Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[patrick_g]

I bought a Harbor Freight Hobby Arc 110 off ebay for $5
and I have been real happy with it. Except I can't weld.
But it does a real good job of burning rods.
If there was a market for blobs of steel with
slag inclusions I would be rich by now.

Pooh Bear

There is structural welding and then there is "artistic" welding. Apparently you are dabbling in artistic welding but in a structural venue. This welding at cross purposes is your problem. Quit trying to do structural welding and follow your muse into the realm of artistic welding where you can become more fully self realized, in contact with your inner artist and more able to freely exhibit your self expression.

That plus you won't be killed or injured when something structural you welded gives way.

Pat

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Harbor freight has Goodyear air hose for pretty cheap. I bought 50 foot a few months ago and finally got it out and put quick couplers on it this weekend to use it.

I'm pleased with it. For the 20 minutes I've used it so far it lives up to the Goodyear name. It was soft and easy to coil even in freezing temperatures.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Has anyone bought a Solar Shed Light from HF? Was it any good?

 

[CurlyDave]

I have a few of the less common tools from HF that should be mentioned.

1. A plate compactor. I think I got it for ~400 on sale. Certainly not the quality that I would expect from a name brand, but so far it has compacted every trench I have had to cut across my gravel drive, and there has not been a low spot generated over time. Compact the bottom of the trench right after digging it with the backhoe & then compact the fill in lifts. There is a low spot on every trench the contractor dug across the driveway. Maybe this summer I will dig those out to ~ 8" deep compact and then backfill with gravel and compact again.

2. Pallet jack/dolly. On sale for $149. I used this to move my gun safe from the driveway to a spot where my tractor can't drive up to it. Worked very well. Supposedly rated for 4000 lbs, but the heaviest item I have to move with it is 1250 lbs. perfect for that application. I think I will now start using it to move implements around in the garage, instead of making a dolly for each one.

3. I don't think the HF electric grease gun can be beat for the price. On sale they are $35. They are hard to bleed, but once I realized that the trick is tomake a little mound of grease over the intake port of the high pressure pump when changing cartridges, I have not had to bleed it.

 

[srjones]

Has anyone bought a Solar Shed Light from HF? Was it any good?

I bought one...it was ok...it gives enough light to let you see what you're doing, but it's not super-bright. The 4 watt tube gives off a blush-ish tinge.

I don't regret it enough to return it, but I probably wouldn't buy more.

 

[srjones]

I haven't read most of the 181 posts on this thread, but I'll add my list. My rule for value and happiness is that if the cost of buying the tool at HF is less than 2x the cost renting a tool for 1 day AND if I get more than two full days of work out of it, I'm happy. (The 2xR rule)

1. Rotary hammer drill. About $60, takes standard SDS bits. I've drilled many holes in and through concrete. It's more than paid for itself.

2. Utility knife. $0.99 Basically the same one you'd find elsewhere for $3-4. Since I'm usually losing/misplacing these, it never hurts to have a bunch around. The 2xR rule doesn't apply here.

3. Concrete vibrator. $79.99 -15% coupon. Another item that I won't be renting anymore, and I can easily use on small jobs.

4. Chainsaw sharpener. $29.99. 3+ years and still going strong. This thing is amazing and has easily paid for itself. It's a low power consumer too, so I can run it off a 300W cheapo inverter.

 

[Skyco]

Ditto on the chain saw sharpener- picked one up a few weeks ago to dress some damaged chains that hit rocks that I usually hand file...
Whole sharpener only cost what 1.5 chains cost and did a great job

 

[slaveToHorses]

A lot of garbage can be had there for amazingly cheap

There is one on my way home and it is quite temping.

I did purchase the big US General roller cabinet for $325 (with the regular sale & coupon). I loaded it with all my automotive wrenches/sockets and air tools. Much better quality than I was expecting. The drawer sizes are great. Fit all my tall sockets and long bars. Plus they are already lined. I would rather have a smooth finish than the wrinkle but it still holds all my impact sockets in magnetic trays on the outside. I was worried about that, but no problem. I was also worried how the sliders would work when heavily loaded, but no problem there either. The casters work fine too.

Some of their other tool boxes are total garbage. The one drawer cart is nice though. I got one for my small parts cleaner. The two drawer version is junk.

I use the 12" fractional digital caliper I got there, quite often.

Not sure I would buy many of their power tools, especially the metal ones. They look so cheaply made. Sometimes no tool is better than a cheap tool, at least when power tools are concerned.

 

[patrick_g]

Slave, A few years ago when those roller cabinets were on sale I bought 3 of them, each with one of the add-on cabinets that hangs on the side (nice addition). I had minor assy trouble (in additioin to the weight) but not that bad and they work OK. Drawers may not slide effortlessly but good enough. Except for price and hating to lose the convenient surface of the top of the cabinets I thought about the add-on cabs that go on top but decided against them. They weren't advertised when I made my original purchase. I never had large roll-around tool cabinets before so I can't compare very well but they seem to be darned tough, no user complaints. One of these days I simply must use the materials they supplied to label the drawers. My wife bought me a small roll around machinists chest by Kennedy (top of the line) with removable top box. She got it at a garage sale for $50. That is only experience I have to compare to and it tells me the big heavy honkers from HF are a good deal.

I too have HF digital calipers but decimal not fractional. Thanks for mentioning the fractionals, I could use one of those.

One of my next HF "bargains" is likely to be the $600 concrete curb machine with the assorted "extrusion dies" for casting continuous concrete curbing. I have enough curbing in my landscaping master plan to make it pay if it works OK. Anyone out there have one of these or ever used similar. As is typical, HF is not too forthcoming with useful data.

I have a 3+ year old HF floor mount metal bender that looks to be a neat way to do some decorative iron work, if I figure out how to use it. The manual is essentially worthless. OK so I haven't spent over a couple hours messing with it due to frustration with the manual. One day when I get time I will figure it out from brute force and awkwardness without the manual.

I must have a dozen of their 6 way screwdrivers. Hard to beat when on sale for 99 cents. OK so a couple of them were defective, still a bargain.

Pat

 

[Dargo]

2. Utility knife. $0.99 Basically the same one you'd find elsewhere for $3-4. Since I'm usually losing/misplacing these, it never hurts to have a bunch around. The 2xR rule doesn't apply here.

Oops! You got me on that one. I not only think the "cheapo" utility knife from HF doesn't suck, I actually like them far better than many of the much more expensive ones. I just take that clip off of them since I don't ever clip them on my belt. Heck, I'll even admit that I believe their design is pretty darn good.