Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[birdsnest]

Just breath deep and say Price Pfister 10 times.

 

[MoArk Willy]

Just breath deep and say Price Pfister 10 times.

So that is "rice fister"? Hmmmm....not sure I want an explanation of that.
As far as Harbor Freight goes, I just bough a Titanium 125 flux welder. I am extremely pleased with it.
Harbor Freight gets a bad rap because of off brand import items.
But so much name brand we buy is the same stuff with a different, "Americanized" name.
And I have many tools that are 20 years old or more that I bought from Harbor Freight. I have also thrown out broken Craftsman tools.
All I know is that I will continue to buy tools and other things there.

 

[Alan W.]

Like the 9 inch drill press locking clamps and my digital caliper is still going strong 3 years on the original battery.

And lets forget about the silent P. What we really need to talk about is the silent K and G.

 

[MoArk Willy]

Like the 9 inch drill press locking clamps and my digital caliper is still going strong 3 years on the original battery.

And lets forget about the silent P. What we really need to talk about is the silent K and G. ��

I have to remove the battery from my digital caliper or it's dead next time I want to use it.

 

[John_Mc]

Harbor Freight gets a bad rap because of off brand import items.
But so much name brand we buy is the same stuff with a different, "Americanized" name.
And I have many tools that are 20 years old or more that I bought from Harbor Freight. I have also thrown out broken Craftsman tools.

Agreed. HF sells some fairly good stuff, and they sell some junk. If you don't want junk, don't buy the junk. My local hardware store does the same thing. The junk tools will work fine in some applications, not so well in others.

All I know is that I will continue to buy tools and other things there.

I buy from my local hardware store whenever I can. It's handy having some of the things I need available right in my community, and they are very active in the community, supporting a variety of causes. I'll support them every time, if I have a choice, even if it costs me a bit more than buying from HF or a big box store. (Often, the cost is the same, when comparing apples to apples: I recently bought an $85 tool at the local hardware. Home Depot had the exact same tool for 50¢ less. Yeah, I could have bought a cheap version from HF for $29, but the broken one I was replacing came from there. It served it's purpose for the emergency I bought it for, but I estimate it's had only about 20 hours of use over it's life. I was ready to step up to something more reliable and more powerful.)

Harbor Freight is 35 minutes away, and does nothing for my community. I'll buy from them when it's something not available at my local store.

 

[bigtiller]

I buy from my local hardware store whenever I can. It's handy having some of the things I need available right in my community, and they are very active in the community, supporting a variety of causes. I'll support them every time, if I have a choice, even if it costs me a bit more than buying from HF or a big box store. (Often, the cost is the same, when comparing apples to apples: I recently bought an $85 tool at the local hardware. Home Depot had the exact same tool for 50¢ less. Yeah, I could have bought a cheap version from HF for $29, but the broken one I was replacing came from there. It served it's purpose for the emergency I bought it for, but I estimate it's had only about 20 hours of use over it's life. I was ready to step up to something more reliable and more powerful.)

Harbor Freight is 35 minutes away, and does nothing for my community. I'll buy from them when it's something not available at my local store.

My town used to have 2 hardware stores until the community quit shopping there, just to save a buck at the big box store 25 miles away. It's frustrating to have to drive that far for a household repair part on a Saturday afternoon.

 

[3Ts]

Like the 9 inch drill press locking clamps and my digital caliper is still going strong 3 years on the original battery.

And lets forget about the silent P. What we really need to talk about is the silent K and G.

Oh, man!!! I just Gnu someone was going to bring that up.

Here's a Blue Gnu (Wildebeest), they also come in Black.

 

[Rock Crawler]

Anyone here but the green mid level 110V MIG welder that is around $150 it $200? I have to go out and do a weld repair in a pasture and use flux core wire on 3/16" 2"x3" tubing to repair a collapsed trailer frame. I have a large 220V shop welder, but I'm not going to able to power it in the field.

I've been welding for 20 years and never had a need to go portable, but my father-in-law is in trouble and I need to get him out of it. I hate to waste money on a machine that I personally don't need... So I want to be a cheap as reasonably possible and yet still get good weld penetration out in the wild air of a pasture.

I need a small welder or a big 50 amp 220v generator. But I have no use for the bigger generator outside of about an hour if welding this stupid trailer. Maybe a portable welder is there better way to go....

 

[MoArk Willy]

Anyone here but the green mid level 110V MIG welder that is around $150 it $200?....

If you are talking about the Titanium 125...yes. I just bought one about two weeks ago.
Well made, much like the Lincoln Century FC90.
I think you will be satisfied with it.
Harbor Freight has it for $149....but that ends today.
I guess that is online or in store.

 

[MoArk Willy]

I buy from my local hardware store whenever I can.
.

I think that is how, in a perfect world things should be. Unfortunately the local hardware store is often just a piece of a big box store with higher prices.
In a pinch I will buy from whoever has it. But local stores do not always have what I want so I have no choice but to go to the big box, Harbor Freight or even Amazon.
Very often Amazon is very competitive with pricing....sometimes they aren't.
But if it's close I may just use Amazon. It not that I don't like to support local businesses, I certainly do.
But I live in a rural area and local businesses are usually a 30 mile trip for me.
And then there is tax.
So if the Amazon pricing is a little higher and I do not have to pay tax or pay for fuel or take time out to make the trip.....well you know that Amazon makes the most sense.
I think its great to support the local business....but if it costs me more money to do it then how is that a good thing?
We had a Menards open up about 2 years ago. I have always been a fan of them.
I had a recent electrical project to do and decided to price it at the local store, then at Menards.
What I needed cost about $94 at Menards.
The local hardware store (True Value) came to about $145.
It seems to me that if they want local loyalty they will do a little price research and make an attempt to be competitive.