Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Rock Crawler]

A minor quibble, I really doubt that he is a degreed engineer. He is rather humorous , though.

I'm an engineer, most of my friends are engineers.... I'm going to be that that guy is educated and could well be an engineer. Obviously because I work in the engineering department, all of my coworkers are engineers.... This guy is sharper than most of the guys running this Dept.... He's got a good grasp of materials, lubricants, physics, chemistry and more. Most "normal folks" do not inherently learn a fraction of the things he covers.

Yeah, I could be wrong.... But I'm going to keep betting that he's an engineer. Maybe not a PE, but that's neither here nor there....

 

[aeblank]

I'd agree. He knows electronics & electrical too.

 

[Oaktree]

Harbor Freight is already the elephant in the room when it comes to hand tools and I believe they are the place where younger people go for quality hand tools at fair prices. HF already is the "Craftsman" tools of today. There may have some nasty tools made the past but take a look at their good stuff today and it's impressive. Yes I like the old Craftsman but yes I like the top line HF. Price weighted, HF wins in hand tools.

I am well satisfied with most of their hand tools. The price is the deal with HF, if they want to raise their prices to be competitive with a mediocre line like the new craftsman, I will find them less attractive.

I haven稚 tried many, but pretty much every HF electric power tool I have tried has been awful, if their new lines are competitive with Milwaukee and Dewalt, I will stick with the known brands.

I don't disagree that HF would like to be the like to be the Craftsman of the 21st century, but they're not there yet. I can't really comment on the "new" Craftsman...haven't really paid much attention to them, hope they're at least as good as Kobalt. If not, that's gonna come back to hurt Lowes.
What's with all the phony brands? Sears put the Craftsman brand on all their tools, electric and hand. HF seems to be muddying the water with so many different house brands...one "brand" for air tools, another for plug-in, still another for cordless.

That having been said, I like HF, am glad we have one nearby and wish them continuing success, but IMHO their whole marketing plan (and ace in the hole) was homeowner-grade tools at low prices...if they raise their prices comparable to the name brands, they become just another tool store.

 

[cdb2]

A minor quibble, I really doubt that he is a degreed engineer. He is rather humorous , though.

I believe he mentioned in one of his videos that he's a Ph.D. in Chemistry.

 

[California]

AVE, an engineer in Canada has taken apart a dizzying number of tools and equipment and he explains the designed weaknesses and strength.

Another guy - Project Farm - is also interesting. He does non-sponsored comparisons, with reasonably scientific rigor. Not an engineer but he thinks like one.

He usually includes HF. Here's his comparison of grinding wheels.

Which Metal Grinding Wheel is Best? Let's find out! - YouTube

Summary - the HF wheel cut the fastest and with the least pressure (an advantage if you fear it will grenade). Because it was the fastest to wear down, exposing fresh sharp abrasive. I think it was least expensive overall even considering using a greater number of wheels for a project. Some of the more expensive wheels in the comparison loaded up and didn't cut well.

Another interesting observation in the comments: One viewer noted he peeled back a HF label and found DeWalt underneath. But other commenters hadn't had that experience.


I found him when looking for comparisons to JB Weld. He concluded JB Original and Devcon share the top position among comparables. He also posted a video on preparing the surface before using these epoxies. Summary - grind to clean metal, drill random little holes if possible for best adhesion, clean with brake cleaner or preferably acetone but nothing petroleum-based.

 

[Midniteoyl]

A minor quibble, I really doubt that he is a degreed engineer. He is rather humorous , though.

Agreed. There are plenty of times when he is an absolute idiot. Highly doubt he is a real engineer...

 

[Rock Crawler]

Agreed. There are plenty of times when he is an absolute idiot. Highly doubt he is a real engineer...

I'm a real idiot at times as well, trust me on that!

 

[Garandman]

He (Ave) says he has a PhD in one of his videos: efforts by Canadian newspapers to find him have not been successful.

 

[Diggin It]

This thing's pretty cool:

Manual Slide Log Splitter


Weld broke and I had to have it fixed, but it'll crack a bigger log than you'd think it would looking at it. It'll give you a workout too.

 

[Travelover]

This thing's pretty cool:

Manual Slide Log Splitter


Weld broke and I had to have it fixed, but it'll crack a bigger log than you'd think it would looking at it. It'll give you a workout too.

That's pretty cool - I've never seen this type of splitter.