HF tools that suck

[radman1]

I have the HF 20 ton press and it serves me well. I think I paid $150 several years ago. I don't use it a lot but no real complaints. I even use it to hold and bend stuff on it. Not designed for that but has done ok.

 

[NWOH_Grizz]

Having a local HF store nearby, I get to go in there and wander around and see what I can't live without. I've come to the conclusion that I shouldn't buy anything at HF that cuts or has an edge that is supposed to work. No more drill bits, blades, etc, its a waste of $$$. Here is some of the other stuff I've bought....

Rating:
8- Wrenchs and pliers. Generally decent, check jaw fit on the pliers.
8- Tarps, those blue plastic ones. Last as long as any other plastic ones.
9- Various types of sandpaper, pretty good.
3- Wood bandsaw. Not very good, but it does cut OK with some patience.
7- 36" metal break, after I took the frozen left handle assembly off and cleaned and lubed it so it would work.
1- Brass male air line connectors. They break.
1- Silver colored female air line quick disconnects. They break.
9- Brass female air line quick disconnects. Haven't broke one yet.
-50 (yes, that's minus 50) Their french fry potato press. What a piece of junk. Bent and collapsed on the third piece of potato through it.
9- Large bulk packs of 1" -1.5"- 2" brushes. Use once and throw away.
8- Most gloves.

I won't buy anything at HF that if it breaks it might hurt someone. Stuff like chains, tow hooks, tow straps, etc.

 

[Dargo]

I won't buy anything at HF that if it breaks it might hurt someone. Stuff like chains, tow hooks, tow straps, etc.

That's sort of my point. Basically, it's all junk. Some will work in light duty situations, which is all a lot of people need. Yesterday I needed a 23mm hex wrench. Seriously. How often are you going to need one of those?! Yup off to Horrible Freight I went, got my tool and off I went. Hard steady pull....no luck. So I then pull really hard with my left hand and then smack my left hand hard with my right hand to try to snap it free. Hey, it snapped...the wrench, that is. Crap! I took it back and got another. No screwing around this time. I put it in the plug and smacked it plenty hard with a 3 pound sledge. Yeah! It worked.

It wasted a lot of my time, but I really don't have a call for that particular tool very often or I would have bought a real one. The tool is clearly made from recycled pot metal, but it eventually worked.

 

[FredH]

No peeing match from me , but I could list just about as many of the so called " Name Brand " items that I have purchased over the years that others have listed here from Harbor Freight , that basically were not worth the gas to drive back into town to replace . Returned yes , replaced " NO " !!!

The only saving grace for some of the so called Name Brand items is that were I bought them locally , they gave me my money back . Which is exactly what Harbor freight does .

Not a Harbor Freight fan or employee , Just someone who has learned not to buy into the hype of " Name Brand " anymore .

Think about this . If you buy a import brand item made of steel , then buy a similar name brand item made of steel , other than design , the steel in both is likely coming from the same import factories that all the scrap is exported to .

Now the only thing I do watch when buying harbor freight is anything bolted together or has bolts in key places . I usually replace those bolts with grade 5 or 8 and even in some cases have left there bolts in place but threw down a few welds to hold better .

Just my 2 cents worth .

Fred H.

 

[mach]

I agree, you have to know what your buying. I don't buy anything that requires precision to work. I buy lots of sandpaper, files, and basic hand tools. I've also purchased a die-grinder tool, that has ran perfectly for years. I have put probably 100 hours on this air tool, and it has worked flawlessly. Best of all, I only paid like $20 bucks for it. I also agree, that most of the name brand stuff, comes out of the same chinese plant. I buy my floor jacks, chains, and anything requiring strength at Northern tool. (Torin, big Red brand)They are a bit more expensive, but the quality seems better. But I assume they are also made in China.

 

[Dargo]

What you can't forget is that China builds to the specs of who is paying. For example, the highest quality Bose headphones are made in China. They are very well made and a great product. I've seen some other high end products made in China where the quality was fine. Just because it was made in China doesn't make it junk. However, stores like Horrible Freight make their living strictly off of price. They know 9 out of 10 people just throw the crap away when it breaks rather than have it replaced. As I said, most aren't worth the gas money to return it much less your time.

That is why I'm a firm believer that there is a lot of stuff at Horrible Freight that I wouldn't take if you paid me to take it. It's not only junk, but it's dangerous junk. Still, you'll find a few rough little gems in their store. LOL, my wife pitched a fit at the paint brushes I bought her there. The stupid bristles in each brush came out with nearly every stroke, leaving the project ruined. It reminded me of their lovely wire brushes. After one use, all the wires are gone from the cheap wood handle and are all over the ground with a few having found their way into your shirt.

 

[some zilch]

gonna have to gived the thumbs down to the HF creeper:

the wheels suck, and if i could use profanity to describe them, i would. the mounting stem on the casters loosen, and the nuts fall off, but b/c of the design, you cant get a wrench in to tighten them. mine was down to 4 wheels from 6, and after the third fell off this weekend, the creeper went flying out the overhead door into the driveway. definitley not one of their better products.

 

[greasemonkey123]

my 2 cents


The Strap Wrenches 0/5
absolute garbage, used one to hold a crankshaft, snapped one before we even put any real weight on it tried with the smaller one snapped too
weve done this before with strap wrenches without a problem so its a HF issue
5$ on sale

Stud Puller -1/5
it will function....kinda, always jams on the studs you remove, have to hammer them with a punch totally useless, use vice grips instead, even sheared a bolt, and when i returned the 1st one, took forever to the manager
5$ ( not worth it at all)

3 lb hand sledge 2/5
its worth it for the head, good steel
broke the wood handle on a wedge i was driving into a cut; replacing it with steel
5$

Pipe Bender 2/5
This thing didnt work for me, its got plenty of power used it to bend out smashed 2" pipe with 1/4" walls but likes to mash what your working on shouldve used a sand mandrel(How to Bend Steel Tubing | eHow.com) and woulda worked better, will try again and use angle finders to get it right
89$ with coupon

Air body Saw 1/5
My friend bought one to cut out holes in his body panels, didn't work for love nor money, maybe with a bigger compressor but it wouldnt cut with the course or fine blade
10$ with coupon

plier set rollup
crap and poorly machined pliers and broke a few, ok for small stuff, the long nose ones were pretty use full
7 $ 2/5

Socket set (1/4 and 3/8)
they had a real stinker broke every one in the kit and ended up using the ratchet as a spare hammer; and that was after only 1 use
5$ 0/5

Impact Swivels 2/5
really not so useful took a lot of the punch out of the impact gun(read 3/4), then when you try to use it at an angle it caught and slammed my hand into the leaf springs(removing rear shocks), now i just use alot of 1/2 " extensions use them as normal universals now
10$

Cheapo rotary tool 2/5
pretty terrible, the acc with it were complete garbage and replaced it with dremel bits and it worked for a while but no umph or hours of usage pretty junky but told me i didnt use a rotary tool enough to buy a decent one
5$

trying out the 2lb roll of wire and tips from there, so far messy but not terrible welds

 

[clemsonfor]

Yea the wire for flux welders is ok. Im not a good or by far pro welder , **** ive only taught myself how in the last couple of months, but the HF splatters more and is messier than the Lincoln wire i get at Lowes.

Blades suck at HF the ones in the like 24 pack of sazall blades are not worth it if you were given them. 2 bimetal blades from lowes in that blue brand, Irwin, are better than that whole bulk pack from HF. You can do twice the work with 2 bimetal Irvin blades as you can with the whole pack of HF blades. My experience after tearing out 2 walls with the HF ones did not realize how bad they were untill i got a good blade, which is probly why i broke the blade retainer on the sazall from forcing the dull baldes through stuff. Anyway i went to cut a screw that i was using to build my gate for the dog pen (was one of those gray exterior screws from lowesz for decking, those things seem to be made out of super soft metal and strip easy) one head stripped out with the screw sticking out halfway (about 1.5'') could not back out or drive in so i went to get the sazall to cut it off flush. Had the bimetal blade on it either broke bent or was to dull, i cant remember so i went to get the metal baldes. Three blades later i had not even gotten through enough of the screw to break it off yet. The blades teeth kept crushing and the blade would just end up as a smooth blade of steen not teeth? i eventually took the Maul and broke it off flush by beating it. I did not have a better quality blade and had broken all the HF blades or dulled them all trying to cut it.

This made me decide to go to lowes and buy the Irwin blade. I paid like $1.99 for a 6'' bimetal blade and then tore out the entire walls or an 8x16 foot porch (only 2 wall really an 8foot long one and a 16 foot long one, as it is in the nook on the outside of the house which makes up the other 2 walls) cutting all the wall studs in half cutting all the window framing out and the nails to the header off all the rafters before the blade dulled and the retaing stud for the blades broke and remdered the sazall useless. This was probly cause by the undue stress of the HF blades its whole 6 month life and then the dull good blade doing real work. This porch tearout rendered a full truck load of studs to get rid of (ranger truck load with a toolbox).
Shows the difference between the two types of blades , the irwin blade may even be china made?

-nate

-Nate

 

[California]

I think that has been the general experience of many here. Cutting and abrasive consumables from HF are often not worth the trouble. When you wear out the one that came with the tool, replace it with better quality from elsewhere.

And I returned a 90 amp flux wire welder that would only spit. It must have had the worst flux wire ever made. Even the certification label on the wire was bogus - it traced to an anonymous website that offered "certification"' for a fee without ever sending them a sample!!! The identical welder I bought a year later came with adequate wire and works properly; of course the wire on this one is now a different brand. HF quality can vary from batch to batch.

That said, I haven't had a problem with their several varieties of wheels and cup brushes etc for the 4.5" angle grinder.