Do we need a British HF ?

[WobblyHand]

Just re-cut existing.

It may correct the error with minimal loss of length if close

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Taper not even close. HF dies were almost no taper. More like BSPP, than NPT. Cut male threads screwed easily nearly all the way into female couplings (within a thread). Don't know why I didn't recognize it, maybe there were a lot of distractions going on. Normal NPT threads get tight around midway.

Honestly don't want any of those substandard HF threads on my airlines. Too much work installing the lines to put up with that kind of risk. I want to do the work once this time.

 

[Navy Chief]

There is a HF only 5 minutes from my house. I purposely avoid it because the items sold are low quality.

I have gone there when I was flat broke, & needed some grinding wheels, files, or the like just to finish one job.

In this case, the files will be consumed & thrown in the trash bin. Similarly, the grinding wheels will be a disappointment (wearing out quickly), & I am once again reminded why I *plan* to buy quality items.

Usually, *planning* to buy quality items is basically equivalent to considering where the item is manufactured, in my opinion.

Can anyone think of a country that is known for cheap price/low quality? Do we want to spend our hard earned money on flimsy materials? I will, but only as a last resort.

Of course, a good craftsman would be able to produce beautiful work with materials made in PRC.

Their US General toolboxes and cabinets are a good buy, they are good quality for the money. There are good buys there, but you have to look closely at whatever you are considering .

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[ConValSam]

The only thing I buy lots of from HF are clamps. You can never have enough and the quality for the price can't be beat.

 

[homebrewed]

I have purchased a fair number of items from HF but I always take a look at the product reviews if it costs more than about $10. As a result there have been a whole bunch of things I just went elsewhere for: or decided I really didn't need whatever it was anyway.

There also have been some HF purchases that fall into the "never again" category. One is their 3-pack of zero-flute countersinks. I think they would dull if used on balsa wood. Another is their cheap knockoff X-Acto knife-like set. The "collet" on the handles is made from plastic and fails almost instantly.

 

[Winegrower]

I’ve been very happy with the HF engine hoist and the 20 ton arbor press, not to mention little gizmos like 2” straps, rubber gloves, etc. Nobody makes me buy there, so I must be a satisfied customer.

Edit: and, there is a new HF store opening in Auburn, 20 miles away. Better that than more Dollar General stores.

 

[WobblyHand]

I’ve been very happy with the HF engine hoist and the 20 ton arbor press, not to mention little gizmos like 2” straps, rubber gloves, etc. Nobody makes me buy there, so I must be a satisfied customer.

Despite my earlier post, I am too. For the most part, my purchases have been satisfactory. Some of them have been very good or excellent. I have an engine hoist, and an engine stand, some jack stands, loads of wrenches and sockets, clamps, a couple of rolling toolboxes, a 1000lb hydraulic table, a couple of 4-1/2" grinders, big casters, furniture movers, and a bunch of other stuff. These items are perfectly good for what I need them to do.

I've not deluded myself into thinking that everything is good there. Every item I buy has to pass my "QC test", or at least look like it would be serviceable for the task. Some items don't pass the sniff test, they look too skimpy to work well. I did modify the jack stands, by adding additional weld material on the seams. Looked like inadequate penetration and insufficient bead length to me. I couldn't even buy the raw materials for what I paid for the pair of jack stands. A quick couple of welds on the seam and adding some better footpads made these stands pretty decent.

Have to admit, I was fooled by the pipe threading kit. Wasn't expecting bad undersized thread profiles...

 

[graham-xrf]

They are now offering lifetime replacement on their hand tools, something Craftsman used to do. I have bought some of their combination wrenches and impact sockets, which have been of decent quality. Then there is the ubiquitous 4x6 bandsaw, which no home shop should be without. They have made significant steps to improve the quality of their tools in recent years, with a comensurate increase in prices.

It was the bandsaw, or at least the equivalent to be found in UK, that was one of things I wanted.

 

[graham-xrf]

There's a love hate relationship with HF. You can get some attractively priced merchandise there in more than a few "departments". There's also a lot of stuff that is just plain junk. If you have a discerning eye, then you can pick up a few items.

I have done well on occasion and also been burned. Wrenches and sockets were decently priced. However, HF is not a good place to buy a single socket anymore. If you need to turn a socket into a hex insert, or one of your 10mm sockets has gone into hiding, forget it. I found this out recently, trying to buy a single socket for a 1" bolt. They're phasing out having individual sockets.

I have bought several tool cabinets, (rolling tool carts with lots of sliding drawers) from HF and they are great. They're a good value.

Did get burned on their pipe theading kit. The NPT dies were wrong. I cut and hand threaded over 50 feet of 1/2" iron pipe for garage air distribution. I hung it up by the ceiling. Every pipe joint leaked terribly. Comparing the threads to a normal pipe thread showed the problem, the taper wasn't correct. No amount of pipe dope would stop the leaks. Still haven't fixed this - really took the wind out of my sails. Guess I will fix it this summer. In the meantime, I inherited some Ridgid pipe dies, even being 70 years old, still cut beautiful NPT threads, with the proper profile. The Ridgid threads require a tiny amount of dope or tape to seal. So the kit I bought from HF was worse than useless, since the dies were counterfeit. (Sold as NPT, but being nothing of the sort.) Will cost me a lot of time, and sweat to replace the piping, moving things to gain access, removing each piece from the ceiling, cutting the threaded ends, rethread, rehang and hope that I can adjust things enough since each pipe is 1.25" shorter than it was before.

Others may have similar stories. Some good, some bad.

Ouch! That was a bad day when you discovered it.
You prompt me. I had forgotten about the rolling tool cabinets with slider drawers.

 

[WobblyHand]

Ouch! That was a bad day when you discovered it.
You prompt me. I had forgotten about the rolling tool cabinets with slider drawers.

It sure was. Especially when I realized all the joints were defective and leaking. Wouldn't have been as big a deal in an empty space, but in an extremely packed room, it was a downer. Come summertime, I'll move everything out of the space and redo the plumbing.

Rolling tool cabinets with slider drawers are a great way to organize your tooling. Strongly recommended.
US General brand at HF are very high quality and a exceptional value for their cost. Hope you can find a similar value over there.

 

[jwmay]

After spending a few minutes in the garage, I feel like I should admit that I can look across one wall in my garage and count over twenty items I bought there. Maybe I just already bought everything they had that I wanted, so I'm forgetting how much I've spent there.
Having never been where you live, it's hard to know if I'd miss HF. But I've got a lot of stuff from there.
I think they must offer a good trade off.