Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[sd455dan]

have to wonder what some of this stuff is offgassing
go back to area with the tires and smells like a Dupont chemical plant
they need to put some wintergreen or peppermint in their tires....

I wonder what kind of OSHA China and Malaysia have. Those tire plants must smell awful.
for years there were jokes about China getting rid of their nuclear waste by putting them in these tires, or
their chemical waste, or their something....

I wonder how many "forever chemicals" those Chinese workers have in them. Safety equipment is pretty sketchy there.
Safety costs money.

from your post
I couldn't help but think of the
Little Village Song


"Do You want My Job"

 

[California]

for years there were jokes about China getting rid of their nuclear waste by putting them in these tires, or
their chemical waste, or their something....

When Jinma tractors appeared here, it was a common warning that the fluids must be replaced immediately before starting them. 'Shipping fluid' was assumed to be in there only to avoid corrosion. With chemical composition unknown, maybe random. Maybe hazardous waste.

In one case the coolant tested useless, suspected to be food coloring.

China has many examples of manufacturing to world standards but they will also build to the buyer's specs, as cheap as possible if that's what's requested. A Chinese factory rep once posted on here that Jinmas were built for the suburban 'weekend warrior', not for commercial farming.

 

[5030]

Well, again I exercised my ITC membership and purchased the HF Bauer corded 9 amp electric Surface Conditioning Tool. Comes with 3 drums. a coarse (looks like Scotchbrite), a medium and a fine drum and it's a well built beast. Bought it for welding pre prep on oxidized aluminum and surface rust steel. Regularly $149 bucks, ITC price 50 bucks. I tried it on a old piece of painted steel and it peeled the paint right off and left a polished surface real quick. Even comes with spare brushes and the drums are slotted to fit the arbor so they stay tight. The gearbox (left side drive) is all metal gears and ball bearings and it actually has good grease inside too. Eastwood sells a similar one for 200 bucks, HF does it again and I bet the Eastwood and the HF are made on the same line in the same Chinese plant. It's a 2 hander for sure. Plenty of balls and then some.

Even at 149 bucks it's a pretty good deal but at 50 bucks it's highway robbery and the HF comes with 3 drums not one like the Eastwood. Product Number.. 20104 E-B. I got the last one in the store, manager said they were flying out the door. if you are doing any kind of Resto or want to strip your wood deck, this is the one you want. 0-3000 rpm. Soft start trigger and manual lock on as well. Eastwood sells replacement drums for 29 bucks. HF sells the same drums for 14 bucks. I recommend it.

 

[California]

I just discovered a price tracker website that follows HF.

For example it shows the Titanium 120v flux welder currently $149, lowest ever was $147. I thought it was always $180 or more.

Recent Price Changes | Hazard Fraught Price Tracker

The latest price changes on Hazard Fraught tools.

hfpricetracker.com

 

[5030]

I find that my ITC membership prices are usually the lowest. No fiddling around. Just like the refinishing tool I posted about. 50 bucks off list with the ITC membership and the ITC membership is 29 bucks a year which we always make up for in savings, but then my wife and I are HF junkies and always have been, even when the stores stunk like Chinese rubber...

 

[sd455dan]

we have such a dysfunctional love/hate affair with Chinese goods.

Would I like to buy a Black & Decker drill built in Texas?
you bet I would. And I'd pay more for it.
but ONLY if it outperformed the cheaper stuff or had some other benefit, service, parts, anything, to justify
the extra cost.
Otherwise seems a waste of money.

Ten years ago there wasn't much of quality in Harbor Freight.
Now there is. I see that as a good trend. And I do like their stores.
It's a candy store for most of us.
just try going in there for just one thing...
[/QUOTE]


I tried to deal with a new HF floor drill press and just could not do it. \

Trying to check run out I left my 1/2 thou indicator mounted and the press vibrated so bad it shook it off the NOGA mount breaking it in less than 5 seconds.

Then there was the Main column...

All .060 " of it in wall thickness.

I tried using it and the table moves over a 1/4" vertically not even trying.
Boxed it back up to go back to HF.

Found a used Swedish made Arboga gear head drill press for less than going to the 20" HF press. The main column is 5 1/2" inches in diameter and around a 1/2" thick wall and it has a center stiffener No more massive flex. Now to get it cleaned up and hooked up using a VFD since I only have single phase..

All that said I like my older hf metal lathe that is a Taiwan build and the 1/2 knee mill has also been OK, but a floor standing drill press with a main support column that is thinner walled than vehicle exhaust tubing is not going to cut it.
Lots of good usable stuff at HF sometimes just have to take it home evaluate and try it out, Sometimes it needs to go back.

 

[ArlyA]

Can any give a review is these HF welding clamps?

12 in. F-Style Welding Clamp

Amazing deals on this 12In F-Style Welding Clamp at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[5030]

Can any give a review is these HF welding clamps?

12 in. F-Style Welding Clamp

Amazing deals on this 12In F-Style Welding Clamp at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I can, I have a few pairs of the F style clamps and they work well but I still prefer the screw type bar clamps over them. The F style clamps tend to deflect quite a bit under tension. Just like their 'C' clamps do. No reefing on either... if I need something REALLY secure, I go to my Wilton C clamps.

 

[Popgadget]

Can any give a review is these HF welding clamps?

12 in. F-Style Welding Clamp

Amazing deals on this 12In F-Style Welding Clamp at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

They are not bad for the price. I have a batch of them that I cut off and welded round stock to, so they plug into my welding table.

 

[ArlyA]

They are not bad for the price. I have a batch of them that I cut off and welded round stock to, so they plug into my welding table. View attachment 841449
View attachment 841450

So it looks like yours broke?

 

[Fallon]

So it looks like yours broke?

I think that may be a felt tip marker line, not sure though.

 

[Popgadget]

So it looks like yours broke?

No. I deliberately cut them to weld the round to them so they would drop into my welding table.

 

[ArlyA]

No. I deliberately cut them to weld the round to them so they would drop into my welding table.

OK, maybe I'll get a couple then. Those photos you posted really threw me off.!

 

[aczlan]

Agree with what a couple of other guys posted here. I bought a Milwaukee angle grinder that came with a 2ah battery, it was really disappointing.
Slapped a 6ah battery on it and the thing was like a different machine.
Only use the smaller batteries for flashlights now.

I have a pair of Ryobi angle grinders, one is brushless and the other is brushed.
The brushless one is great on a 6AH high output pack.
Put it on the 2AH pack it came with () or even a 4AH pack and you will want to throw it out.
The brushed one is nowhere near as powerful, but does fine on a 4AH or 6AH pack.

Aaron Z

 

[5030]

Same applies to the Bauer 20 volt brushed 4.5" angle grinder, it's gutless so I gave it away and bought the brushless one. What a difference. Only Bauer 20 volt tool I was not happy with and I have about the complete Bauer 20 volt line. I buy them when they are on sale in the ITC flyer.

 

[ArlyA]

OK, maybe I'll get a couple then. Those photos you posted really threw me off.!

HF has everything on sale for 4 days now at 25% off. Might get me2!

 

[5030]

Giving away free 5 gallon plastic buckets with every purchase as well. I suspect they want you to fill the bucket with stuff before hand however. Kind of reminds me of the Menards fill your Menards bag with whatever and it's all 20% off... You'd be surprised what you can get in that paper Menards bag...lol Last time they ran that I put 3 car batteries in a bag and 2 2.5 gallon jugs of Rotella T6 plus some other stuff and I didn't try to lift it on the checkout conveyor belt either. Just left it in the shopping cart. My wife had one as well and Menards had the bonless pork chops in the deep freeze so she loaded up her sack with the boneless chops. They are very consistently good too. Too bad they didn't have the Lloyds New York style BBQ'd ribs or she would have loaded her sack with them instead. Good too.

I miss the free LED Lights and the free multimeters however. we have a pile of the lights and I have three of the multi meters. I have a very expensive Fluke True RMS meter but I use the HF free ones instead because if I roast them I won't feel bad. The Fluke, not so much and the free ones are pretty accurate as well. No reason to go to HF presently but if I did, I'd fill the bucket with ITC sale stuff anyway, Have at least 4 of their red plastic buckets now. I purchased all of them.

 

[jjeff]

Double bag? still surprised at my cheapness coupled to bagging skills, how much Menards stuff I can get in those bags lol

 

[sd455dan]

I bought some Pittsburg wrenches at HF that didn't suck. In fact they fit my hand pretty good. I like a wrench that is somewhat sleek, not clunkier than needed.

A member here pointed me towards the HF service wrenches for tight spaced Hydraulic fittings on my Backhoe.
They hold the crow foot shape really well when under the extra force of a big cheater bar.
Sure enough they broke every fitting loose.
I give them a solid B+ overall, and for the price A+

 

[ArlyA]

Can any give a review is these HF welding clamps?

12 in. F-Style Welding Clamp

Amazing deals on this 12In F-Style Welding Clamp at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I did pick up 2 late today.