HF tools that suck

[California]

You must be hard on your tools.

HF certainly sells junk items mixed with their adequate items, no question on that. It's up to you to know enough to see which is which.

But after you recognize you may need to return some of your purchases, in my experience there are enough keepers to make it worthwhile. That's a screwy business model but it's just how they do business.

First example I can think of is their click torque wrench that I've had for maybe 20 years. I always verify it against my Proto and Craftsman beam-type torque wrenches at least once per project to convince my self its accurate - and it always tests right on. Why pay more than $9.95 for a torque wrench when this does the job. Likewise - a lot of other stuff. You just need a sense of humor when you inevitably take home something that got past their inadequate quality control. They'll cheerfully exchange or refund it, they know their product quality isn't uniform.

I figure I've saved a huge amount of money and own a lot of stuff that I would never buy at regular trade prices - one example would be the $189 powered drain cleanout tool. What does a name-brand of that cost, $900? This saved my tail the first time I used it, to keep a tenant happy on a 3-day weekend where calling out roto-rooter would have cost more than I paid for the tool. Subsequent uses have cost me nothing.

HF isn't for everyone. If you simply want to pay more for pride of ownership of your drain cleanout tool or whatever, be my guest.

 

[ThomasH]

You must be hard on your tools.

HF certainly sells junk items mixed with their adequate items, no question on that. It's up to you to know enough to see which is which.
<snip>

I agree completely. For example, I have used Proto and Indestro sockets and ratchets (and still do), but when a few got lost or broken, I bought some of the "Pittsburgh Pro" sockets and ratchets, and I find them to work well (for 5ish years now). Same for many other things, such as a tile saw, jackhammer, etc.

Now there are things that I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole, and some of them are pretty obviously cheesy. The web site is good enough with reviews that I can generally weed out the junk, and if not, a google search will reveal what folks think of a certain thing.

 

[Ford850]

The electrical tape is about worthless for anything. I used to buy the cheap stuff to wrap all sorts of things non electrical, but it has so little adhesive on it anymore it is more like a roll of black vinyl than tape.

 

[California]

Here's one to watch out for. The combo belt/disc sander.

I received one that I returned when it couldn't be assembled to run without the sanding disc chewing on its plastic guard.

I had first inquired about this tool over in the "HF don't suck" thread so I wrote up a description of its flaws there. Here's my latest post. That post references my earlier posts as well.

 

[Baby Grand]

My observation is if it involves needing any kind of tight tolerances to work right, I avoid the HF store, completely. The same goes for metallurgy - I go to a quality supplier, spend the cash and get something that will work for a living. Examples: any kind of highly loaded pliers, gear pullers, ratchets, and screwdriver.

I still buy some of those items at HF to keep in the just-in-case toolboxes (tackle boxes, really) that I keep in the cars and they're also great to loan to neighbors & relatives who you have to chase down to get them returned. Only proven "returners" get my good stuff on loan.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Here is the hftts tread

 

[California]

More on the combo belt/disc sander. ( Post #424 above).

I went in yesterday to return this and looked at their floor model of this belt/disc sander. On theirs as well as the one I returned, the disc didn't protrude out beyond its guard! They may have overlooked mounting the disc as far out on its shaft as possible. But the guard was so crooked to the disc, that I could see you couldn't slide material across the face of the disc without hitting one or the other edge of the guard, no matter how they adjusted it. I suspect this floor model was an earlier customer return for the same reason as mine.

 

[DFB]

More on the combo belt/disc sander. ( Post #424 above).

I went in yesterday to return this and looked at their floor model of this belt/disc sander. On theirs as well as the one I returned, the disc didn't protrude out beyond its guard! They may have overlooked mounting the disc as far out on its shaft as possible. But the guard was so crooked to the disc, that I could see you couldn't slide material across the face of the disc without hitting one or the other edge of the guard, no matter how they adjusted it. I suspect this floor model was an earlier customer return for the same reason as mine.

Ok I cant help myself here...maybe one is supposed to use the machine to sand down the guard enough to work right


I have been looking recently for one of these types of sanders also to put in my garage and didn't want go over $100 either but reading the reviews for most any of the cheapest units sold thru Amazon and HD its all pretty sad. the Weigh-Tronix, Rikon, Rockwell, General, Skil, Eastwood, Genesis, Powertech, Wen and Ryobi all seem to be same

Did you get something else?

 

[California]

Yes, I went over to Home Depot and paid twice as much ($119) for a similar Ryobi. (Link)

This one works great. Four screws to assemble (1 minute), vs the hour I put into the HF before I concluded I couldn't make it right no matter how much I shimmed and adjusted it. The Ryobi runs in perfect balance (another HF website review complaint) and has plenty of power. Its rated 4.3 amps vs HF's 3.5. Shipping weight 53 lbs vs HF's 29 lbs.


Below is a photo of what I'm building - frames to mount fine-art canvases. The frame has to bevel inward on the face side so you don't see the outline of the frame when looking at the painting on the face of the canvas. And the center stiffener has to be double-bevelled then sanded down even thinner so it lies behind the surface of the painting. The belt sander evens out the occasionally uneven bevel I got from the table saw.

There's a couple more interesting things in this picture. The pocket-screw jig clamped down temporarily to the grinder stand is from HF. I used it for the corners of the frames, to assemble them as 90 degree butt joints. The grinder stand is also from HF. Both are excellent, recommended. The yellow square clamped to the disc's table is from HF. Excellent. This was to make the ends of each frame component perfectly square so the corner butt joints would result in a square completed frame. I accomplished good precision, a later test with a framing square showed each of the completed frames was under 1/16" in 16", variation from square.

Don't bother with HF's $4 corner clamp, its junk. I tried it on the first frame. Tightening the screws just flexed it and pulled the frame out of square. I had to dig out an ancient Craftsman equivalent and use that instead, to clamp the corners in place when I installed the screws. Maybe HF's more expensive versions work better.

And the Skil table saw is from Lowes. Its a twin to HF's version but includes the stand, making it less expensive overall than buying the same thing at HF. The sawdust bag under it is from HF. (But most of the sawdust seems to be thrown toward the operator instead of into this bag).

 

[lostcreekranch]

I looked at the HF Belt / Disc sander quite a while ago and wasn't impressed. I ended up getting the Ridgid Oscillating belt / drum sander for about $129 mon a great sale.

RIDGID Oscillating Edge/Belt Spindle Sander-EB4424 - The Home Depot


Then I caught a good price on the HF Disc sander and with a coupon for less than $99.

12" Benchtop Disc Sander


I use the Ridgid far more that the HF Disc, probably 10:1.