Bought some OK stuff and some crap at HF. My MIG welder cart from there has been fine. Don't know about anywhere else these stores exist, but to quote a friend of mine "Every time I go there I feel like I need a hot shower and a tetanus shot!" Like with everything, you get what you pay for...
I'm not sure I understand the economics of " I'm broke (or cheap) so I buy a half dozen of the same crappy tool from H.F. and throw them away when they break" versus buying one quality tool that would probably last the rest of your life.
I dont know harbor freight has done me well .its like the wal (commie star) mart of tools ..i have several tools from them that have taken worse beatings than tina turner and they still work ...but im not going to fill my tool boxes with there shit ..if you are a budget builder that does it on weekends like me than there shit isnt that bad .. and for the price of there stuff if it works for a month than you get your moneys worth and plus you can buy like 10 of one tool for the price of a good one .. but i do think that northern has way better quality .
I'm not a HF fan and I hate buying from them too but it is really the luck of the draw. There are two types of 4-1/2 of grinders from HF. I had the more expensive one but I picked up for light duty crap about five years ago it and lasted about two years using it almost daily with a wire wheel on it or grinding pad. The bearing in the head eventually ceased causing it to burn up at the same time. When it died I bought one from Matco that appeared to be a dressed up DeWalt for $169...However, the Matco lasted about two minutes with the same grinding pad. While just free spinning the case cracked and the head sheared clean off hitting me square in the third leg. I was in the middle of a project and HF had a sale on the cheaper version of the Chicago Electric grinder, I bought two of them for less then $30. I had planned to buy another Snap-on or Bosch when they died but it has been three years now and they are still running. These run a little slower but I think that why they have lasted so long. There is so little worth a damn any more I'm to the point of restoring older tools to go with all my other old junk that not only works but lasts...
man I have tools I bought 35-40 years ago ,sears , snap-on, mac etc, some stuff is just junk from harbor freight. depends on what you use it for, you can fill up a tool box pretty cheap ,it looks good, and you can sit an look at it while drinking beer, if you are going to do anything get the good stuff,
I've got about 25 items from HF over the years. The air tools work OK and some last a long time at the home/hobby level. Have busted a few sockets. But for stuff that will get beat on, I go there to get two and them hammer until broke. Grab the next one and finish the job. I have had good luck with their digital scales. I have a small one (up to 500 grams) and a bigger one (up to 5 kilograms). I use the bigger one to match pistons and rods (lite > heavy & visa versa for bubba balancing). Never had a problem with either
Exactally- grinding wheels,a glass bead cab for $179,angle die grinders for $17-usually buy two at a time....some of they're shit lasts for years and takes a hell of a beating. It's like buying expensive sunglasses-I'de rather buy two cheap sets cause your gonna drop em anyways....
Well we call it "Harbor Fright" around here. You could find cheap tools if you can't get anything else. (Their metal cutting wheels are good for the money) But you get what you pay for. But with anyone who knows tools, Harbor Freight tools are about as popular as a ham sandwich at a bar mitzvah.
It's that "once or twice a year" use that will kill you. But hey, ya went out cheap, right??? That initial use of that panel flanger that started this thread should be MORE than ample proof not to buy ANYTHING from HF, or any other place that is, more or lees, a clearinghouse for cheap and dangerous Chinese shit masquerading as tools. I buy top-quality tools from the start, and I do not have the remains of cheap-ass tools littering my shop that apparently a few of you guys do. So, with that, I may have fewer tools than a lot of you, but mine actually work. Stay away from Harbor Freight. I can't believe that place is still in business...well, actually, I can. With guys willing to risk life and limb, just to save a few bucks on a damn tool, well, there you go.
I'm sure you are being facetious, but in case you are not, can I come by your shop and watch that two-post from HF fold down on you with a car on it? You'll be famous on youtube. And, I promise I'll call 911 for you.
I can buy a made-in-Texas unit with the same capacity for $2,899. Made with US steel, not that Chinese third-rate shit with the consistency of foil.
Hey don't shoot the messenger I wouldn't use the thing I was just showing him they had them when I saw it I couldn't believe it either
I agree with you but who makes these sort of tools today? I can not seem to find a decent drill press, I'd rather buy a used one than what I've found so far. Even DeWalt has gone to Chinese junk but the price is still high... I'd rather pay more for something good but if I'm going to get something sub standard anyway I'll take whatever is cheap. Every US tool I bought ten years ago still works as it always has, most are Mac or Snap-on but I have Proto, Cornwell, Matco and Craftsman tools too. Hell, I have Ford hand tools I use daily, even ratchets from my Grandfather's day that have never been rebuilt that work great. The first tool I ever bought myself new was an extended handle 3/8 Snap-on ratchet. I took lug nuts off 3/4 ton trucks with it in a jamb, even jumped on it several times to free bolts without access to heat or better suited tools. Abused is an understatement but it is still tight and it's often the first one I grab today. Yet the new version of the same have been rebuilt time after time being used as intended. Twelve years ago my two week old Snap-on toolbox was smashed into a wall by a kid on meth in a full size Chevy van. The box was damaged but everything still worked. The van was totaled out by the insurance company... My brother bought one of the newer design Matco boxes that cost as much as a new Harley... Funny thing is soap and water from cleaning the floor takes the powder coat right off. I have Craftsman drills and top model Dremels that lasted about a month. Expensive Matco labeled german made Wise screw drivers that rust in a dry garage before ever being used and when you do use them the grips come right off, chisels that the hardened tip breaks on the first hit, and Matco-Irwin taps that make two holes in mild steel with cutting fluid and are already as dull as ones that have been used for years. I use my tools constantly... I'm not trying to be funny here, do you have somewhere else to buy from because most everything I have bought recently is a throw away with exception of Martin tool body supplies.
The key these days is to hit yard sales, estate sales, and auctions. Buy a box of whatever for five bucks. I've ALWAYS found exceptional tools that that five bucks more than pays for - and the cheap crap that is also in that box goes to my scrap metal pile. One time, I bought seven small crates full of assorted hand tools, sockets, wrenches, chains, and such. Paid a hundred bucks for the whole lot. Sorted through everything and kept well over half of the tools, because they were almost all older Snap-On, Craftsman, Proto, and other (then-US-made) tools. Quit patronizing the HF's of the world, and spend a Saturday looking around some. You'll be flat amazed at what you will find out there.
I wish I had a dollar for every time this Harbor Freight thread came up. Then I might actually be able to by some tools that aren't from there. This is beat, HF serves it purpose when your tight on cash. I've had success and horror stories with all different brands of tools. Everything these days is made in China. Algon hit the nail on the head. The tools that were produced back in the day, before everything was sourced out, are far superior and like the Energizer bunny, still going........
Seems like the general concensus is that HF is ok for some stuff and not so great for others. Bottom line is, if you have a tight budget for tools, well then, you do what you gotta do. The beginning thread was about someone trying to do something nice for a pal. Happy holidays and remember, sometimes it really is just about "the tought that counts".
We all seem to have that want of times and things gone by with building our old cars.... My problem with the tools and even fasteners is that this was not the same case it is now all that long ago.
I have their Beverly Shear knock off, and it works great, their Western Welding auto darkening welding helmets are also great, and I use mine at least a couple of hours every day.
I've heard bad things too about those grinders. I sprang the extra 10 bucks and bought the orange one, figured if I was gonna be cheap I might not want to be too cheap. Most stuff I get from Harbor Freight is either little things like drill bits, tap and die sets etc. stuff I'll hardly use or stuff that isn't really too bad to break. I'm debating buying that 7 pc. autobody hammer and dolly set from them though.
I have 4 of the blue grinders, each set up different, grinding, cutting, wire cup brush, sanding. Its much easier than having to change out a disk all the time. Have only killed one so far in about 5 or 6 years.
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