Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[CBW1999]

I just did a dry run on the nailer/stapler and the safety does not work...what a surprise...

Did you but it from Dargo, or HF?

Words of Wisdom from Dargo........ finding all of the unwritten uses for HF tools! Why just the other day I was able to use my 1/2 drill to test for live wires in the wall:laughing: (just kidding)

 

[willfick]

I haven't read all 1200+ posts on this thread yet, but I'm working on it.
Meanwhile - I'm not sure what all HF I've got; the one's I think of right off are the side grinders.
I do a good bit of hobby class welding; it's really helpful to have three side grinders so as to use the cutter, grinder and wire brush without having to change attachments. I had a $60+ Dewalt already and got two less-than $20 I-forget-the-brand from HF. I'm thinking next time I go to get a third cheapo. Even if they wear out sooner the convenience of having a switch that stays on over-rules. I'm convinced it's safer, too. It's not unusual for the (heavier) Dewalt to be in a position where having to keep a thumb firmly on the switch instead of both hands concentrating on holding on to it makes it harder to keep it stable.
Wm
P.S. I just remembered; the wire brush heads I've got won't fit on the HF grinders. Their guards are closer than the Dewalt. But I'll look into that.

 

[tglass]

I've had these 3.99 on sale or 7.99 trickle chargers for years. Never had a problem with any of them and keep them hooked up all the time. When I get on a peice of equipment or my pickup I rarely drive it always starts. It won't make an old battery new or charge a discharged battery, but will keep a good battery charged. Some of the other stuff H.F. sells though is buyer beware and you get what you pay for. Alot of stuff is a rare or sometimes occational use which works fine for some of us. Others expect it to hold up to the quality of a name brand that costs alot more. H.F. offers the extended warrant on most things they sell, and honor it quite well. Don't get me wrong.. most of my tools are craftsman, but sometimes the one time use or thow away tool works just as good for the price.

 

[crazyal]

Bought 10, 6" c-clamps on sale for 4.99 each. On visual inspection, the casting and paint look better than some of the ones I found locally. Local price ranged from 7.99 to 10.99 each.

I bought some of them. I thought what the h^ll, they should be able to hold two pieces of metal together for welding. Well they work OK for that but any splatter sticks to the threads and one of them I tried to tighten (by hand) to close a gap and the metal just broke. I would have thought that the rod in the end of the screw would have bent first but nope. Maybe they've switched to a better metal.

 

[chopped]

I like the float chargers. I have a total of 9 now and two in packages ont he wall. keeps al my batteries up to charge.
I dis agree on it not being able to charge I had a complet flat battery and hooked it up and it took a good charge.. A couple days but it was nice and slow..

 

[Runner]

I have a bunch of their float chargers too, but I don't trust them to "float", so I use a lamp timer on each one that only allows it to run a couple of hours per day.

 

[Skyco]

I like the float chargers. I have a total of 9 now and two in packages ont he wall. keeps al my batteries up to charge.
I dis agree on it not being able to charge I had a complet flat battery and hooked it up and it took a good charge.. A couple days but it was nice and slow..

I think they put that on the box to stop people that don't understand charging from buying it, putting it on their dead battery and then returning it because the battery wasn't charged in 2 hours....

 

[chopped]

true true..

 

[1-3-2-4]

Sorry for the late updates.. I went to HF once to get the electronic battery charger that was for $39.99 item 65834

6/12 Volt Electronic Battery Charger and Maintainer With LCD Display

It was a super fail.. on the 2nd try something inside blew up and the display no longer worked.. So I drove back (mind you $10 toll for driving back home $20 total) and I picked up item 45005 instead 2/6 Amp, 6/12 Volt Battery Chargerand it works.. I brought back a battery sitting at 0V for 2 years..

Only thing is in the 2 A setting is the float charge still working? I thought it should be an on/off type?

In the 6A setting it goes from charging to not charging but the 2A setting it seems to range from 13.9V to 14V but never dropping below 13.9V

and speaking of that of that hassle driving back to NJ my clutch cable snapped so I was stuck for about 2 hours and taking me 4 hours to get home when it should only take about an hour.

 

[CBW1999]

I bought some of them. I thought what the h^ll, they should be able to hold two pieces of metal together for welding. Well they work OK for that but any splatter sticks to the threads and one of them I tried to tighten (by hand) to close a gap and the metal just broke. I would have thought that the rod in the end of the screw would have bent first but nope. Maybe they've switched to a better metal.

I got them primarily for a wood working project, but will keep this in mind if/when I use them for welding clamps. Or, I may just incorporate it into the design and weld them in place:thumbsup: