Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[daugen]

I did pick up 2 late today.

the customer rating on those are amazing, 600 folks unanimously giving it two thumbs up.
looks like a good tool at a fair price.
Now if it's a great tool at a fair price, which this seems to be,
we seem to have a winner.

 

[5030]

Far as I'm concerned today, the only junk HF stuff is the 'Warrior' line. The rest is pretty good. Even the Pittsburg stuff is acceptable but the Chief and Icon and the tool cabs are all excellent as are the Vulcan and Titanium welders and plasma cutters.

I have a Vulcan Pro-Tig 205 and it is much better and tons cheaper than my Lincoln Square Wave TIG which I've sold and I bought 2 Titanium plasma cutters a 65 amp for use on my CNC plasma table and a 45 amp for general hand use. and both were less than the Hyper-Therm I had that I sold as well. All the Vulcan and Titanium welder come with a one year guarantee which I extended to 3 years.

The Pro-Tig is especially user friendly with it's built in presets and full digital control. I did upgrade the standard TIG torch to a CK 250 amp water cooled unit and a water cooler however. The gas cooled torch isn't good for aluminum welding at maximum amperage. It's only a 150 amp torch.

When I purchased the Pro-Tig and the Vulcans I also purchased the Large Vulcan roll around welder cart. It's also a high quality piece. Ball bearing soft lock drawers, room for 2 full size bottles (I run 120's) on everything that requires gas shielding except my OA torches. They get a 180 OX bottle and a A sized acetylene bottle, or maybe it's not an A, it's a big one too... I keep my Hobart 210's separate carts.

 

[jjeff]

Hf experts that own/ use a hf air chisel how are they? My elcheapo one quit working in the market for a new one and considering hf.

 

[5030]

Have one of those as well. Mine works fine but I do use air tool oil in it regularly. It's the HF cheapie.

 

[jjeff]

Have one of those as well. Mine works fine but I do use air tool oil in it regularly. It's the HF cheapie.

As do I in everything pneumatic, if it was nicer I'd probably attempt to take it apart, might do it anyways just to take it apart lol.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

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

If you look at the fine print on those 25% coupons over half the stuff in the store is exempt from that discount.

 

[ArlyA]

If you look at the fine print on those 25% coupons over half the stuff in the store is exempt from that discount.

View attachment 842264

The sale is of course over now but i did get 25% off of one clamp.

 

[5030]

As do I in everything pneumatic, if it was nicer I'd probably attempt to take it apart, might do it anyways just to take it apart lol.

My air is very dry so no moisture gets in my tools except maybe a little in the air line and piping but all my piping is in black iron with a downward slope and I drain that off of every down leg anyway. I have a refrigerated dryer on the main feed from the main compressor and my secondary screw compressor has a built in air dryer. To be sure I get it all, I have a Tsunami auto drain on the main compressor that dumps and water in it every time it cycles. Water kills air tools.

 

[jjeff]

That's a lot nicer set up than mine. This is the first pneumatic tool that's ever completely failed on me besides nail guns. But your probably correct water killed it, line out of compressor is finned going into tank, a ball valve in easy reach on bottom of tank to drain water occasionally, one pretty decent self draining filter before it enters my semi ridgid max air brand lines and another smaller regulator filter in my shop I use for occasionally painting. I do completely drain and shut air compressor down occasionally. It's only a 60 gallon single stage but has been pretty good and handy for my usage.

 

[John_Mc]

If you look at the fine print on those 25% coupons over half the stuff in the store is exempt from that discount.

View attachment 842264

The secret is to not shop there for a few months. HF will then email you a letter saying "we missed you" with a coupon for 25% off any one item in the store with no exceptions (other than gift certificates and club memberships).

When you buy your big ticket item, make sure to buy another doo-dad or two, and stop by a week or so later and grab something else. I'm told they track whether that special coupon gets you back and buying other things. If so, you are more likely to get another one in the future if you are absent for an extended period. If I don't need another tool, I'll just pick up some consumable, like zip ties or a pack of angle grinder cut-off wheels.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

The secret is to not shop there for a few months. HF will then email you a letter saying "we missed you" with a coupon for 25% off any one item in the store with no exceptions (other than gift certificates and club memberships).

When you buy your big ticket item, make sure to buy another doo-dad or two, and stop by a week or so later and grab something else. I'm told they track whether that special coupon gets you back and buying other things. If so, you are more likely to get another one in the future if you are absent for an extended period. If I don't need another tool, I'll just pick up some consumable, like zip ties or a pack of angle grinder cut-off wheels.

I have never been sent a 25% off any one item coupon. I must be doing something wrong.

 

[John_Mc]

I have never been sent a 25% off any one item coupon. I must be doing something wrong.

I'm not part of their Inside Track club (or whatever it's called). I did sign up at my local store so I'm in their system. Whenever I buy something, I make sure they call up my account. (That also keeps a copy of my purchases, so I don;t need to worry about keeping the receipt.) I'm guessing being "in the system" is important for getting those coupons. I suspect it also may have something to do with your buying history? For whatever reason, I get them from time to time - maybe a couple a year??

 

[chiefcook]

If you look at the fine print on those 25% coupons over half the stuff in the store is exempt from that discount.

View attachment 842264

I just used one that was 25% off anything. Made the predator post hole auger very reasonable.

 

[chiefcook]

If you look at the fine print on those 25% coupons over half the stuff in the store is exempt from that discount.

View attachment 842264

I just used a 25% off anything in the store. It made the predator auger very reasonable. It was only good for 7 days and was limited to my email address.

 

[5030]

My Saylor Beal is a bit bigger than that, but it also sucks down more juice. My machine shop is all in black iron pipe, probably overkill but I bought the pipe in mill lengths, cut it and threaded it to fit and got all my fittings locally. I own a Rigdid pipe threading machine. Comes in handy at times. I like the Tsunami auto drains. No fiddling around with them at all.

 

[Oaktree]

The secret is to not shop there for a few months. HF will then email you a letter saying "we missed you" with a coupon for 25% off any one item in the store with no exceptions (other than gift certificates and club memberships).

My problem with HF coupons is that they're digital only, they won't accept a print-out of one. Not gonna go out and buy a smart phone just so I can save 10% on something I don't really need or to get a free 5 in 1 screwdriver.

 

[BryceSteiner]

They accept the print coupons just fine. In fact, I've didn't have the coupon with me once and I told them about it. They pulled a folder of their printed coupons and scanned it for me. Here is a video of my comparison of the DeWalt FlexVolt vs the Hercules 7.25 circular saws.

My basic take away is I like the Hercules batteries because they don't slide all over with their rubber grips, the marks are more accurate, but the saw does not have the power of the DeWalt when cutting through hardwood.
Here is the latest 25% coupon, but in the fine print you can't use it on anything. Very frustrating.

 

[John_Mc]

My problem with HF coupons is that they're digital only, they won't accept a print-out of one. Not gonna go out and buy a smart phone just so I can save 10% on something I don't really need or to get a free 5 in 1 screwdriver.

I print mine out all the time and use them at the HF in my area.

 

[California]

My problem with HF coupons is that they're digital only, they won't accept a print-out of one.

I think they just need something their bar-scanner can read. Phone screen or paper should work the same.

 

[California]

The secret is to not shop there for a few months. HF will then email you a letter saying "we missed you" with a coupon for 25% off any one item in the store with no exceptions (other than gift certificates and club memberships).

Somebody didn't think that one through. The discount coupon could entice someone to buy ITC and become a more frequent customer. Worst case, they got the ITC fee but don't see the customer more. Win/win.