Rate the Harbor Freight Tools Thread- Pass or Fail?

[jfcayron]

I got me a 18 Piece T-Handle Ball Point and Hex Key Wrench Set from my local Horror Fright.
In general I am satisfied with what I get for the price.
In this instance, however, I was reminded of something I read somewhere by someone, and if I were not so lazy I could probably find the link.
Bottom line is, it would seem that the cheap Chinese are doing acceptably well with the metric precision stuff, but then they go all approximate when English or fractional are involved.

Sure enough, in this set, the metric wrenches are a very decent fit, whereas the others are all undersized to the point of being unusable.:angry:
I have a set of traditional Kobalt wrenches in fractional to compare with. I will try the HF first, I do not dare exercise any force for fear of rounding off the screw or the wrench; then switch to the Kobalt and put all my strength in it, no problem.

I will gradually purchase singles in the sizes I use most to replace and throw away the HF ones.:whiteflag:

 

[wolframore]

8lb sledgehammer with the yellow plastic handle $20... pass... needed something to make pounding easier.

free multimeter - pass (a bunch of times I have 3 and counting) yeah it's cheezy, there's no tone, but damn it's handy when I don't want to get my fluke. BTW - the free Multimeter with no purchase coupon is good... don't know how they do it.

free tape measure - surprisingly good for free - I take the belt clip off and have them all over

free screwdriver set - not that great but works and nice to have a bunch in every drawer - metal is a little soft

free flashlight - pretty good for free, earlier ones had problems with switch not working - newer ones are better... even get free batteries wow.


bought a little 1000 gram pocket scale - works great.

Wish they had more machinist tools like they used to. I'm a weekend machinist and most those shops are closed during the weekend.

 

[DJ Bill]

Chipmunk, that is funny stuff.. Ever think of submitting an article to one of the car magazines?


I bought one of their BLACK tool carts last year. Basically it is a tool box with cheap legs and a bottom shelf
with four casters to balance it all on. The box is pretty good, but built for shorter people than I..

My assembly adventure was a two man effort. No small animals were hurt, and we didn't melt any vocabulary books looking for words to describe the pleasure we obtained from reading the instruction manual. Luckily I had an adjustable wrench in metric to grab the nuts while we tightened the screws to just below spot weld torque. I think between the two of us we figured out what was rightside up on the legs in under two hours. :rofl: And we even had most of the bolts. I think the hardest part of the assembly was getting rid of all the packing cardboard.

Best part was the price...I bought a membership in their players club or whatever they call it and it saved me a bunch, I think it was well under a hundred bucks at the time with all the discounts. (The club card, however is a ripoff, never saved any more with it than a careful reading of the flyers would get ya. When it expired I did NOT renew. )

Obviously the Black paint makes the bolts fit much better. Score board: Black tool Cart: PASS Red Tool Cart: Inspirational. :lmao: Discount Club Card: FFFFFFAAAAAAIIIIILLL!! Other unmentioned tools...Portable band saw...PASS but the safety guard is a huge fail. Lathe bits : Conditional Pass

 

[Bill C.]

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

So here goes, of the Harbor Freight tools that we use as home shop machinists, which ones are satisfactory (pass), and which are not (fail)?


Nelson

My family has bought several tools and traps from them. Their little hobby grinder about $10 is to weak for me. Their bench drill press is very good. I bought a air compressor, compound miter saw and drill motor that I like. Their solar panels are very good too. Just depends on what one expects from their tools. I give them a "passing" grade.

 

[7HC]

I recently got the 3 ton capacity chainfall hoist from HF.
I wasn't expecting much from the tool and almost expected it to fail in short order.
It however has surprised me with its quality, functionality and usefulness.
Have used it many times now and it keeps getting smoother all the time.

This is one HF tool which I'd recommend without hesitation.

I agree. )

M

 

[wolframore]

Does anyone know if HF tap and dies are HHS? Which ones are the good ones and what alloys are they using?

 

[rogerrabbit]

Does anyone know if HF tap and dies are HHS? Which ones are the good ones and what alloys are they using?

I have the 35407 60 piece metric/sae set. Quite happy with it, not sure what metal it is, but seems to hold up pretty well (i did break a 6/32 tap, but I think that was from me not drilling the hole to the right size.:thinking:

I agree with the reviewers that the t-handle tap wrench is not the best in the world.. the 6/32 tap doesn't lock in at all. I usually tighten down the nut with a pair of pliers, and then it can spin anyways.. although that has probably saved me from breaking it again..

hth,
Roger

 

[architard]

I second what Roger noted. The taps and dies themselves have done the job well. I've found both handles to be problematic but as cheap as it is who cares? It's currently on sale with a July super coupon for $29.99!

 

[jamie76x]

I am too poor to buy cheap things.

I have gone too HF and bought things a few times... Always to return them a few days later. I came to the conclusion that when I buy some thing it must last me forever.

 

[tripletap3]

I have both the metric and the standard sets that come in the black case. Basically they are only good for chasing existing threads or maybe thin soft metals. I bought the metric set only to get a 3mm tap on a Saturday evening for tapping light gauge sheet metal to fit a replacement timer to my clothes dryer. I bought the standard just to have while I was there and once tried to use it to tap a ¼” piece of hot rolled to 50% thread and it stripped the flutes right off the tap. For $16 dollars I didn't expect much and it did what I needed at the time. I do notice that this tap set is "carbon steel" and the others are "alloy steel" but they do not mention HSS on any of their sets. Chuck