Harbor Freight Metal Cut off Saw - Opinions?

   / Harbor Freight Metal Cut off Saw - Opinions? #11  
My stepfather gave me a brand new chinese chop saw, it lasted three cuts on 3/16 angle before it let the smoke out.
I would opt for a quality brand in this department for our hobby projects, it will be around for years.
Milwakee, Makita, Rigid and several more make good stuff, I got a 14" Makita for $150.00 that came with a free 4.5" grinder a few months ago that works great also.
 
   / Harbor Freight Metal Cut off Saw - Opinions? #12  
i bought a homier 4.5" angle grinder one time for about 10 bucks. i said to a friend that if i use it 1 time it'd be worth the money. it caught fire the first time i used it. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif it wasn't worth it.

i sure like this site!!!!!!!!
 
   / Harbor Freight Metal Cut off Saw - Opinions? #13  
My wife purchased the Rigid saw for me as a gift a few years ago. It has been a great saw, but more $$ than you are looking at. The only thing I wish it did was include a clamping option for beyond 45° cuts (needed a 130° or so cut just this weekend for a bracket I was fabricating - I won't go in to how I ended up having to hold the 1/2" stock in place during the cut...).
 
   / Harbor Freight Metal Cut off Saw - Opinions? #15  
I get a good chuckle out of the guys on this board who scream that they'll never buy a Chinese power tool. Well I got news for you, you better run out to the shop and have a close look at some of your great name branded power tools and see what the fine print on the Id tags say. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
I bought a HF chop saw 10 years ago and used it for a few years, it did the job but I always wished it had a little more power for the big stuff. So I sold it, well sort of gave it away, and bought the best, the big DeWalt. Now my beef with it when I use it is that it blows breakers if you work it just a little hard. I rewired the main outlet on the outside of my shop with 10/2 and 20 amp breaker but if I'm making a long, hard cut it will still pop. And the saw is far from being overworked and stalling. If I take it someplace else to use it it just pisses me off. Anyway one day I was checking the load amp rating on the ID tag and guess what I noticed, hmmm...made in China...those bastards. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif So I start looking at some of the other tools around my shop; Dewalt jigsaw, Dewalt angle grinder, Hitachi drill, Rigid orbital sander, all Made in China! Not surprisingly if you look closely at some of the power tools in HF they are simply knock offs of the big name stuff, probably just a borrowed blueprint or two and change the color of the plastic housing and voila. I have looked many of these tools over closely in the HF store and some of it isn't all that bad, in fact I have bought several of these power tools now and have been surprised. My gut feeling is that if the big coporate tool guys are that greedy that they will outsource the manufacture of their products to a foreign land for their bottom line, then I'll think twice before buying their name again. Two years ago I got into business building retaining walls and needed some tools for cutting and grinding concrete, I didn't want to wreck my "good" tools with concrete and stone dust so I bought one of those $49.95 special chop saws, one of the 1" sds rotory hammer drills, and a couple of the #31309 angle grinders which are identical to my Dewalt. Now I will say I use my tools hard but I don't abuse them and blow the dust out of them once in a while. So far I have worn out two 14" diamond blades on the chop saw, still going strong. SDS hammer drill impresses me every time I use it since it works every bit as well as the Hilti that it is modeled after (I've used them too). I can't say enough for the bits either, I bought an extra set of longer ones for far less than the cost of one Hilti bit! I'm still on my first grinder which is usually running in a cloud of dust that I can hardly see it. So you know what, if they break now, I'll just laugh and go buy another, and I'm not so worried about leaving them around the job site for the fact they might get stolen. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
So my words of advice are, if you need a tool of precision like a table saw, miter saw, planer, jointer, you're probably better off with a good brand name as many of these are still produced in USA and the Chinese ones I've looked at are sometimes sloppy and have a ways to go yet. But for some of the hand tools that would be nice to have even if you only need them once in a while, save yourself some dough. Stay away from the 9.99 "drill master" power tools though, I think these are the ones that guys tell about burning them up the first time you use them. One more note on chop saws, I've learned that it pays to buy better quality chop wheels. The cheap ones tend to glaze on cuts with too much contact area and even in a Dewalt saw they won't cut heavy steel. Always try to set up the cut so the contact with the wheel will be the thinnest dimension. ie. flat bar set up in the vice vertically rather than laying flat.

Sorry for being so long but that's my two cents /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Steve
 
   / Harbor Freight Metal Cut off Saw - Opinions? #16  
I didn't read all the posts closely, so maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anyone slam China; just the HF chop saw. I'm well aware that China can make total crap and high quality items. I just about dropped an egg in my britches a few years ago when I bought the new Bose Quiet Comfort II noise cancelling headset. They are definitely high quality and expensive. When you look closely, they are also made in China.

I'm well aware that DeWalt and several other high quality brands have items in their product line that are made in China. I even asked a buddy who is in the manufacturing business about that. He told me that China will produce pretty well whatever product you want to whatever standard you want. If you give them parameters for a high quality item, that is what they produce. Whenever you give them parameters for the cheapest item you can make, that is what you get. The 'advantage' you (meaning the manufacturers) get by having the product made there is their relatively cheap labor. You don't necessarily get a cheap product.

However, China will also produce items that are of even more inferior quality to what most manufacturers here in the US will produce because they do not have the same repurcussion of the 'ambulance chasing' lawyers as a manufacturer based here would. That seems to be the reason that they have a reputation for making junk. They will gladly snatch up a manufacturing job to make a million junk widgets where a US manufacturer will pass because it is afraid of being sued for making a potentially dangerous product. It could very well be a company out of Chicago ( /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif somebody will get a kick out of that) that wants something that simply is the cheapest that can be produced. A Chinnese factory makes the product to the specs provided by our Chicago company and then takes the rap for producing junk.

DeWalt gives a Chinese company a contract to make the same sort of product but gives far different parameters and specs for the product. The factory in China makes the product, DeWalt gets the fame for the quality product. Hmm....

P.S. (not to 'dieseltoys') I just saw the "pencil" thing. Very funny...jerk! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
   / Harbor Freight Metal Cut off Saw - Opinions? #17  
<font color="blue"> cheap comunist chinese tools </font>

Seems to me like more and more goods are coming from across the pond Bob. Don't know if that's good or bad but it is a fact of life. The way I see it as long as folks like you and I buy the stuff it'll keep coming, think there's any truth there?

Just for kicks sometimes I'll sit in the car in the WalMart parking lot and watch the "ritzy folks" in the BMWs come in to take advantage of the everyday savings..... I guess we all do it /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
   / Harbor Freight Metal Cut off Saw - Opinions? #18  
If your HF handles the refurbish DeWalt, get that. I have the one with "D" handle and have used it for two years. It's got good power and has cut some pretty large steel. The lock on the table is good also. It was about two thirds the price of a new DeWalt. The HF brand just did not have the horsepower I needed. bjr
 
   / Harbor Freight Metal Cut off Saw - Opinions? #19  
The 14" works out ok.. we have one at work. we also had the smaller / 8"? one.. it didn't work well.

Soundguy
 
   / Harbor Freight Metal Cut off Saw - Opinions? #20  
That HF saw isn't the best but it will last longer if you cut slow. I had one and burned it up but it might have lasted longer if I took it easy on it. The motor got to hot and away she went. I opted for a $189 Milwaukee. It does have a lot more power but I slowly let it cut through the steel and let it cool after several cuts. I still use the HF 7" angle grinders and such. Hard to beat the price for occasional use.

Good Luck..
 
 
Top