Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[smithrngr]

i will only buy something from there if it will not harm me or anyone using it. i just can't see spending good money on cheap junk tools just to have to spend even more in the long run for the hospitol visit.would much rather spend some extra for a good quality tool and a good name.

 

[patrick_g]

Well, Finally at last the UPS dude delivered my LOOOOOONG awaited 10 inch bench grinder (not for grinding benches but a grinder for mounting on the bench.)

The HF stores do not stock the 10 inch, just the 6, 8, and smaller grinders.

I ordered this one from the web site. After a while I got a mailed notice that it was on back order and if I wanted to cancel to return the addressed and franked card IAW FTC regs otherwise they would keep me on BO. I did, time passed, and I received another mailing with a card I had to sign, date, and return to stay on BO or the oder would be canceled IAW FTC regs. I sent in the card. A few days later I got an email saying it shipped. A couple days later it was delivered, intact but requiring some light assembly.

The tool rests and eye shields were easy to install. This sucker is pretty heavy, quite a hand full. It accelerates quickly runs smoothly, and coasts for a loooooong time after shutting it off but finally you hear the centrifugal switch click after it slows way down. Label claims 2HP so even derating for specksmanship it should do just fine. I have used it a little and so far so good. It doesn't have its own gooseneck light but adding one is not brain science (rocket surgery?) A little pan for quenching water will be added too. Looks to be a bargain considering the price performance ratio.

I also bought some solar powered garden decor. There are 3 clear plastic things on separate stalks. Each has a solar panel to charge a battery (included) and they light up all night every night. One is in the shape of a hummingbird, another is a butterfly, and the third is a dragon fly. Each has a small solar charger and battery. They charge up in the day and light up all night. The lights change colors all the time red, blue, green, and in between. Fairly bright. One is over 10 ft from a bedroom window and I can see it light up the room's walls at night. The coons pretty well ignore them and I haven't noticed any fireflys trying to talk to them. My wife really likes the lights.

I really like the grinder.

Pat

 

[patrick_g]

i will only buy something from there if it will not harm me or anyone using it. i just can't see spending good money on cheap junk tools just to have to spend even more in the long run for the hospitol visit.would much rather spend some extra for a good quality tool and a good name.

I have been to the ER and the tool that sent me there was a standard carpenter's claw hammer (not HF but I have some HF hammers.)

Later a Makita brand table saw ate a big chunk of my thumb and sent me to the ER. I have oodles of HF power tools, hand tools, clamps, etc. None have been the cause of serious injury. Maybe I'm just not as wild as some (ha, not likely) but although I have had HF tools fail, powered and manual, none caused or came close to causing injury, small or large.

I'm sure HF has tools capable of causing sever injury but not anymore so than any other brand when misused.

Do you refer to some sort of catastrophic disassembly/parts explosion where a tool with fast moving parts slings chunks at you or do you mean busting a knuckle if a so so wrench slips off a nut or distorts and slips of a bolt or nut?

I have had no more problems with HF than with Craftsman (less actually.) Take for example the Craftsman 8 inch "crescent" wrench. The Craftsman jaws are thicker and open to a max size that is less than the Crescent brand in the same size. This is so the soft steel the cheap piece of junk Craftsman is made of will stand a chance. They limit the max opening to keep you from using it on tough jobs and make it much heavier to compensate for cheap soft metal. The Crescent brand in the same size is way lighter, the jaws are thinner, open wider, and distort much less under heavy use. I find the HF equivalent to be intermediate to Craftsman and Crescent.

HF also sells junk that I wouldn't use if they gave it to me for free but much of their tool selection does a pretty good job and a great job for the price.

Pat

 

[Skyco]

HF also sells junk that I wouldn't use if they gave it to me for free but much of their tool selection does a pretty good job and a great job for the price.

Pat

I'd agree. I sometimes wonder if all the naysayers are recently experienced with HF stuff or are recalling older times when they were perhaps more junky. I gotta say I've had virtually no problems with any of their stuff and I buy a lot of it. The local clerk jokes with me each time I go in saying "see ya tomorrow". I remind him my goal in life is to own one of everything they sell

 

[CurlyDave]

I don't know if many of you are old enough to remember this, but when I was growing up (50s), and even as late as the early 70s, Japanese products had a reputation for being absolute junk. Even worse than the Chinese products of the early 90s.

Well, the Japanese busted their collective butts, and became obsessive over quality. It worked. Almost everything made in Japan has a fine reputation today.

Well, there was a transition period, when the quality went up, but the reputation stayed down.

I think we are seeing the same transition with Chinese made stuff today. The quality has improved enormously over the past decade, but the reputation has not come up correspondingly. Some of the Chinese-made items I have seen are as good as anyone's, some still lag a little, but not nearly so much as a lot of us claim.

10 years ago I automatically rejected anything made in China, today I am a lot more open-minded. And, if there is any kind of a warranty or a return policy, I have no hesitation at all.

 

[shakin]

i own numerous hf tools i keep some on my equip trailer to tighten say my lower links i dont care if they rust. i also use some at work if they disappear it dosent bother me much i have on ocassion had to fish tools out of the big pond salt water is a killer no matter who made them it just much easier to take if they only cost a few bucks. i dont think i have any bad hf tools in my collection. compression gauge, leak down tester, 20 ton floor press, cylinder hone, wrench sets the list goes on.

 

[Dargo]

I think we are seeing the same transition with Chinese made stuff today. The quality has improved enormously over the past decade, but the reputation has not come up correspondingly. Some of the Chinese-made items I have seen are as good as anyone's, some still lag a little, but not nearly so much as a lot of us claim.

10 years ago I automatically rejected anything made in China, today I am a lot more open-minded. And, if there is any kind of a warranty or a return policy, I have no hesitation at all.

Well, I wouldn't make any overall blanket statement like the Chinese made stuff has improved in quality. I will say that when they have to meet a certain level of quality per the designer's specifications, they can build quality products. However, if not given specific guidelines to follow for quality their products are still complete junk. Castings still have sand in them, fluids used are worse than what we throw out, metalurgy is pathetic etc. If the buyer just wants "cheap", which seems to be the protocol for most HF items, you get cheap; in most every sense of the word.

I did use my 20% off coupon on a set of Pittsburgh 6 pt. sockets with the size etched on the outside in large numbers (which I think all tools should have) for a toolkit to carry in the toolbox in my RTV. I'd never use the Pittsburgh wrenches or sockets for anything that is tight or needs to be torqued down a bit because I've shattered plenty of wrenches and sockets by hand but, for general use at a cheap price, I think they have their place. That, and when a very low income person is faced with having no tools at all or having HF stuff, it is better than nothing. Without any doubt nobody would confuse them with quality tools, but they certainly better than nothing. Actually, another time they are useful is when my son and his friends use one of my barns to work on something. I'm not nearly as concerned with them sprouting legs and walking off and, if one friend isn't exactly an honest person, the HF tools have about zero value at a pawn shop if someone is trying to get money by hocking something.

They have their place. It's just a mystery as to what ones work and what ones have basically zero value and only cause aggravation by breaking on first use. As I've said before, some of the items sold at HF wouldn't be worth taking if they were free, like the wire brushes that lose all their wires on first use (leaving dangerous little wires everywhere), coil spring compressors that shatter while holding a compressed coil spring and the junk paint brushes that leave about half of their brushes in your paint.

 

[Travelover]

................<snip> ......... It's just a mystery as to what ones work and what ones have basically zero value and only cause aggravation by breaking on first use. As I've said before, some of the items sold at HF wouldn't be worth taking if they were free, ..........<snip>

Dargo, that is the whole purpose of this thread. If you have a good experience or a bad experience with one of their products, please post it here, preferably with a model number or link so we know which one specifically that you are talking about.

Example:

I bought this box cutter (Model 3359) and it broke the first time I used it. The blade retracter is thin stamped steel and can't take even moderate stress. Not worth the $1 I paid on sale.

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

 

[IslandTractor]

Well, I wouldn't make any overall blanket statement like the Chinese made stuff has improved in quality. I will say that when they have to meet a certain level of quality per the designer's specifications, they can build quality products. However, if not given specific guidelines to follow for quality their products are still complete junk. Castings still have sand in them, fluids used are worse than what we throw out, metalurgy is pathetic etc. If the buyer just wants "cheap", which seems to be the protocol for most HF items, you get cheap; in most every sense of the word.

I agree with Dargo's point but think he doesn't go far enough. It is largely the US retailers that are responsible for prioritizing low cost over quality. I think it is reasonably clear that the Chinese can build almost any quality you want (eg space ships if necessary) but because they are primarily used as a source of goods to undercut the price of US, Japanese or European made merchandise, the US retailers either specifiy or accept junk quality just to keep the cost down. If low cost has a higher market value than good quality then who is to blame when those poor tools show up at HF?

 

[Dargo]

Dargo, that is the whole purpose of this thread. If you have a good experience or a bad experience with one of their products, please post it here, preferably with a model number or link so we know which one specifically that you are talking about.

Example:

I bought this box cutter (Model 3359) and it broke the first time I used it. The blade retracter is thin stamped steel and can't take even moderate stress. Not worth the $1 I paid on sale.

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Oh, oh, you reminded me of one I consider a "winner"! A while back HF had a utility knife (folding box cutter) item number 92462 on sale for just a few bucks. I like that utility knife better than a far more expensive Irwin brand I have.