Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[daugen]

5030, that's good, glad they work well for you.
The Koreans copy from the Japanese and the Chinese copy from all of them
and out of that you wonder who offers the best value at a reasonable price point.
I think it's been a long time since Milwaukee was built in Milwaukee.
I'd like to see Black & Decker bring all its international manufacturing back home.
Put the coal miners to work there.

 

[daugen]

Rick, great score at HF. Now the hard part, what goes where...

 

[5030]

5030, that's good, glad they work well for you.
The Koreans copy from the Japanese and the Chinese copy from all of them
and out of that you wonder who offers the best value at a reasonable price point.
I think it's been a long time since Milwaukee was built in Milwaukee.
I'd like to see Black & Decker bring all its international manufacturing back home.
Put the coal miners to work there.

I'm waiting patiently to 'find the smoke' in them, so far so good. Found the smoke in a DeWalt cordless and it stunk. Smelled like rice paper.

Candidly, I cannot afford Milwaukee cordless tools and if I could, why would I buy them when I can buy 3 Bauer's for the same price. Economically, makes no sense to me. Holds true with DeWalt as well but the ratio is 2-1 versus 3-1.

I don't much care where they are made, so long as they work and last a reasonable amount of time. That don't apply to hand tools, just cordless stuff but I have to say the ICON tools and the DOYLE tools are on par with Snap-On and SK Dresser for about 1/2 of their price retail. Not sure how HF does it, but I'm happy they do.

The only thing I don't like about the Bauer stuff is their charger. It's advertised as a 'fast' charger and there is nothing fast about it, consequently you need multiple packs to run any time at all, especially with the 4.5" cordless grinder. It eats battery packs like a fat man eats Hostess cupcakes.

I see HF is now offering tool only deals. Good deal. I for one don't need extra chargers or a funky carrying bag which I toss anyway. I just need the bare tool as I already have everything else.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Almost all the Bauer stuff is tool only, I don't have any of the Bauer stuff that comes as a kit which I think is the two drills and 1/4" hex impact... I've had good luck with the Bauer stuff, sure it's not quite as sturdy as the DeWalt and Milwaukee stuff I have but whatever, it still gets the job done and at open box prices there are some things I can't pass up... I will say don't get anything very wet with the battery installed, they are not water resistant at all... I had a "workshop blower" get splashed while on a boat being used as an inflator and it killed the circuit board and something in the battery where the LED's stayed on...

Sometime this month I'm going to grab one of the oil drain jug things for using with an automotive lift... they're on sale, look decent and my lift should hopefully be installed within a couple months...

 

[BravoXray]

After multiple stops at HF, I bought my portable storage bins for $7, using this weekend's 30% off on items $10 or less. The retail price, on both sizes, is $9.99.

Now .. I need to figure out what to build .. to store them.

.

I have a BUNCH of organizers similar to those in the shop and down in my basement. I have everything from brass fittings to DIN connectors to flanged frame bolts and nuts, and lots of miscellaneous stuff in them. ANd I have them labeled so I know whats in them.

I made wood shelf units out of 1/2" plywood, all glued, no screws or nails, that each hold ten of them. I have five of them, and may have to build more.

 

[lostcreekranch]

I have a BUNCH of organizers similar to those in the shop and down in my basement. I have everything from brass fittings to DIN connectors to flanged frame bolts and nuts, and lots of miscellaneous stuff in them. ANd I have them labeled so I know whats in them.

I made wood shelf units out of 1/2" plywood, all glued, no screws or nails, that each hold ten of them. I have five of them, and may have to build more.

Nice work. I like your dados .. for the dividers.

 

[newbury]

I have a BUNCH of organizers similar to those in the shop and down in my basement. I have everything from brass fittings to DIN connectors to flanged frame bolts and nuts, and lots of miscellaneous stuff in them. ANd I have them labeled so I know whats in them.

I made wood shelf units out of 1/2" plywood, all glued, no screws or nails, that each hold ten of them. I have five of them, and may have to build more.

Isn't 1/2" a little overkill? Unless you have a lot of scrap.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Isn't 1/2" a little overkill? Unless you have a lot of scrap.

Empty bins are light. Filled ones .. not so much.

 

[5030]

Almost all the Bauer stuff is tool only, I don't have any of the Bauer stuff that comes as a kit which I think is the two drills and 1/4" hex impact... I've had good luck with the Bauer stuff, sure it's not quite as sturdy as the DeWalt and Milwaukee stuff I have but whatever, it still gets the job done and at open box prices there are some things I can't pass up... I will say don't get anything very wet with the battery installed, they are not water resistant at all... I had a "workshop blower" get splashed while on a boat being used as an inflator and it killed the circuit board and something in the battery where the LED's stayed on...

Sometime this month I'm going to grab one of the oil drain jug things for using with an automotive lift... they're on sale, look decent and my lift should hopefully be installed within a couple months...

Considering you can buy 3 Bauer's for the price of ONE Milwaukee makes them very attractive to me and amazingly, I have not found the rice paper smoke in any of them yet, but of course I don't get them wet either. I suspect the Milwaukee tools don't like water either, they aren't IP rated.

I believe the Bauer line has become HF's biggest seller.

 

[BravoXray]

Isn't 1/2" a little overkill? Unless you have a lot of scrap.

I don't think so. Some of the organizers are full of brass or steel fittings, or filled with bolts, can weigh10# or more. Ten of them in one unit will be 100# or more. I have some lag screwed to a wall through the rear panel.
Others are filled with electrical connectors and are light. But by making them all the same, my cut list stays the same. I almost have the dimensions memorized by now.

The last one I built was made with a sheet of warped plywood. I couldn't find a flat sheet of 1/2" plywood anywhere. Maybe it was the cold or humidity, don't know, but I did the best I could with it. When I glued it up, I had 10 1" ratchet straps on it to hold everything together.