New heavy duty Harbor Freight english wheel

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=65619

please delete if this has been posted.

 

i wonder if it's any good?

anybody have one?

 

The website says $559
I believe the problem most people have with the other ones is the frame flexing doesn't looks like it would be a problem with this one ***uming the frame metal is a proper gauge.

 

You can build your own that is way way better than that pile for $500... I built my frame, adjuster, and interchangeable lower arm for $200... The Hoosier Pattern wheels cost me abit...

 

Looks pretty beefy and it says it can handle 16ga.. Not too bad for the price.

 

that looks like a good wheel for the money. if it's out for a while the price usually comes down with them. i just bought the yellow one a few months ago from them and i'm not real happy with it. it's a little light and needs stiffened up. guess i'll have to try and sell it and try this one. thanks for the info.

 

i have the old one, on mine the adjuster thread goes off on an angle and keeps the excentric from working, still i can raise a crown and roll out the dents after forming a part with a hammer and block of wood, this new one does not look like its worth twice as much as mine.

 

really...so you have used this one before?
How long did it take you to build yours?
Why is yours "way way better" than this one?

 

Looks like a good deal for the cash but it it all fits in one box and you can personaly lift that box up and down at the store than its prolly not gunna be strong enough. haha but Ive found out that with most HF tools you end up fixing them or making them better in the end anyways

 

It's a Chinese copy of Lazze’s English Wheel.

http://www.lazze.us/lazzeswheel.php

From what I’ve heard, they don’t work as well.

 

Its all junk, everything in H.F. sux, quit buying that jap, china ****. Im talkin to all yall.

 

Harbor Freight: $559
Lazze's Wheel: $4,999

Yeah, we'll get right on that Bishop...lol

 

where is the lazze wheel made? doesnt say its built in the US.

 

www.hoosierpattern.com
Everything you need to build a better than H.P. hack job. For reasonable money, you get what you pay for.

 

build one.

if you have any hope of USING an english wheel, than you sure shouldn't be put off by the task of building it. like bishop said, pick up some hoosier pattern components and weld up your own frame and for a little more money have 10 times the machine. and it'd be all american made.

 

My experience with the Chinese stuff, anything made out of steel, the steel quality isn't very good. I've used Lazze's wheel, I couldn't imagine the HF wheel even coming close to the quality of it; Lazze's wheel is made out of quality steel.

I built my wheel about eight years ago, before Hoosier Pattern was making English wheel parts. I have picked up a couple of Hoosier's anvils to fill in though.

 

thank you...

could be Canada bright boy

absolutely...

 

been there done that, not worth the h***le, just get something decent from the start...

 

A fellow club member bought one several months ago and he says he wasted his money,,,after teaching auto body at a tec school he knows how to use the English wheel. HRP

 

I agree, don't support thise crooks, stealing other's ideas, and making a quick buck with shoddy merchandise built with slave labor. Wake up America.

 

I think for the average person tool quality is directly related to the outcome of the part. If the unit is able to flex or the the roller's are loose it will result in a poor quality peice. If you build it yourself and have pride in your work you will be much happier than buying an item from a store that sells ****. If you dont have the skills to do it yourself you most likely dont have the skills to use an english wheel. Bottom line- ****y tools=****ty work.

 

I love how it isn't even a real photo

 

From what I understand the wheels aren't concentric and the bearings are weak, maybe the yeller one that flexes is more suited to out of round wheels and bad bearings. That's too bad. I was eyeballin it. Glad I didn't get one.

Jay

 

Has anyone actually used this? Or are you a bunch of sheep who just believe what your friends tell you?

Maybe it flexes a little that can be fixed. Having a E wheel that is decent quality is better than none. I don't know about you guys but I don't really care what brand of tool I use. It is the results that matter.

 

I bought an engine hoist from HF a couple years ago for 150$. Ive pulled about 6 motors with it and its still works perfect, I would say I got my moneys worth out of it. Some of thier stuff is alright if its all you can afford. Just pay a little extra and get a warranty with it.

 

Looks like they copied a better design this time.



Too bad the "foot wheel" isn't closer to the floor, where it belongs.

 

i know i got what i paid for, there is almost no part that is lined up like it should be or works as well as it could, when the times comes that i feel i need to step up i'll build my own, wheels and all, my yellow HF wheel frame can make a nice planishing hammer frame.

 

i agree that we shouldn't buy china junk, but if you do, make sure you don't buy something you can get hurt with such as jacks, grinders that can explode, and be carefull of anything electric. i must say the yellow works ok for patch panels but for larger things it's worthless. but i don't plan on using mine for anything more than very small stuff.

 

Never used one myself, but I know people who did try out the earlier HF wheels and they ***ured me that it wasn't a joy to use. More specifically, they provided some measurements of certain components that suggest that these units leave a lot to be desired.

The frame looks heavier now, which isn't saying much really, considering how silly and underbuilt the first generation HF wheels looked. It appears that the engineers at HF have actually figured out what an english wheel is for this time around and updated the design accordingly.

Frame issues aside, the quality of the upper wheel and anvils was a big problem on the earlier models, and somehow I doubt anything has changed since then unless they've added melamine to the alloy mix. The bearings in some cases were so flimsy that they were damaged during installation and needed to be replaced before use.
More importantly, the machining quality of these components was quite poor, especially with regards to concentricity. People have measured as much as 5-10 thou runout on them right out of the box, which is a big problem from the metalshaping perspective.

If 5-10 thou doesn't sound like much, consider this:

A sheet of 18 guage CRS is .043" in thickness. For the sake of discussion, let's ***ume that the upper wheel and lower anvil are each only .005" out of round.
When you start wheeling this piece of metal sheet between these slightly out of round anvils, the thickness of your part will vary randomly as you work it back and forth through the wheels. When the high spots on the wheels meet occasionally, you are going to be squeezing the metal an extra .010" (.005+.005) thinner in that spot as compared to other areas on the panel. This margin of error is almost a full 25% of the original thickness of the sheetmetal you started with, and will produce an uneven surface that resembles rolling sand dunes on a desert.

If somebody wanted one of these machines to make flower petals and things out of soft 3003 aluminum for art and craft shows, I'd say that the HF wheel is a cost effective solution that will work very well for them. The HF wheels have actually been well recieved by some in the artist and sculpture crowd for this reason.

If somebody wants one to build larger precision fitting automotive or motorcycle panels out of 18 guage CRS, I'd say that he will quickly learn to hate his HF english wheel. There isn't really any one specific thing that makes it come up short, the _whole_ package is simply too wimpy, inaccurate, and underbuilt to do the job effectively in a timely manner.

Think of it like trying to cut down the largest tree in the forest with a herring. Given enough time and herring, a man could concievably fell that tree eventually. Give the same man 5 minutes and a chainsaw, and he will never resort to using herring to fell a tree again.

For more information about these wheels, do a search on them over at Metalmeet.com where many aspects of their design and use has been discussed.

Hope this helps.

Ken

 

Have you guys checked out www.lowbucktools.com? I don't know anything about the metal working tools, but there is an interesting machine on his website called the "Metal Machine". You build the frame how you want it using his master faceplate and then you can purchase different components.