cheap tool alert

[Trahere]

Dargo, I like your Philosophical stance on the tool thing! Most of my tools don't care how expensive or well crafted they are. They all seem to get along fine as long as they are at home in the old workshop collecting
dust! They do seem to have certain status in terms of color ( like tractors ). Mill.Red and Bosch Blue seem to get the most exercise sometimes I will through in a little Yellow! O.K. Gray for covert missions!

 

[flusher]

I dropped by harbor freight today and had to pick up a few things. My old 6" chop saw went south a while back while cutting some 1" round stock.. and after finishing the job with a hacksaw I've bene on the lookout for a new chop saw.

Harbor freight has a 14"/2hp chopsaw on sale for a whopping 49.99$ It was too cheap too pass up.. I had to pick it up. Box claims it to have double insulated inards.. etc. The floor display looked good, turned over smooth, shield and grip guards fit well.. etc. if it works half as good as it looks, it should do fine for hobbiest shop type work.

Also noticed they had the auto darkening welding hoods on sale for 39$.. again.. had to pick one up. It will darken by striking a match or turning a flashlight on. Adjusts from 9-13 shade, has a fast / slow setting, and has a rechargeable bat / solar cell. Comes with a face plate and plate retainer replacement in the box... only a 90 day warranty.. but the extended warranty is 5$ if ya want it.. etc.. Has a nice padded easy adjustable head band.. I can't wait to try it out on some burning metal.

I also notice that it claims to block 100% ir and uv, even when not shaded.. I take that as a good thing.. etc..

I do have a question though, about shade levels.

My 'regular' helmet is a 11 shade.. so. uh.. what shade levels are recomended for what applications..e tc. ( I have an ac stick welder.. etc.. )

Soundguy

I have that arc welding CD from Wall Mountain. Excellent info. Highly recommended. Great video of the puddle. You can learn a lot quickly with this CD.

The fellow on the video says he uses a #9 helmet filter lens for his general purpose stick welding with 1/16" and 3/32" rods and current less than 150 amps. For thicker rods and higher amperage, he recommends going up to a #10 or higher.

 

[TBDonnelly]

Harbor Freight 15% off coupon link .....good thru Sept. 27

HFT-USA

Don

 

[masscity]

I went to HF a couple weeks ago, second time there, but the first time I bought anything. At about 3pm on Monday I purchased some impact sockets(with credit card).

I will use them with my Snap-on batt impact wrench only after reading what you guys said about them exploding.

Here's the kicker, at 4pm on Tuesday my mail arrives with a HF credit card application.

How they do that so quick?

 

[Soundguy]

I've not had any HF sockets die.. impact or otherwisde. i've had 1/2 drive stuff on my air gun.. and i have a 3/4 set that I have used a 4' cheater bar on.. never split a socket, or twisted off a drive..

soundguy

 

[Dargo]

I've not had any HF sockets die.. impact or otherwisde.

Now, on this issue, I have a 100% failure with the Pittsburgh impact sockets when using them with my IR impact wrench. Some have just split open, most have pretty well exploded. I figure there is no sense in taking them back for other grenades. If you pay the shipping, I'll send you the remaining ones free.

 

[Soundguy]

Wow... I'm surprised... The only sockets I've ever had fail were a cheap non-impact ( tiawan ) in the early 90's...3/8 set in which a 3/4 or 7/8 split down a side after a cheater bar was applied.

After that I picke dup a craftsman 3/8 set. I now have a HF 1/2 set, including braker bar and ratchet, and a 3/4 set, +BB/Ratchet. i also have a set of deepwell impact sae sockets.

I only had the 1/2 set for a good part of my tractor repairing time.. I've had the breaker bar bent over like it was gonna brake.. but never did get it to pop.. 3/4 set is just too massive to even think about breaking with anything my arms can put on it.

I also have a set of 1" sockets that i picked up on sale at HF.. just sockets.. we needed a 2.5" or some similar big socket at work.. so i paid the 29$ for the set.. we use dit on a big 1" air guin.. probably IR.. and now they set on my workshelp.. more or less useless as i don't own a 1" gun.. nor do i need sockets in the 2"+ range.

In al.. I've actually only had a couple of HF tools fail. 6" pipe wrench, a pair of needle nose I consider a premature failure.. as they died within a year.

I just had an angle grinder die.. but it was about 9ys old.. I did shear a key in a 6" chop saw that is about 5 ys old.. thus the reason I got the new cheap chop saw... that's it... a sum total of 4 tool failures, the 6" chop say was being abused.. I was cutting large diameter hardened pin and rod stock with it... piece after piece... I probably was cutting for 3 hours... then it died when the vise god loose and the pin went sideways... shearing the keyway. I can probably fix it.. however.. since the new 14" chop saw cost a whopping 49$.. I'm not even going to invest the time to open the old 6" chop saw.

It may be that I've had a good run of luck on picking tools.. can't say either way... The only thing I know is that being able to use cheap tools in areas where i need them once, sure has meant alot. vs buying name brand ones.. Otherwise.. I'd have alot of broke tractors out in my barn, vs running ones.

Soundguy

 

[Dargo]

Oh well, I guess I should refer you to the post where I admitted that I seem to be able to break an anvil with a rubber mallet.

My IR impact does have 850 ft. lbs. or torque. If I used my, uh, I think it's a "Buffalo" or something brand, I doubt I'd shatter the impact sockets. However, when that was the only impact I had, I used an old fashioned knuckle buster to loosen lug nuts before taking them off with my impact. I found that rather counter productive.

 

[Soundguy]

I remember when I only had a 3/8 drive air ratchet... that darn thing was more or less just useless!! I'm way glad I have a 1/2" gun now...

Rubber mallet.. good one.. you must be related to my wife...

soundguy

 

[California]

Harbor Freight 15% off coupon link .....good thru Sept. 27

HFT-USA

Don

Just a note to verify that is a good coupon, whether you are a 'Prefered Customer' or not.

I did a page-print of that (on a color printer) and it was accepted for 15% off the $70 Quick Hitch today - the most expensive thing I ever bought at Harbor Freight.

 

[slowrev]

I have had good luck with the black 6 point sockets from HF. I use them on a 1/2 gun that will wring off a 1/2 inch bolt in a hurry if you are not careful.
I sometimes adapt it down and use the 3/4 drive ones on it. Busted a couple of extensions, but no sockets.
Ben

 

[California]

re HF discount coupons:

Bah! I thought I was clever using that 15% coupon I described above.

I got home and found they had stuffed a brochure in my shopping bag that included........... a 20% off coupon!

Folks, ask for that 4 page (one folded sheet) brochure before going to the register!

 

[jwstewar]

I've been to HF a few times. Bought a few things. Only a couple of things I've been disappointed in (vs. Homier & Cummins at everything ). One item I was disappointed in was a barrel pump. It'll move liquid until you get so far down and then you stop it won't restart. Defeats the purpose of having a barrel if you have to keep refilling it.

I bought a brad nailer/stapler last week. Used it yesterday. It did an OK job except the way the safety mechanism on the front is made. It is round and kept slipping off the wire I was trying to staple. I figured out a trick and was OK.

Most expensive item that I (we'll actually the wife) purchased from there was a 10x12 greenhouse. It normally sells for $799 and they had it "on sale" (though I've never actually seen not on sale) for $599 and we then had a coupon for 20% off that. Ended up being like $520 after paying Uncle Sam. I was reasonably surprised by the quality. It seems sturdy but some of the panels on it could have been just a hair bit bigger. Doors drag a little, but I think we will put a little bit of vaseline on them and that along with a little wear and they will be fine. It should do until she really gets the one she wants. Right now she is pursuing a lead on a 34'x300'

 

[HomeBrew2]

re HF discount coupons:

Bah! I thought I was clever using that 15% coupon I described above.

I got home and found they had stuffed a brochure in my shopping bag that included........... a 20% off coupon!

Folks, ask for that 4 page (one folded sheet) brochure before going to the register!

Never seen or heard of that brochure before ... but I'll sure dig around for one next time. Thanks for the tip.

 

[JRobyn]

Went to HF yesterday; they had at least two AD helmets; one was "on sale" from $99 to $59 (had blue flame decals and the hood had Chicago blah blah molded into it). They also had a "Western Safety" model (just plain black hood) priced at $79. I asked the counter guy if they still had one of the "plain" ones they used to sell for $40. He said "I'll give ya the $79 one for $40, they're getting ready to go on sale again soon". Seems to work fine, but I notice that the "darkness" is less on the sides of the shade if I turn my head (just looking at an incandescent lamp). Maybe this will improve if I sunlight charge it some or an actual arc is involved? Anyone know if there is any significant performance difference between the models?

I also returned the 3/4 drive extension I broke with my 6ft cheater on the bushhog blade nuts. They exchanged it no questions asked from a set off the shelf. Since that set was now missing the extension, he asked if I'd be interested in buying it cheap. The box was also dented, so I said it should be REALLY cheap. He sold it to me for $25!

Then I asked about the "preferred customer" discount coupon, and complained that despite my filling out several of their in-store mailing list cards, I rarely got the sale flyers. He had me fill out one more, and gave me a 10% discount on my whole order!

 

[HomeBrew2]

Man, that was a good outing! The only way I was finally able to get on their mailer list was to do it online.

 

[Dargo]

Hey, speaking of cheap tools, has anyone used the 18 volt grease gun from Rural King? It is normally 89.99 but is not on sale for $59.99. Is it worth it?

 

[MossRoad]

Hey, speaking of cheap tools, has anyone used the 18 volt grease gun from Rural King? It is normally 89.99 but is not on sale for $59.99. Is it worth it?

Only if you don't look at it while you use it.

 

[TBDonnelly]

Hey, speaking of cheap tools, has anyone used the 18 volt grease gun from Rural King? It is normally 89.99 but is not on sale for $59.99. Is it worth it?

If it's not on sale for $59.99....how much is it on sale for?

Don

 

[varmint]

Last time I was at my local HF, I looked for and couldn't find the generator covers I'd seen in their flyer... the manager and an employee searched 5 minutes before locating them in a pile of tool pouches- Black nylon, fits my wheeled Porter Cable 5250W unit just fine, and $20... a little less than the others I considered.
When I reached 40 years old or so, I realized that the tools I bought 20 years ago where still in use, and the high quality ones were a "pleasure", vs. the cheapies so why buy cheap tools? Now, 20 years later, I realize that it's better to have a LOT of tools for those occasional-need uses, and cheap is okay for those purposes, as long as they work. That make any sense??