Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #1,471  
I find that their socket sets aren't too bad at all. You'd think they'd be absolute crap, yet they are pretty decent...(I'm a person with very discriminating tastes, by the way, and I use my tools HARD, so I'm not someone that's going to say something is great just because I brought it and don't know anything about tools). I don't know about their wrenches or screwdrivers, though, I haven't brought a set nor used a set.


Their electric jackhammer is pretty good. I had to regrind and properly heat treat the bits (heat them to about cherry red, then quench) to make them usable. Not terribly difficult.

Their roofing nailer has worked out so far. Don't have a huge amount of experience with it, so time will tell.

I've used some of their air chisels, air ratchets, etc till they have worn out. Certainly not professional grade, but if you need something cheap that will last long enough to do a job or two...


I find Harbor freight is great for consumables (gloves, ear plugs, wire brushes, acid brushes, zip ties, tarps, dust masks, electrical tape, cheap paintbrushes and so on), some handtools, and a very limited selection of power tools.
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #1,472  
JD955SC;2226669.... said:
I've used some of their air chisels, air ratchets, etc till they have worn out. Certainly not professional grade, but if you need something cheap that will last long enough to do a job or two...

I'll second the air chisel thing. I bought one --on sale plus a coupon--and I have used it for maybe seven years.
All the chisels still look good and nothing has gone wrong. I put a couple drops of oil in before every use.
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #1,473  
Has anyone used any of the tank top propane heaters? I was looking at the 30,000 BTU model.

I also was looking at those ceramic knifes as well lol
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #1,474  
I'll second the air chisel thing. I bought one --on sale plus a coupon--and I have used it for maybe seven years.
All the chisels still look good and nothing has gone wrong. I put a couple drops of oil in before every use.

I got mine for $6.99. :thumbsup:
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #1,475  
Did I mention that when we went me and my Mom each got a free multi-meter...:thumbsup:
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #1,476  
Bought some 1" thick rubber for my snow plow edges.....everybody said good luck on cutting it. My HF multi-vibrating tool did the job surprisingly well....I was pleased to the point that I think it deserves to be put in the It don't suck category.:thumbsup:



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   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #1,477  
Bought some 1" thick rubber for my snow plow edges.....everybody said good luck on cutting it. My HF multi-vibrating tool did the job surprisingly well....I was pleased to the point that I think it deserves to be put in the It don't suck category.:thumbsup:



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Any time I tried to use mine the blade spun off...:confused2::mad:
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #1,478  
I got a good deal on a socket set in the "clearance area" once...I'm now kicking myself that I did not get the metric one too...:mad:

I bought a 24' dog leash, so far, so good, a $2 25' tape measure and one of those little bitty hammers. I was disappointed that, for now, they are not carrying the "good" sockets I bought there that one time. Their current crop of sockets all fall under the "complete junk" category. Working on my old dump truck this last week, I shattered 3 of the 3/4" 'impact' sockets using my IR 1/2" impact with an adapter to get it to use 3/4" sockets. Clearly, with a real 3/4" impact, they'd be rather explosive.

What a bummer. I took in one of the 'good' sockets I'm talking about and the store manager just rolled his eyes and said he wished they'd get them again and he couldn't get me any from other stores since HF sells much more of the cheapo crap than the higher quality, more than 1 use, sockets. :( That sucks! I want no part of the sockets they have now that are made of the cheapest pot metal known to man. I really didn't mind paying a little more for their higher quality sockets they had since they were still a bargain compared to Craftsman sockets and, IMHO, were of better quality than Craftsman. Stop buying their cheapest junk and maybe they'll start bringing back some decent quality sockets and wrenches!!!!
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #1,479  
I see they have a whole new series of tape measures now.

A couple of years ago I bought one that was green and 33 ft. I immediately took it back when I couldn't unlock the blade lock the first time I used it. The store manager couldn't unlock it either so he gave me another. Now after very few uses, maybe 20 times, the replacement won't rewind. It feels like it needs the spring lubed.

Moral of the story - try out any tape measure before leaving the store.
 
   / Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck #1,480  
Bought some 1" thick rubber for my snow plow edges.....everybody said good luck on cutting it. My HF multi-vibrating tool did the job surprisingly well....I was pleased to the point that I think it deserves to be put in the It don't suck category.:thumbsup:



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A jigsaw will cut the thick rubber. Just spread it across two boards and cut between them. That is how I cut strips for my snowplow.
 
 
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