Question about Harbor Freight parts situation

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Mark Silva
H-M Supporter Gold Member
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Do they provide parts for their machines? I was looking at a manual for their bandsaw and they don't use part numbers per se, just a simple 2 or 3 digit number and a description.
What's up with that? Do they get parts mixed up sometimes? or often? Seems like Griz has it more together.
Mark S.
 
You can call the parts phone number on their web site. Sometimes parts are available, often they are not... Grizzly has their own problems. Depending on who answers the phone, your experience can be great or not so good. It is the same at most suppliers. Everybody has an occasional bad day. Some people have them regularly, others love to cop an attitude. After decades of buying and selling parts, I can tell you that it does matter which person you speak to, and how you start and carry on the conversation. If you behave like a PITA, you will often be treated poorly.
 
My guess is that Grizzly assigns full p/ns to their parts because they are setup for replacements parts sales on their website. Harbor Freight does not but they aren't the only ones.

I've never actually completed the order for a replacement part from HF cause the part I wanted was NLA. I hear HF is pretty good at supplying replacement parts, but often they are not in stock so you have to wait from them to arrive from overseas but they do fullfill their orders.

When calling HF for a replacement part, they will ask you for the item # of the machine, then ask you for the replacement part number listed in the manual. Then they will tell you pricing & availability.

The simple 2-3 digit number of the replacement part in the manual is typical of Asian import machinery, very basic & seems generic, often because it is, the same manual might be provided for lots of machines with different brand names.

When I ordered replacement parts from Enco for my old Enco bandsaw, it was the same method as HF. Enco asked for the bandsaw p/n, then asked for the item number for the replacement part I needed. The manual for my Enco bandsaw was just a Rong Fu manual & it also used the 3 digit numbers.

But with Enco they had internal p/ns assigned to the replacement parts I needed. Those p/ns were only available over the phone once you went through the process of telling them the part(s) you need. They were happy to give out those internal p/ns, not like it mattered since they were theirs. With Enco you couldn't order replacement parts online either, even if you tried to enter in their internal p/n. I suspect HF probably does something similar with internal p/ns for their replacement parts.
 
I tried bending a 12" long piece of 16-gauge steel in my 15-year old HF 3-in-1 sheet metal machine that's rated for 20-gauge. Broke the casting on one of the two arms that lift/push the shear bar up & down. Called HF's 1-800 number, told them what I had. They email'd me a parts manual while I was on the phone, identified the p/n off the parts list. They had the spare part, something like $12 plus $9 FedEx shipping. Your results may vary.

Bruce
 
You can also get parts for most mini lathes and mills from LMS. They have a good relationship with Sieg. They won't carry parts for other machines you might get from Harbor Freight.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
The 4x6 HF bandsaw is virtually identical to the grizzly 4x6. Most likely so is the 5x7 saw. The grizzly web page has the manual, parts printout, and a parts list with availability and price. Just check the box next to the part and add to the shopping cart. I've ordered many parts from grizzly for my hf machines. Prices are reasonable and shipping is quick if its in stock. Harbor freight is also pretty good on most parts but you need to call them and try to tell them what you need. Grizzly is just easier.

Roy
 
Bought a sliding miter saw from them and a plastic lever broke. Looked on the web for a replacement and came up without any result. The next day I called and then they checked with the sales receipt # and a they said it was less than a year old so I could return to any store and get a replacement at no charge.

So break HF tools annually if they last that long ?
 
the only parts I ever ordered from hf was a gasket set for my air compressor they told me it would take 16 weeks they arrived in 2 days bill
 
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