Have any of you bought the shrinker/ stretcher's from HF? I was looking at a set the other day. Don't seem too bad for a hobbyist. Any reviews? Any plans out there for a home made stand?
I have one and so far it has held up pretty good, the jaws haven't stripped (yet), the handle hasn't broke (yet), or the frame hasn't cracked (yet) but with harbor freight stuff it seems like it's just a matter of time, but for a hobbyist it will probably last a while.
The Eastwood ones I have have been good, the HF ones may last a while but the problem with those is that you can NOT get any parts to service them if they go wrong. Have a buddy who scrapped a HF set cuz he couldn't find replacement parts.
The deep throat HF shrink/stretchers are in my humble opinion absolute junk! the stands are junk to with butter soft metal and lame design. I had two stands that broke at just about every joint or crucial spot. The jaws wore flat quick too. Of course they were used more than the home garage but still...Baileigh's are in the shop now but one day I plan to buy Gitzits.
Same experience here as well. They have done everything i've asked of them so far, and have saved me money doing so instead of buying the items i needed. So, they have paid for themselves in that aspect and if they broke tomorrow i wouldn't care. But, they seem to be holding up quite well. Tony
Junk,,the set I had didn't make it through the first job,,jaws stripped on the stretcher and housing cracked on the shrieker. Replaced them with Eastwood's set. HRP
Don't tryu to get a replacement part "Harbor freight tools have a lifetime guarantee" take the broken tool back and exchange it for another one. I have done this a couple times with out the sales slip and thje Worcester Mass. store has honored them for exchange. There is a small sign near the front door that states "Life time Warranty on all hand tools"Not saying I didn't buy better as soon as I could but they do replace broken tools free
I bought a set and so far they have performed well and they are affortable for a dummy like me that didn't know what they were capable of doing !
I have a set - They paid for themselves at least 3 times over and still going strong. The stand sucks and needed to be reworked. They aren't the best but they work and mine don't owe me a thing. When they finally give up I well get something better but I don't see that day coming anytime soon. Maybe I'm lucky but I've done plenty of 16 ga in there and some 18 ga stainless. They didn't like the stainless at all but go slow and watch what the metal wants it did it. Your mileage is going to vary
I have the larger one and it's worked fine. Mine gets very little use and I could see a professional needing better quality. I've been happy with it.
is there anything thats any good from HF? other than giving your money away? what good is a Tool normally used for heavier work and you cant get parts for it? or it cant do the task its intended for? we have Princess auto up here.. Cheap crap...
i have had mint 6 years no problem i use them alot at home i do not go in to hard force mode keep gental with more reps i did make the stand better
If something cost more than $20 bucks at HF it's best to buy the extended warranty. Pretty sure a 90 day replacement is standard on everything. For some of the electrical stuff you will be lucky if it makes it past 30 days but some things are as good as any other overpriced chinese made junk.
I have a set and they have worked OK so far. I don't use them a lot, even so I'm satisfied with them.
I went to both Eastwood and HF web sites. The shrinker/ stretchers looked identical. Does anyone know if they are the same just different names? Plans for a stand?
2 yrs ago i bought a clone of the Eastwood/HF shrinker/stretcher from ebay.So far it has worked fine,but i didnt want to spend my money to crappy stand,so i made my own: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=622910
Eff that import trash. I got mine from Fey Butler (yoderstamp) They're genuine Lancaster made by CB tool!
The Jalopy Journal
