Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Travelover]

Harbor Freight tools that don't suck.

This should be a short list.

42 pages so far and counting....

 

[JB4310]

I didn't read all these posts so don't know if anyone mentioned it but I got a decent dig caliper for small money, It is really handy, my buddy owns a small machine shop and he uses them for rough work.

This whole harbor freight thing is new to me since we just got our first local store, before this the only thing I knew about them was the catalog which I never bought anything from. the grand opening week was like a hillbilly reunion.

I like the store they have a lot of things that you don't find all under 1 roof anywhere else, they have alot of crap but some things are pretty good, I did buy one of their quick hitches, turned into a bit of a hassle but in the end I got it to work as needed.

 

[3RRL]

In fact they have a lot of stuff that made life (money wise) easy for me when I lived out of my campsite on the property. I bought many tools that did the job at hand. I know full well they are not quality but they did the job for me. No way was I gonna buy another expensive set of duplicate tooling for all my projects. A lot of them are now in the barn with my good tools since I moved up there. I figured on throwing them away if I needed to, but they didn't break or fail after all. A little massaging or fix-it here and there and they work just fine for me.

 

[gemini5362]

I have read in other posts where people advised against buying the harbor freight chain saw sharpener which is 39.99 or 29.99 on sale. The posters advised spending the extra money for the one northern tools sells for 99.99 or 89.99 on sale. I went ahead and got the one from harbor freight to try out. While it sharpened my chain, it did not do it very well anda the results were hard to repeat from tooth to tooth. I got the other one from northern tools and the difference was unbelievable. Having a light on the northern tools version was the first nice difference. Being able to adjust the grinder angle better and the vice that holds the chain in place. I would go along with the group that feel it is better to spend the extra 60.00 and get the one northern tools sells.

 

[Lasgambler]

I was in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and decided to see what was on sale. I like to buy things I can use and toss. They had some pretty nice 4 inch paint brushes on sale for I think for about .79 cents each, regularly, I think about 4 or 5 bucks. I got several and have used them to apply stain and toss.

I have one of there Porta-band saws that does O.K. Not the quality of the Milwaukee I had at one time, but look at the price diff.
Terry

 

[CurlyDave]

I have one of their rechargeable 12V grease guns, which is vastly superior to any hand operated grease gun. Maybe not as nice a a Lincoln, but if the choice is HF electric @ $50, Lincoln at much more or hand operated, it hits the right spot in my cost/benefit analysis.

Anyway, I broke the handle on the rod in the grease cartridge chamber off the first one I had by wedging it in my FEL chain hook in order to pull on the grease gun with both hands. My fault.

So, I got another one and learned to use a loop of rope hooked on the rod handle and the chain hook to pull the rod out.

Well, the rubber cup grease follower broke off and came loose inside the second one the other day. I put it in a double clear plastic bag and took it back today. They exchanged it with no questions asked.

While I would prefer a sturdier tool, I will accept a $50 model that they will exchange as being "good enough".

 

[Bedlam]

gemini,
glad it worked out for you, you now have two .
Ive used the HF one for some time now with good results , best that can be expected.But A buddy of mine has the Northern tool one I saw it on the wall and expected he had paid allot for it/ But when he said 90 something dollars I was thinking he was mistaken .Went home and searched it and found he was right on the money It looks like a good machine.Definitely worth the money.
Odd how this can be , I bought a manual tire changer from NT many years ago,
It worked well paid about 140 dollars at the time.And I now see HF has them for less much less..so ya never know..

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=34542

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_18863_18863

The grinders sure don't suck. \

for $9.99 they are throw aways although Ive yet to. I was suspicious when it came with extra brushes. i thought maybe they would wear fast, but i have been mistaken

 

[gemini5362]

gemini,
glad it worked out for you, you now have two .
Ive used the HF one for some time now with good results , best that can be expected.But A buddy of mine has the Northern tool one I saw it on the wall and expected he had paid allot for it/ But when he said 90 something dollars I was thinking he was mistaken .Went home and searched it and found he was right on the money It looks like a good machine.Definitely worth the money.
Odd how this can be , I bought a manual tire changer from NT many years ago,
It worked well paid about 140 dollars at the time.And I now see HF has them for less much less..so ya never know..

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Northern Industrial Manual Tire Changer — Handles Tires up to 20in. | Tire Changers | Northern Tool + Equipment

The grinders sure don't suck. \

for $9.99 they are throw aways although Ive yet to. I was suspicious when it came with extra brushes. i thought maybe they would wear fast, but i have been mistaken

Thank you.

From your experiences sounds like the harbor freight tool will probably do the job. I did not like some things about it and when I bought it the intent in my mind was to compare it to the Northern tool sharpener unless i just loved the Harbor freight version. Although it is more money for around 100.00 including shipping you get a far superior tool. Unless the money difference is a big factor I would definetly go with the northern version. I did manufacture a bit different mount for mine though. I took a piece of angle iron and welded a couple of bolts on to it that matched the bolt pattern of the sharpener. I mounted the sharpener to the angle iron and now when I use the sharpener i just put the bottom of the angel iron in my vise and have a nice stable temporary mount.


Yes I have two for now. I have a friend that just got divorced and is recovering from the economic fallout of that. He does not have one so I will probably give my HF one to him

 

[some zilch]

i will vouch for the larger drill bit set (9/16"-1", silver and deming) If you have a drill press that can spin really slow (less than 160 rpm) these things are awesome. More than worth the $30 on sale price.

After constant heavy duty use in a heavy equipment repair shop, here's a few more--
impact sockets: great
long wrenches: see above
air tools: angle grinder, die grinder, drill, all great for the money
1" impact gun: believe it or not, its an animal if you can feed it alot of air

home use/personal shop use; all good
2 ton engine crane- cant live without it
engine stand
movers dollies

 

[3RRL]

Another one is their 3/4" rotary hammer drill. It was on sale for under 40 bucks.
I bought one for one use ... to drill a bunch of large deep holes into a granite boulder. I needed to crack the top off it. Although I've never owned a good brand name, this one worked great and got done what I needed. The quality is not great, and I wasn't planning on keeping it forever, but my neighbor is using it right now to do the same with some boulders he has.

Another one is their 12" sliding compound miter saw (laser guide) which I got for under 100 bucks on sale. The laser on it is not very good but the saw is great, especially for the few home and hobby jobs I had. Again, it's not professional grade, but for the once in a while homeowner jobs like I have, it will last me a lifetime. I thought the quality on it is pretty good.

I keep an eye on their special sales and sometimes these items come up for a really, really good price.