Rate the Harbor Freight Tools Thread- Pass or Fail?

Grizzley has a grinding system like that, but it's $300+. Still, less, than the Baldor.

I really don't want to come on like a jerk, and I've seen some truly impressive work here on the forum that was done with the HF tools. But I have to say, in my experience, it's junk. Garbage. If it's just cast iron, like an arbor press, or a simple machine like an engine hoist, OK. But if I needed to depend on it, no.

When is started putting my wood shop together some 30 years ago, I started with Craftsman, Grizzley, HF, etc. As time went by, everything was replaced by the next one up in the food chain. I've been through 3 table saws, 3 shapers, 3 or 4 drill presses, and I couldn't tell you how many bandsaws. Now, my shop is almost exclusively Delta. I know that I could go even further up, but for my purposes, they do the job. (And here, I undermine my own argument.) In every case, had I bought the Deltas immediately, I would have saved time, money, and aggravation. Now, I know that the tools will adjust, they will run smoothly, the motors won't let the smoke out... This was not the case in the old days.

As I said, I have seen work done with HF tools that my skill level will never be able to match, regardless of the tool I'm using. Your abilities and instincts have me in a constant state of awe. And having better (?) equipment wouldn't make the job any better, but I have to wonder if it wouldn't have made getting there more pleasant.
 
I have been fortunate enough to visit the Mecca of Harbor Freight in California. I found the place by mistake about 15 years ago. That location is a giant warehouse with a tiny store front. On Saturdays the have a yard sale and what they mostly sold were the returned items that got repaired. You could ask the salesmen to pull any item from the catalog for inspection if you wanted to. A short trip there yielded an long afternoon of shopping. I too have the perennial 4 1/2'' grinder that doesn't die. Mine came with a replacement set of brushes that I haven't had to replace yet. it's going strong for more than 14 years. I also have a Dewalt and a Milwaukee grinder each set up with different types of wheels. my biggest gripe was purchasing some rotary wood rasps and files that came as a kit. They were very crude and not patterned correctly; it appears as if the teeth were actually made by hand. Since moving to NC I have found a store within 25 miles from the house. I visit the store probably 6 times a year if not more. I also love the import tool smell:lmao:
 
wawoodman said:
.................... having better (?) equipment wouldn't make the job any better, but I have to wonder if it wouldn't have made getting there more pleasant.
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Don't forget that this is a hobby forum for the most part, and there can often be as much satisfaction in modifying and improving a piece of machinery as there is in producing a part on it after the improvements have been made.

Not to forget the satisfaction of keeping some money in your wallet either. :)

M
 
No question! The thread was asking how we felt abut the tools, and I guess my response went a bit far afield. Thanks for the tap on the nose!

As I said, I couldn't do some of the jobs I've seen here, no matter WHAT tools I had.
 
7HC said:
Looks like the HF Baldor copy tool grinder (#46727) is no more!
HF have been dropping a lot of good stuff lately. :(

View attachment 40081
R.I.P :(

M
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It appears that HF is moving towards marketing a more "consumer" oriented line of tools. Very few lathes, less drill presses, the universal tool grinder was discontinued as well as this grinder. I have one of these I bought about ten years ago. I had to replace one of the tables because it was warped. The difference in the casting thickness was almost 3/16 inch! The motor is fine and the original wheels were well balanced. I had to obtain an aluminum oxide wheel for HSS tools (I'm too cheap to spring for a diamond) and that turned out to be really difficult. I finally found one on Amazon. It was made in Israel and really out of round. I have done well with the grinder on the tools I have ground; the best one being a shaped 5/16 tool used to cut a spline. I had never tried a single point tool for a spline and it worked far better than I imagined.
The other thing that has changed drastically at Harbor Freight (besides the price increases) is the spare part ordering system. Just a couple of years ago the service dept. was a direct line to people whom had the parts list in front of them and you could get a direct sale on most any part for which you had the machine model number. Now it is done primarily by email and there is a double delay in ordering parts. I bought a number of cast iron pulleys and mill drill components I used to repair an old Arboga drill press. This would be extremely difficult if not impossible today. I might try ENCO if I need something like this in the future; Harbor Freight does not seem to be a viable option. Geoff Morgan
 
HF 69438 -- 0.8HP Cut off saw: major fail -- the gear between the motor and arbor strips after a few cuts.. I paid $5 (in the clearance section) so I cant complain too much.

--R

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image_13305.jpgTried a set of these today. $24.00 Metric/SAE and Fractional. Still kinda rough on the wheel for adjustment, but it zeros out very consistent. They are worth checking out. The centec models were never very consistent. The new 3 read out Pittsburgh model is a decent replacement. Would be nice if a resident HM machinist would put them to test.



I have found that the white face ones do not have a memory so if they power off they loose the setting. i use one of the black ones on my z axis on my old mill as a dro and if the memory dont work it will time out. If you can find the black faced ones they have memory.
steve

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Harbor Freight hanging tool cabinet #39213.

Very good to excellent. The cabinet itself is excellent, the hardware, so-so (nuts and bolts). Mine is mounted on the wall by six screws into the studs AND a piece of 1 1/4 angle aluminum underneath to take the weight. I have it LOADED with toolbits, arbors and such, at least 300 pounds total. No complaint from the cabinet. I've had it two years and have had no problem. It goes on sale for $59.99 and use your 20% coupon.
 
flutedchamber said:
Harbor Freight hanging tool cabinet #39213.

Very good to excellent. The cabinet itself is excellent, the hardware, so-so (nuts and bolts). Mine is mounted on the wall by six screws into the studs AND a piece of 1 1/4 angle aluminum underneath to take the weight. I have it LOADED with toolbits, arbors and such, at least 300 pounds total. No complaint from the cabinet. I've had it two years and have had no problem. It goes on sale for $59.99 and use your 20% coupon.
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This is the cabinet described above:

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M

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