Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Jim Nelson]

I think for the most part, no. But on the other hand, the vast majority of people don't depend on their tools everyday, which is exactly why you see over 1000 pages of threads on this tropic, with mostly positive reviews.

I recently had a local mechanic rebuild the engine on my wifes gas powered utility cart and he uses mostly H.F. tools. When we talked about it he said he couldn't afford to have Snap-On as a dependent along with his 4 kids. The guy was surprisingly good and reasonably priced, I'll use him again.

When I asked him how well the tools hold up for him he said "fine and if there's a problem, they take care of it.'

 

[BukitCase]

Cougs, dunno how old your torch is; I've had my Craftsman 2 stage set since the early '70's, those were made by Harris. You'd probably have better luck on ebay for tips. For one thing, the harris stuff from back then was likely imperial threads, anything new from ANYBODY these days probably speaks Mandarin

Good luck... Steve

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

I have broken Snap- On, Craftsman, and Stanley wrenches and sockets.... abused the heck out of them. No matter how much I have tried to break a HF Pittsburgh wrench or socket, I have yet to do so. When I was a 'professional contractor', I would get certain power tools that would become "disposable tools" like the $20 reciprocal saw, or cheap drills... use them and abuse them for 2-3 jobs and toss it... get another. Especially when your guys didn't take care of anything!

When it came to needing precision tools, like a miter saw, I only bought good ones like Makita or Milwaukee. MY truck had all the good stuff.....

 

[Cougsfan]

Cougs, dunno how old your torch is; I've had my Craftsman 2 stage set since the early '70's, those were made by Harris. You'd probably have better luck on ebay for tips. For one thing, the harris stuff from back then was likely imperial threads, anything new from ANYBODY these days probably speaks Mandarin

Good luck... Steve

My Craftsman torch was bought back in the'80s. I am afraid to buy another rosebud (ebay or anywhere else) as no one lists what size threads they have, or do I even have a clue as to what size I have. I guess I will have to take a welding tip into a store and just match it up.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

My Craftsman torch was bought back in the'80s. I am afraid to buy another rosebud (ebay or anywhere else) as no one lists what size threads they have, or do I even have a clue as to what size I have. I guess I will have to take a welding tip into a store and just match it up.

Finding torch tips for the older stuff is getting almost impossible. Victor compatible stuff is readily available several places on the internet. A Victor branded torch tip may cost $75 at the welding store but an exact compatible replacement is around $10 on Amazon. I have used them extensively and most fit and operate perfect including the HF ones. Their sets are also compatible. I interchange all the time. Their Heavy duty is Victor 300 series, the medium duty same as Victor 100 series and the little light duty one is same as Victor J series. A relatively new brand I-O makes victor compatible and they are made in Taipei and they are building a good following. Good rule is the cheaper the more potential for a misfit. Most of the old line US made such as Oxweld, Purox, Craftsman, Airco, and etc have been bought up by Victor (ESAB), Miller, and Lincoln and not produced under those names. ESAB now licenses out a lot of the Victor compatible stuff as they are a holding company not an actual manufacturer. I believe Harris is now part of either Lincoln or Miller. Arc welders are another grab bag anymore. Lincoln and Miller made a lot of the other smaller market brands like Century and made the brands like Sears and Montgomery Ward. Example there are 3 different tapered plugs for the leads all go back to Miller, Lincoln or Forney. Whoever made the Craftsman machines used a now obsolete tapered lug and they do not part support it.

Be nice if someone made a chart of all these buyouts and who is who anymore.

Ron

 

[BukitCase]

" I am afraid to buy another rosebud"

Cougs, before you take this much further, what size acetylene tank do you have? This
is mine; that tank is a size 5, the largest single tank you can find - the rosebud in the pic is the SMALLEST one victor offered when I bought it, and it's just BARELY small enough NOT to have too fast a withdrawal rate for safety.
Even then, I don't push it too far, because it's borderline already. (Oh, and before anybody ******* me out about those wimpy straps, all they're there for is to eliminate rattles - if you zoom in, you'll see both a chain AND the heavy "bow tie" retainer that's part of the cart I've had since 1970)

Check out this for more on withdrawal rates -

Fuel your safety knowledge

Do what you like; personally, I'm kind of a "safety ****" on this subject, because someone who THOUGHT they knew it all missed KILLING me by about an INCH when I was 20. The following 55 years (so far) were just a roll of the dice (and an INCREDIBLE GIFT)... Steve

 

[5030]

Like your hose reel, I may do the same with my hoses. Is that an HF reel per chance?

 

[mcfarmall]

Fuel your safety knowledge

Thanks for the informative link.

 

[2017JD1025r]

Would like a small torch set someday. Never justify it as I only do light metal fab with band saw and a flux welder ha.

But this is good informative link for someone who might jump into it someday. Thanks

 

[BukitCase]

Thanks guys, glad you took it in the way it was intended; I've seen 'WAY too much in my 75 years to believe in the BS statement "what you don't know can't hurt you" -

5030, NOT Harbor Freight, don't think I've ever seen one from them.

Weldcote HRMWOT Manual Hose Reel for 1 ft of Twin Gas Hose - - Amazon.com

BTW, hose (other than a pretty short whip from reel to regulators) is NOT included; for my purposes, I would be VERY unlikely to need more than 50 feet so that's what I bought. Don't see the sense of dumping TWICE as much gas to atmosphere for no good reason...

If you zoom in on those pics, you'll notice several pieces of my "big boy erector set" - a few years ago I fell into a CL deal, somewhere around $2k worth of Unistrut including over 150 pounds of clamps/brackets/bolts, etc; all for $100. Comes in handy for "temporary" stuff (and some NOT so temporary) ... Steve