Rate the Harbor Freight Tools Thread- Pass or Fail?

[Jhawk117]

40lb capacity sand blasting cabinet, 25+ hrs and still good: Pass

Lowest end motorcycle lift table style: Fail I have to modify parts to get it to fit together and I still have parts that need to be remade to make it so I feel safe using it.

 

[moptracker]

I have their red industrail tool cabnet set that is better than craftsman and is as good as off brand sold by snapon. Their hand tools sockets and wrenches I grade by the way they look. the better they look the better they fit and work. The 4 1/2 inch grinders I get a lot of use out of them. The cheep ones are not as good as ts the higher ones. I just bought one with a paddle switch I like it so far.

 

[Rockytime]

I live about a mile from a HF. I have to exercise so I walk through the aisles several times. Hard to leave there without some kind of purchase. I have several HF digital calipers and dial indicators. They seem to work as well as my starrett and B&S. I use them the most as I can afford to replace them if I damage them. I have a bench grinder, belt sander, and several other electric hand tools. I have been satisfied. I recently purchased a small air compressor which I can easily lift about. Saves me from lugging a beast around or using a long air hose. It was a returned item with a guarantee the same as a new one. Works very well. A HF bead blaster worked well but gave it away as it took too much room in my shop. I always manage to pick up something. Hard to walk out without purchasing at least some gizmo.

 

[joebiplane]

I saw this idea on another forum, and it is a great resource.

Hey all, I have been buying from HF since late '70's.. mail order from CA. I determined that they offered excellent "VALUE"...note....I did not say "Quality"
"You get what you pay for" ! and that will never change. I bought tools for my home shop many of which came from the pages of the HF flyers I received. ( and still do).

When I discovered that they had retail outlets I was estatic... I brought friends to Scranton PA to see what they were missing... i was in "Tool heaven".
I later retired and moved to Southern NJ a few years ago and needed some tools and looked up closest HF store...it was across the Delaware river in PA. I went and got what I needed and upon checking out I asked why they wanted my zipcode... they said marketing uses the info to determine where to open new stores.. she then told me they were opening a new store in my neck of South Jersey very shortly... It turned out to be in Vineland, NJ and opened two months later.... I go there very often in the past 5 years as it is only 5 miles from my home.

I have noticed that the 'Look of the store has changed dramaticly these past two years and I have been told by other customers the Quality of most items has steadily been improving... Prices have also been creeping up to match the quality.
There is still some ' El cheapo' stuff ( specialty sales and give-a-way items items ...mostly)
But Customer service is becoming spectacular.... Money back if not satisfied policy is strongly in effect.
Extended service contracts ( 1 or 2 years) add about 10% per year to the cost of a powered item but since you are buying a tool at about 25% of the cost of a name brand equivilant ....IT'S A BARGAIN !
and if it breaks during the warrantee...They just REPLACE IT....They simply hand you a new one !

I actually go ther so much that last month they asked me if I wanted to work there two days a week and I said YES

:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: "LUCKY IS THE MAN WHOSE HOBBY IS HIS WORK" I am now a "Tool Ambasador" ( they simply call me a "retail associate")

That may make you think my oppinion I might be jaded but trust me......TRY IT.....You'll LOVE IT)))
Joe

 

[Brad_Jacob]

I bought their buffer for $39 and it has served me for (first) Stanley plane restorations, then my Heavy 10, Atlas Drill Press, South Bend drill press and current my South Bend 9a.

When it dies, I'll have a service for it and the buy another one

 

[Florida Marine]

Not machiniist...but their dust collector for woodworkers is good to go, got one and its running strong two years later, their powder coating kit is good to go, and I am about to learn about their mill...

I guess you get what you pay for, so don't expect much if you don't pay much

 

[flatbelter]

With Harbor Freight, I like to inspect the items closely first. If it passes the visual test then it might come home with me.

Last trip to the HF store netted me some telescopic bore gauges, 0-3" mic set, another 6" digital caliper and a large tap and die set (metric and inch)

The telescopic bore gauges don't have the polished feel that a Starret does, but they expand and lock OK and seem to be useful. I did notice that the dial caliper jaw where it's supposed to be cut sharp isn't so sharp making it useless for thread depth measurements. (found that before scrapping the part thankfully). I bought the dial caliper to mount as a poorman's DRO so it works OK for that.

The tap and die set is quite nice with most of the sizes I like to use, and I picked up a large set of HSS drill bits (120 pcs ,#,letter and fractional") from a previous trip that work well in mild steel and aluminum. Kinda nice to have the right size drill bit on hand for once in my life.

HF's 0-1" dial gauge and magnetic stand are pretty handy too once you loc-tite the threads in the stand arm. It works well enough to set up parts in the 4 jaw for making prop adapters that spin at 8KRPM.

Overall I would have to rate as pass, but I have a local import tool company that seems to have a little better grade of imported junk that I do more business with.

 

[geckocycles]

I guess I can add some stuff here. Tring to get my post count up so I can get a manual in the DL section. LOL
I have bought so much stuff I am ashamed of myself.
I have had some things good and some things bad and can't list everything.
FAIL:
...2 air wrenches the first day
...2000 lb winch w remote, Camo. wouldn't stay running for more than a second at a time
...2 flex shaft die grinders. Cable gets so hot it seizes in minutes
smaller tub vibrator. Good for 2 batches before I have to exchange it for new one. Top cover center hole gets enlarged no matter how tight you tighten the wind nut. Even double nutted it to keep it on. When the hole gets big, it doesn't vibrate as much.
...Cordless drill set battery dies in minutes.
...rectangular driving lights. Just not as bright as a flashlight.
...6" dial calipers. They are constantly not going to zero. Gear slips too. I just can't rely on them at all.
...Metric tap and dies set. I don't know what pitch they are using but they won't do a new bolt or nut without taking off material and I mean allot.
...Electrical hole punch manual. The threads are so sloppy they just strip out. Went through several ones hand picking best threads with no luck.

PASS
...4" angle grinders. Get abused on a daily basis for several years.
...4" diamond wheels. I use these instead of abrasive wheels. They will cut anything and last forever.
...10 ton ram for my engine hoist. Not a HF hoist. I have moved my Bridgeport with it many times as well as my 10" Logan with Teak bench. It is just now starting to not have full travel in a pump. Been outside for at least 15 years.
...6" digital calipers. Don't work when it is well below freezing but other wise OK. They finally started going through batteries to fast and even though they turned off. I had them for many years though. Certainly got good use out of them. It is hard to put too much trust in them.
...5500 winch. Used it too pull out at least 30 Heaps and twice on my Sammy. Slower than watching paint dry but no one ever complained but me when I had to spool it back up. I did have the Solenoid smoke on me once. They gave me a whole new winch and all I returned was the solenoid. They wouldn't just break open a box and give me the Solenoid out of it.
...$20 saws all. Gets used all the time. I bought a extra one just in case and never have yet to open up the box. The variable speed suck though as it looses torque at low speeds. This is typical of their drills too.
...Large Bridge tile saw. Very good working machine. Will cut 18" square tiles corner to corner. I did put on a $60 blade from Lowes though.
...Small tile saw bench model. You get very wet so I wear a apron. Certainly got my money worth there too. It didn't do very well on softer stone like Travertine. Chipped cuts but on ceramic no problem. Even tried putting on a better blade.
...4" Al sheeve. I hand pick for best ones and then take the pulley off and use it to make my custom snatch blocks.
...144 pc TIN coated drill index. I can't complain for softer metals. The box though is junk.
... hammers, axe, hatchet
...Gloves mechanics good value
...Sand paper and sanding sponges.
...12v compressor. Finaly gave it up after 3+ years mounted under my hood of my Sammy. By then they discontinued parts so I can't replace the rings. I really abused it though.
...Got a new 12v compressor. Haven't used it yet but the fittings are not a standard air fitting so I can put on a longer hose. Nice soft case. I am not going to mount this one under the hood. Just too bad of environment there I think.
...Laser levels. Both rotary and self leveling types. They seem to be accurate enough but not very bright. I deal with it. I think I have 3 different types.
...Rotary hammer drill.
...1/2" HD drill. Again variable speed reduces torque but I have yet to burn one up and mix buckets of Drywall mud daily. I did pull the cord out of one once. Not the drills fault.
...Tarps are a great deal. Plastic ones. Cloth painters cloth ones are pretty thin and you will want to lay plastic under them if you are spilling paint. But good for runners over plastic.
...Auto darkening welding hood. I have 2 of them and they work great. My friend got one and the delay was not tolerable but he didn't exchange it and just complains and not use it.
...4'X8' folding trailer. Just don't put 3/4" ply on it as they say or you won't may not get it to fold up fully. The hinge is not spaced for that thick of material. I just leave it open anyway.
...My heat gun has worked fine but I don't use it more than 10 mins at a time.
...ceramic kitchen knife set. GREAT value and they are every bit as good as my $70 single one.
... drywall panel lift works as it should.
...3/4" socket set
...all impact sockets are OK no issues
I have to cut this short.
Over all I give there stuff a thumbs up if they are close by you in case you have to return something. They have a great no questions asked warranty

 

[wineslob]

I have the 10" TS blade (carbide/ 60 Tooth) the deep socket impacts, and the sawdust system (green one) All have been great. The only thing is the TS blade, it's "sings" like a tom cat, but cuts just fine.

 

[bcall2043]

The Five drawer tool cart gets my best rating. I moved out of my big tool box at work and have not looked back since. It can be had on sale for $169. Better quality than the name brands on that item. Item number 95272.
Chris.

+one to cjsamples evaluation of the HF 5 drawer tool cart #95272.

I looked at the 4 drawer black cart and the 5 drawer red cart setting side by side in the store and the red one is much stronger. I also like the fact that each drawer had its own locking latch. I had a coupon from a magazine with a sale price of $149.99 and a little money in the tooling budget so I brought it home with me.

The plan for the tool cart is to store all the most commonly used milling tooling in it so they can be moved near the machine being used. I plan on using the top surface of the cart lid as a handy horizontal work space and keeping the lid down while using the cart. Only things not likely to be needed during the actual machine work would be stored in the top compartment. I have already altered the locking mechanism to allow the drawers to open with the lid in the down position. The locks on the individual drawers were a handy feature enabling this plan.

A couple of more alterations are planned for the tool cart. One is to add a rubber covering on the top surface and to make some dividers for the drawers to help keep things in their place..........more projects to the round-to-it list.

Benny