Rate the Harbor Freight Tools Thread- Pass or Fail?

[C-Bag]

Just had to chime back in on this thread. I decided it was time to replace the headstock bearings on my HF 9x20 lathe. In order to get the races out of the head I used a 3jaw pilot bearing puller I'd bought from HF years ago and modded for pulling a bushing out with. Thought why not try the bearing races even though they 2.5" od since I didn't have any other inside pullers.

All my outside pullers are Blue Point and Proto and work great but one jaw for the Blue Point was 3x's what I paid for the HF and can't do what the HF does. Had to grind mod the jaws of the little HF and found them to be very tough to cut! Also had to weasel my HF bearing driver set as a spreader cone for the puller as it wouldn't spread that far. Another lesson that every time I have to work on the lathe I need to make something with it to fix the lathe, that's why you need two lathes. Anyway jury rigged as it was it pulled both races no problem. Another project victory without breaking the bank. I think I'll have to get another 3jaw pilot bearing puller ($19)as this one is getting so modded there's not much left

 

[Silverbullet]

I got one of these truck bed hoists for lifting large firewood rounds.
https://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-capacity-pickup-truck-crane-60732.html
More recently I used it to unload a 700 lb. Kalamazoo horizontal bandsaw. Two thumbs up.
I did have to reinforce the bed.
View attachment 280666

Oh, my HF 4x6 has cut true and square since I took it out of the box.

Hi , I have the other model and have used it outside as a jib crane for twenty years or so. It's mounted to a box tubing post burried in concrete 5' at the corner of my garage apron . It has upgrades a blocked angle and electric hoist mounted to it. Ease of use now's just push buttons.
It was an absolute must have to keep working , after I stopped being able to pick up machines and turn them on there sides or over. I love mine .

 

[MrWhoopee]

Hi , I have the other model and have used it outside as a jib crane for twenty years or so. It's mounted to a box tubing post burried in concrete 5' at the corner of my garage apron . It has upgrades a blocked angle and electric hoist mounted to it. Ease of use now's just push buttons.
It was an absolute must have to keep working , after I stopped being able to pick up machines and turn them on there sides or over. I love mine .

I was recently tidying the shop and came across the original pump for my Meyer snowplow. I started getting ideas and took it out to see if it would fit to replace the hand pump cylinder on the hoist. It fit with no modifications! I drilled another hole at 90 deg. to the original on the base to put the drive motor in-line with the boom. I then trashed the seal between the motor and cylinder before I realized that the check valve was accessible without disassembly. Once fixed, I'll have an electric boom hoist, which means I'll get even less exercise and probably put on more weight.

 

[Choiliefan]

I have a few HF tools I'm very happy with including the 1/2 ton truck crane, 1/4" long-shaft die grinder, heavy duty sheet metal nibbler, small blast cabinet, auto-darkening welding helmet and adjustable bearing separator tool. The free multimeters and microfiber cloths are decent as well.

 

[Buffalo21]

I bought one of the HF truck bed cranes, about 8-10 years ago, and modified it into a jib crane that mounts on the column of the 1940s era Bridgeport round ram milling machine. I use it to pick up the 10” rotary table, and the 10” chuck, that I use with it.

 

[Firstgear]

I bought the cordless electric ratchet to use on my mill (tighten or loosen the draw bar) and to use on my 5C chuck on the lathe. A bit pricey but it works great. I have to be careful though where I set it down during machin8ng as there are air vents on the side and I am sure pieces of metal in there would be really bad, but other than that, no complaints!

Harbor Freight Tools – Quality Tools at Discount Prices Since 1977

Harbor Freight buys their top quality tools from the same factories that supply our competitors. We cut out the middleman and pass the savings to you!

www.harborfreight.com

 

[Toolmaker51]

HF power tools, no sale. Same for mechanic cart, welders, any machine or sheet metal tool. Woodworking? Who cares, know a girlfriend likes her miter saw and tiny drill press though. Jacks, stands, dollys are OK. I have 2 compact benders, both reworked [blue-printed, lol] that'lI even do hardway 10 gauge 3/4" wide in perfect 90°'s with my dies, a pair each their pinch and longest pin prybars rigging machines around the floor. Prybars, I call them chopsticks; cuz just one is USELESS!
Sockets and all metal ratchets, not bad, same for combination wrenches. Few of the abrasives fit my stuff. Plumbing tools big no, except the ratchet tap wrench -decent once notches get deepened. Adjustable wrenches a big joke, bigger they get funnier they are. Compare grip width of the 18" to a Diamond [Crescent], 3 maybe 4 x wider, compensating for poor material, and stupidly heavy at the wrong end. Awesome if you are King Kong or Mr. T. Jury hasn't convened on bead roller scooped at auction, want to fab up a real frame with motor. The stuff they've dropped is a concern, but everyone imports the shrink-stretch. The tri-roll wire machine works OK, made a BBQ grate on it, that's all.
So 1-10 scale , HF is a 4 or 5. Cause I go there for something to modify. Who'll bet they have a username on every shop type website, we're their unpaid engineers!

 

[Toolmaker51]

Just had to chime back in on this thread. I decided it was time to replace the headstock bearings on my HF 9x20 lathe. In order to get the races out of the head I used a 3jaw pilot bearing puller I'd bought from HF years ago and modded for pulling a bushing out with. Thought why not try the bearing races even though they 2.5" od since I didn't have any other inside pullers.

All my outside pullers are Blue Point and Proto and work great but one jaw for the Blue Point was 3x's what I paid for the HF and can't do what the HF does. Had to grind mod the jaws of the little HF and found them to be very tough to cut! Also had to weasel my HF bearing driver set as a spreader cone for the puller as it wouldn't spread that far. Another lesson that every time I have to work on the lathe I need to make something with it to fix the lathe, that's why you need two lathes. Anyway jury rigged as it was it pulled both races no problem. Another project victory without breaking the bank. I think I'll have to get another 3jaw pilot bearing puller ($19)as this one is getting so modded there's not much left

So, when buying a third lathe, l'll need four? Kool!
But I steer clear of threaded, A1 and L spindles.

 

[middle.road]

So, I picked up one of their Tumblers to attempt to rescue some Hendey #6 collets I scored.
Soaked them in vinegar for 36 hours or so then tumbled them with crushed walnut shells.
Worked out pretty well considering how rough they were.
I did modify it and added a high velocity 80mm computer fan to the bottom. Keeps this sucker nice and cool.
I have a bar clamped down across the top instead of the cover so that I can view the 'action'.
We'll have to see how long the fan lasts with all the dust.
Then this past week I picked up some of the 'Rust Removal' media and started tossing in every rusty tool laying around...
Works real well. I also sawed up some wood cubes and tossed those in an attempt to increase the media volume.
A single 5.2lb jug didn't quite fill it up enough.
The parts on the Granite were in for ~5 hours.
Had to move the setup out to the shed, I had it outside the shop and the noise with using the RR media was driving me crazy.
Need to start planning ahead for 'Bowl' replacement I'll wager...

 

[GarageGuy]

This is off topic for this thread, so I'll mention it here and start a new thread with the details. Randy Richard has a YouTube channel, and one of his videos is how he made a DIY tumbler out of a standard 5 gallon bucket and some other stuff he had laying around. I thought of it when I saw _Dan's post above.