Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Diggin It]

My older Chicago Electric 4" grinder (red with yellow paddle switch on the side) gave up on me this morning. Worked for a while, set it down. When I picked it up a few minutes later, nada. Acts like the switch, but I suppose it could be the brushes. Pretty sure I have a set of those ... IF I can find them.

Which should I try first?

 

[BukitCase]

I would check the switch first - I had the same problem with one of their circular saws, altho it wasn't that old - it worked fine a couple times, then dead. When I opened it up, found 2 of the 4 wires going to the switch connections (socket with set screw) had never been tightened. Couldn't believe it had EVER worked - Tightened ALL of 'em up, been fine ever since... Steve

 

[KubotainNH]

My older Chicago Electric 4" grinder (red with yellow paddle switch on the side) gave up on me this morning. Worked for a while, set it down. When I picked it up a few minutes later, nada. Acts like the switch, but I suppose it could be the brushes. Pretty sure I have a set of those ... IF I can find them.

Which should I try first?

Turn it on and try playing with the cord near the end of the grinder by the strain relief. I've had multiple HF grinders fail because of a broken wire in the cord. Usually will start up when flexing the cord a bit. I take the grinder apart, trim the wire back 6 inches and reattach.

 

[Ford850]

5030 (and others) here's a time saver I built several years ago, did one for my 4x6 HF saw (2 of 'em) and a bigger one for the 8x12 Jet saw - View attachment 645846

Fixed jaw side, note the small tab UNDER the jaw; jig tends to raise up when clamping otherwise - View attachment 645847 View attachment 645848 This shows the stop at the blade end of the vise View attachment 645849 - on that one, I drilled/tapped the angled face for a 1/2" bolt, bottomed out the threaded part from the back side, then used a zip disk to flush cut the front, and to slice off most of the un-threaded part to form the stop. Without that, the adapter will "squirt" out of the jaws when tightened. And yeah, there are easier ways, that was the (still being used) prototype

Cut finished - View attachment 645851 And checked - View attachment 645852

If you mainly do either 90 or 45 degree cuts, this lets you swap in seconds instead of several minutes. - It ALSO makes almost ZERO difference on jaw capacity compared to resetting the fixed jaw to 45 degrees.

On all 3 of my saws, I use a smaller digital protractor (so it fits down next to the blade) and set the back jaw EXACTLY at 90 degrees (relative to a properly tensioned NEW blade), making sure BOTH of the hold-down bolts are slightly loose and the jaw pushed up against them from between the jaws; then I tighten the bolts, re-check square, then scribe the bed along the fixed jaw for a reference.

The only time this might change is if you swap blades and don't get the new one adjusted the same with the eccentrics on blade bearings. Once a saw is set up, I NEVER move the inner eccentric adjusters (if they have those) - only the OUTER ones for .002-.003 clearance between bearing and blade.

Enjoy... Steve

That's a great idea. It reminds me of a speed square on steroids.

 

[TMGT]

Another good tool for the money.


Finally installed the lift on my shop and needed a good way to change fluids, used something similar at my family's shop. Seems well built and you can use the 20% coupon on it.

I did add this Lisle catch pan because the drain area is a little small for my liking, same setup I had at the family shop.

 

[5030]

Update on the Bauer 20 volt tools... All still running fine, no smoke yet but I do recommend the optional batteries, the smaller supplied ones don't last very long, maybe 15 minutes on the 4" grinder. The larger ones go 30 minutes which is ample time to charge the spare up. My DeWalt 18 volt finally expired so it's time to 'Bauer up' with a 20 volt 1/2" drill.

Sure like the stuff.

 

[5030]

Copy away, that's why I posted it. Oh, and that saw was new when the pics were taken, doesn't look like that any more :laughing: I went a bit different on its base too, my older green 4x6 (bought new in 1981 when HF had exactly ONE store in Camarillo Ca.), original motor and still going strong) is in an 8x10 room along with 'way more stuff than should ever fit, so it's kinda limited on lengths I can cut. (I can feed 20' in thru the door, but outfeed is limited to about 4 feet...

So when I got the newer 4x6, I came up with an "offroad" design - it's its own 2-wheel wheelbarow and has a stowable pin hitch so I can tow it around with the mower or golf cart. Some pics at the bottom.

My Jet 8x12 isn't an Ellis, but does OK. Think it was just under $1200, has hydraulic downfeed, a coolant pump I've never hooked up. Built one of the 45 adapters for that one too, and added an angle iron frame with 13" no-flats on rear, 5" double locking casters front (got tired of having to steer it by lifting one end and moving it sideways

Here's a few shots of the offroad 4x6... Steve

View attachment 645913 View attachment 645914 View attachment 645915 View attachment 645916 View attachment 645917 View attachment 645918 View attachment 645919 View attachment 645920 View attachment 645921 View attachment 645922

I see your weld quality varies greatly...lol I have a Lincoln Inver TIG machine but the steel gets run with a Hobart 190 gas machine. I actually have 2 of them. We have a couple fabrications we sell commercially so weld quality / appearance is critical and the Hobart's deliver in spades. Excellent wet out and weld appearance is top notch. We use INE solid 030 wire. I fiddled with a lot of brands of wire and the INE is the best I've found. Not the cheapest though. The Hobart's were an excellent investment. I may get an ESAB at some point. The new ESAB pulsed MIG gives a TIG appearing weld with the speed of a MIG. Considering one presently. One thing I will say about the Hobart MIG's, I have never found the end of the duty cycle on either. Very robust machines and we typically weld Schedule 60 tubing and 3/8ths plate.

Think I'll copy your cart as well minus the pull tongue. Don't need that here. Nice job though.

 

[BukitCase]

"I see your weld quality varies greatly"

Yup, it's the weldOR, not the weldER (MM252, MM211 Millers)
I need to develop the habit of "knockin' the rust off of ME" before a project; once I get into the "groove" I do OK. There are times when I don't strike an arc for a few MONTHS, then might weld (actually weld) a couple hours a (12-hour) DAY - guess which welds look better

Doesn't sound like you have THAT (getting rusty) problem... Steve

 

[5030]

In the pictures it appears your steel was properly prepped for the most part. Me. I prefer blue, red or cream myself, but in reality, the power supply hasn't much to do with it. More the prep and the execution though I do prefer a conventional transformer machine over an inverter.

Been my personal experience that a transformer machine produces a more stable weld current but then, just my opinion.

My big issue is mill scale. Not surface corrosion. The carbon mill scale causes weld inclusion. I have to pre prep all the laser cut and sawn parts prior to welding. I can dial up the amperage and roast it off but then I get excessive spatter and post cleaning becomes and issue prior to final finish. Everything gets powder coated so any crap left behind looks bad.

 

[BukitCase]

I notice that my MM252 seems a bit smoother than the (inverter) mm211 - not huge, but if I'm not "offroading" (the welder, not the sport) I tend to grab the 252.

I have one of the "greenies", the Power iTig200T - still haven't used the TIG side yet, but the arc beats my old 250 amp ac/dc stick machine, maybe not in longevity (too soon to tell) - I think a bit of hot start and dig is the difference, the old copper wound tranny machine doesn't have it.

Glaze, mill scale - SUCK. If cuts can't be done on the band saw or dry cut, I tend to reach for a grinder/zip disk rather than the plaz (Hypertherm PM45) - gotta use a grinder to knock the glaze off anyways.

Mill scale - tried HCL, doesn't do that well and can't breathe around it.

Tried sand blast, kinda like tryin' to push a wet noodle uphill on a gravel road with your nose (and no knee pads)

Depending on how smooth I want stuff, a lot of times I'll attack the mill scale with a thin cutoof disk, light pressure and continuous movement, then when I get thru in most places I'll grab another grinder with a 40 grit flap disk to smooth it out - seems to lessen the monkey motion some.

Most of the square tube I get (except heavier wall) is P&O, if I'm doing a bunch of that I'll lay it out on a pair of sawhorses, wet it down with degreaser and use a stiff brush floor polisher (electric) all over, flip all tubes and repeat for each side, then hose it down. Sunlight helps to dry, otherwise I'll warm it up with a torch/buff/weld, or fire up the backpack blower and dry it with that. Once that's done, I better be ready to paint THAT DAY...

For painting I'll usually just use a 6" fine wire brush on a high speed drill to give it some "tooth", then rattle can with a fan spray nozzle; haven't gotten into powder coat yet, but DID score a free lab oven off CL last year - temp controller's bad, elements are fine - 35 years in industrial automation/control, guess how much of a prob THAT's gonna be to me when I finally get that "tuit"

I don't think there's an easy way to do ANY of the prep part, but I keep looking for easy(ER) - clearly stickin' to that definition of INSANITY ... Steve