Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Skyco]

Bought the HF 46 Piece Bolt Puller Set on sale for $9.99 to pull the harmonic balancer on my 7.3 Powerstroke.
Worked great although I was fearing I'd Dargo it.

BTW anyone contemplating switching the OEM harmonic balancer for a FluidDampr should do it! Amazing difference in engine smoothness:thumbsup:

 

[sixdogs]

Has anyone seen or used their "18 lb Vibratory Cleaner"?

18 Lb. Vibratory Bowl w/ Liquid Drain Hose

It is against my solemn pledge to never buy anything with a motor from HF but this looks tempting, especially when on sale. I have seen smaller tumblers with various medias such as walnut shells, corn cobs or wharever do a remarkable job on cleaning and polishing small parts. The reviews look tempting but it would be nice to find a TBNer that knows about them.
It has a "liquid drain hose" but I would never use a liquid.

 

[California]

I bought HF's smaller $40 tumbler. It works as expected. (Whoa! $99 now!)

I processed nuts, bolts, washers to remove minor rust. They cleaned up ok but this created a fine powder of rust-dust in the air that gagged me and I think it would clog your lungs. Adding water prevented this. The powder rinsed off as mud.
View attachment 226427

The tumbler walked all over so I set it in a small automotive wheel.

The noise was annoying and the batches took longer than I expected. I now close the door to the shop and stay away at least 20 minutes.

I had a couple hundred pounds of nuts, bolts, washers with minor rust. This made them usable. For example the wheel weights I installed last weekend use washers and double-nuts from those batches. (I had the 10" bolts too, but cleaned them with a wire brush). This saved me a drive to the hardware store and a few dollars.

The tumbler has more than paid for itself by now.


Added: Buy the warranty. HF's Customer Reviews say these fail frequently.

 

[leeinMT]

Re: drill presses. I bought a 2 hp mill drill from Wholesale Tool about 14 years ago for about $1100 and have had no regrets. Zero play in the spindle and can precision drill anything from 1/32 to big holes. I use it almost daily and have learned not to skimp on the drill bits - best to go with cobalt. Wholesale Tool still has this thing for what I paid.

Like some of the folks here, I am hesitant to buy anything from HF that you have to plug in.

Drill Doctor is another good investment.

 

[5030]

I was given a drill doctor for Christmas and gave it away. I much rather offhand sharpen all my twist drills, both split point and parabolic.

Drill Doctor takes too much time and learning to offhand sharpen drills becomes an acquired skill that you'll never forget once you master it.

 

[Travelover]

I mail packages occasionally for stuff I sell on EBay and wanted a new scale. I bought this one, # 95364

Digital Scale

I checked the accuracy with a few combinations of coins and it seems accurate to a gram or less, at least for small stuff. Total capacity is 11 pounds. With 20% off, it was about $12. Operates on 4 AA batteries and comes with an AC adapter.

I also have the very small scale, 97820, and have been very impressed with the quality - great for weighing envelopes and food for cooking, etc.

 

[rbstern]

I mail packages occasionally for stuff I sell on EBay and wanted a new scale. I bought this one, # 95364

Digital Scale

I checked the accuracy with a few combinations of coins and it seems accurate to a gram or less, at least for small stuff. Total capacity is 11 pounds. With 20% off, it was about $12. Operates on 4 AA batteries and comes with an AC adapter.

Have it and think it's great.

 

[doall]

the big 3/4 drive set is holding up pretty good for 50 bucks. if I buy 4 sets in a lifetime I'm still better off unless it hurts me. lol

 

[evan price]

Their replacement vibratory polisher bowls fit a Midway 1292 perfectly. I tumble a lot of brass and I've worn out four bowls so far.

 

[chopped]

Mine are good also. They double as shims when I press bearing out. So they have been worth it. I still expect the ratchet to snap. There is alot of play to them , But maybe that is normal given the size..