotholled in there and tried to bend it i think you would end up with a twisted machine, i have done this and that brake was screwed, my own brake is a used US made brake and two days ago i used it to bend just that, no problem, if all your bending is short thin stuff well maybe.

 

Just because a brake is rated for 16ga., doesn't mean that's full width. It takes a pretty stout brake to bend a 48" wide piece of 16ga.....
But yeah, the HF brakes are softer metal and will flex.....
A freind has a sign shop full of USA-made brakes.....even his big one's (10' +) are only rated at 20 ga.....

 

If a brake is rated at 16 gage that means a properly adjusted brake should bend 16 gage full width. Some brakes have holes in the front so you can slide in dogs to hold an angle reinforcing bar, some brakes you should include the angle, some don't require it. I have an 8 ft Whitney Jensen combination brake rated at 14 gage. If it didn't do it I'd get a better one. But not at Harbor Freight.

 

I used one of their grinders a lot for 6 years until the stop for getting the wheel off wore out, then again I burned the next one up in an hour

 

They guys that work for me treat tools like crap so they get crap tools. They destroy Dewalt and Milwaukee from abuse in a couple of months so they get HF grinders to save some money.

Personally I like their latex gloves, nitrile gloves and rubber gloves. I've got a cut off tool, jack stands (secondary support only...I don't trust them enough to be alone under a car on a HF jackstand alone), car dolly, engine hoist, hydraulic jacks, air hoses and disposable stuff, dead hammer, I bought their tire changer but it's still in the box. Disposables.

For fine, detail work, I don't think I'd use their stuff nor anything that my life depends on for safety, but brute force stuff and things that break often anyway, I like HF.

 

i once met an adult film contract star at one. she was buying tools.

 

Apparently supporting your longshorman brothers and sisters is less important.

 

I couldnt afford another warner winch so I bought one of their 8000 lb winches for the car hauler. Got a 3 yr warranty with it and since I have only used it about 5 times in the last year to load dead cars it better last the three years at least. Time will tell. It works good so far. Other than that I like their cotter pins, hair pins, etc..

 

FYI for Harbor Freight.
Always go to their website first and check the prices. I needed a dust collector for my wood working shop. The store wanted 225 bux. The same unit was for sale online for $145. The stores will honor the online price if you print out the item and price and show it to them. 5 years later and the dust collector still sucks, but that's a good thing

 

strangely enough, you get more support if he DOESN'T buy american. If more people bought American in America, there would almost be no use for YOU.

 

I also try to buy the American made stuff. When it comes to things like gloves for $.99 and cutoff wheels I buy those at Harbor Freight. Those are about the only things I buy there. The rest I try to go with American.

 

I got an english wheel there and had the upper wheel and lower anvils resurfaced. And with a little bracing of the frame it works like a charm. Im no metal man by any means but it gets the job done for me. I havent been brave enough to try their power tools.

 

Yes it works great....well for me anyways..but then again I dont use it every day.

 

I use the cut down shank drill bits in the 5/8th to 1" sizes when balancing crankshafts. You have to re-sharpen them all the time anyway so why buy a expensive set !! >>>>.

 

Are your American tools actually American? I've got a Milwaukee powered screwdriver that says made in china! It's seen a lot of abuse for many years and still works.
HF Motorcycle table lift: pass
HF Digital caliper: pass

 

Only thing I bought there tool wise that was worth a shit was the tile saw. had a job at home- rental fees were killing me & then it was on sale. I think it was 149.00 w/ blade, stand, pump.
The M&K I was going to buy was a grand. I've used the shit out of that saw & it keeps on going. Only thing I replaced was the little water pump.

I did fail miserably once when I decided against the Baldor buffer I wanted & went to HF & bought their cheap orange knock-off for 50 bucks w/ stand. POS.

 

I bought a set of horns for my T at Harbor Freight. They were actually MADE in the USA.

Bill

 

Just so people new to the forum might read that statement and think otherwise, there is NOTHING about HAMB, Traditional Hot Rodding/Kustoms suggests we use tools or supplies "Made in USA only".

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?page_id=2368
"The Jalopy Journal was formed just a few years later to spread the gospel of traditional Hot Rods and Kustoms to hoodlums worldwide&#8230; We wanted to be the voice of the working man, a tool in the toolbox of the guy that does it himself, and a place where citizen journalists could show the &#8220;big-time&#8221; media a thing or two. We haven&#8217;t done it all yet, but we aim to in time&#8230;"

 

Cheap Chinese Communist Conscripted Child Cruelty Conflicting Capitalism Crap Company.....

Now having said that, Wednesday I got their 2-ton fold up engine hoist on sale for $159.00 plus tax I have a dozen of their straight and angle die grinders rigged with different discs, burrs, etc and I don't oil them as I do some fiberglass work - they're a darn good deal and none has failed.

Their 6" x 48" sanding belts bump a lot and smell like what I could only imagine as Oprah's gym shorts, but they are so much cheaper then W.W. Grainger's Norton belts.

 

I bought a 1-inch drive impact wrench to change all 6, 10-hole Budd wheels on my antique fire truck. (60-nuts; 200+ ft. lbs torque). The wrench only cost $90 and the local tire company wanted $100 for a service call to my shop. (out in the boonies). I changed all 6 wheels and it's still working great.

 

they do something right. there's more HF'S popping everywhere! they don't seem to need us.

 

Also, why wouldn't you want to know what tools at HF are actually worth buying?

 

Victor oxy-welding set. No complaints. (use a different bigger cutting torch, though)

Pry bars have been still going strong as well. Extra long needle nose pliers, not so good.

 

I have had no problems with anything I bought from Harbor Freight.

 

Sway control bar for my trailer!!! worked great