Rate the Harbor Freight Tools Thread- Pass or Fail?

Pass on my book!
I m doing hardwood floors in our home and acquired saws and various other tools there to do the job to include Pneumatic tools i have been beating the crap out of them and they are standing tall and looking good!
The floor nailer especially when comparing to the Top Brand there is nothing left to wish for the tool is sound and guess what the dimensions and capabilities are exact the same just change the color and name lol love it...... top brand $600 HBF $149 need i say more!
 
For the most part I think HF is a "you get what you pay for" kind of a joint but some items are exceptional. The angle grinders as mentioned are great and darn near impossbile to kill.

I have a shop press that's served me very well, sandblast cabnit, aluminum "racing" floor jack, air sander, couple of die grinders, all great. No issues. But I'm not using the heck out of them either.

The only thing I've have an issue with that I bought from HF was the air recipricating saw. The first one quit the second time I used it and I wasn't abusing it. The second one died the third time I used it and the fourth one hasn't been used yet but I got the warentee for it so I guess I don't care if it fails or not. They can keep sending me new ones.

I got a transmission jack that has been great.

I don't have one of the small band saws yet but that's something I should probably have.

Their cutting wheels and disks are pretty crappy but hey, they are dirt cheap...what more can you expect?

I couldn't list everything I've ever bought from Harbor Freight, but some things are to be avoided. Air recip saws, impact sockets, impact and air ratchets, those are items that if you use to make a living with, you're probably better off getting from a big name vendor.

Other than that, HF has served me very well. I really can't complain about the quality vs the price. It would be nice to be able to buy American but quite frankly, often American made stuff isn't any better and can be 5 or more times the cost.

Wayne
 
I bought the hilti style hammer drill that was on sale. With a 20 % off card, the price was under $90, with the 5 piece 12" masonary bits. I have used it punch over a hundred holes with no problem. I have rented this style drill before for $45 a day, without bit, so I figure Im ahead by 3 rentals.:)

Sent from my H866C
 
Have been very pleased with these from HF:

44" base tool roller cabinet
60 gal, 5 hp US Gen air compressor
media blast cabinet--did a couple of minor upgrages
hvlp spray gun--cheap model, has 16 in part number
air die tool--has taken as much use as the I/R model
chip brushes and bench brushes---regular buy to maintain supply

4x12 fabric drop cloth at $8---cut in half makes excellent tool covers

tool stands; have bought couple of different sizes; well made and sturdy (much better than C-man)

mig welder cart--yesterday's buy; nicer than one I bought with the mig that had Miller on box
 
arvidj said:
If you are talking about the portable band saw then my recommendation ... and it is similar to the recommendation I have for most things I get at HF ... is to take the cover off the gear box and (a) remove the chunks of what I assume were at one time grease that are in there --- note the chunks were no where near the gears but at least inside the gear box -- and (b) put some good grease on the gears. After that you may want to get a blade from a reputable source just to have one on had but the one that came with mine has worked just fine so the extra blade is simply a spare.

If you are talking about the ubiquitous 4x6 band saw, there is a group on yahoo that can provide lots of support but the usual "new owner" incantation is to take the cover off the gearbox and remove whatever you find in there – a liquid that might be a lubricant, casting sand, bugs, etc. – and then refill the it with a quality gear oil. Replace the blade with a quality 64 1/2 inch bimetal and enjoy many years of service.
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I bought the HF 4 x 6 band saw about 5 years ago. It was on sale plus I had a coupon for 20% off.I paid about $159.00 I think . I have it working fine now,only took about 25 hours of modifying and trashing the blade cover. I should have spent another $100.00 and bought a Jet or Grizzly.
I had to mill and remake the pivot to get close to plumb and square cuts. Adjusting the rollers was easy enough after the pivot was modified.The transmission gunk was replaced with the correct oil.
The blade stretched to the point it could not be tensioned. I replaced the stock blade with a Morse bimetal 14 tpi blade.
I bought a few things from HF that I am satisfied with,parallels, magnifying head band, compressor hose etc.I don't even look at anything with a power cord.
mike
 
Pmedic828 said:
Does anyone know anything about the HF Plasma Cutter - it is supposed to be 40 Amps. I am hesitant to purchase one because they never have the disposables in stock. I am a hobbyist and won't use it day after day, but would like to cut 1/2 inch steel as the plate is too big to put on the 4 X 6 Band Saw. Could anyone take some time that has some experience with it to comment. Many thanks!
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I purchased the Eastwood Versa Cut 40 amp and have been very pleased with it. Comes with a 3-year warranty, which is unheard of with this kind of equipment. It will do 1/2 plate, but not very pretty of a cut. If you are looking for precise cuts in 1/2", I'd go with a 60 amp, also available at Eastwood. The HF cutters just look too cheap with not much support after the sale. Same price range too


---------------------------------Why buy something when you can build it for twice the price!
 
I have a good 50/50 mix of HF and name brand tools. I try to get something decent for tools I use often. For specialty stuff or things I will use once or twice then they will collect dust. A few of the Jems. Have been the 5 drawer tool cart I bought it about 2 years ago. I was working at a place that builds custom water jets. Used it every day up to a year ago I gave it to my brother and he is a diesel mechanic who treats it like trash. And its still intact. I also got a dial indicator with 1" travel it is pretty nice. The fail is the fancyest wood lathe they sell. I bought it for my moms bday. The castings on the headstock were cracked, I exchanged it only to find the exchanged one had same problem. In the end I drove to 2 diff harbor freights they all were cracked I argued with the manager BC I was driving all day trying to clear this up and I didn't want to go home empty handed. He discounted it extremely so I decided to take it. In the end the headstock got worse and it became loose and potentially dangerous. I could not weld the low quality casting so I created a welded steel cage to clamp it together and attached it with a few bolts. In the end she uses it all the time so its not a com peat fail Also the $20 tool set they sell for it was garbage until I hardened then re ground them.

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk
 
The Good:

I have the 13 x 40 lathe, and it has been good, except that the change gear box leaks, and I havn't been able to locate the leak and fix it (in spite of removing and dissasembling it). I think I am going to take it back off and grease the gears and call it good. If I were going to get one of these lathes today, I would get one that doesnt have the sealed change gear box (since it didn't stay sealed anyway). Overall it's been a good machine and made a lot of chips.

Engine Hoist, grinder stand, engine stand, floor jack, Hand tools, abrasives, dog beds, bench with casti iron ends and wood slats, sandblasting cabinet, parts washer, cement mixer, Porta power, casters, 1 hp electric motor for my drill press.

The Bad:

Air tools in general. I have written them off for air tools. I got an air crimper, longboard sander and air hacksaw that didn't work right out of the box. I've had two of thier air niblers and on both of them the pintle broke, well before I think it should have. I will no longer buy air tools there. I also bought a hydraulic gear puller that crapped out as well.

The Ugly:

The motor went out on the drill press, but that was after a number of years of use. Throw away the chuck that it comes with and buy a Jacobs. The belt changing mechanism won't stay tight, so I drive a wooden wedge into it to keep the belt from loosening when in use. I just don't like the whole belt changing mess, I'm going to do something about it (some day).

The 12" disc sander, which I bought as a display unit and got a great deal on has been a great addition to the shop, I use it all the time. That being said, when it was new, I had to remove the sanding disk and face it, as it was warped about .040. That requied that I rebalance it. If you don't have the means to face a 12" diameter cast iron disk, I would pass on this one. Oh, and don't bother with HFs disks. They last not time and are murder to get off the plate. Get some good quality disks like 3M. They last 10 times longer and don't have quite the mess to scrape off the wheel (they are also much more expensive, but when you spend 45 minutes changing a disk because you have to scrape ALL the old one off, the price seems worth it).

The Baldor look alike carbide grinder. Again, this has been a good tool and I got a great deal on it, but I had to debur the tables to get them to move, and they still arn't smooth. I also had to weld up the aluminum hubs and re-cut them to get them to properly center the wheels, and then ballance the wheels. The wheels it comes with are so bad you may have to put a bolt and nut in one of the extra holes to get it ballanced. I have one o the original wheels on one side that I ballanced and a diamond wheel on the other side that required no ballancing and it runs smooth, now.
 
Harbor Freight...wow. I remember back before they were in most every major city and a local friend started the first "Taiwan Tool Store" I ever saw and we joked about it. I bought a Floor Standing Drill Press in 1979 for about $100 and I still use it today, and I do mean that - I used it today! I've never done anything to it including changing the belt that's coming apart. It's OK for what it is. How accurate does a hole through 1/4" plate have to be if your bit can follow a center punch?

For the most part, I believe in buying quality tools if it's for professional work. When I was wrenching Harley's in the 70-80's, I invested in nothing but Snap-On tools (quality, comfort and respect). When I started buying expensive machinery, I decided that I can't afford to buy a new South Bend lathe and so I bought a import and made several mods to increase the ease of use, reliability and accuracy.

As far as tools I've purchased from HF, I can name a bunch of small stuff, a few mid-size things (sander, saw, hand tools) and I the only large purchase would be a new $200 air compressor (it's noisy as hell).
 
We just got a new Harbor Freight in South Portland ME a few weeks ago. Picked up a handful of free stuff, tape measure, magnetic parts tray, flashlight. My wife bought a set of number-letter stamps (for copper jewelry) they had a bad letter "R". A few days later we brought it back and exchanged it for another which had a different bad letter "F" went back inside and they combined the sets to make one good one. (got more free stuff). I picked up one of the 3" electric cutoff tools since I had a good coupon and it was recommended by a neighbor. I haven't used it yet but it seems worth what I paid for it. I looked at a few things like the MIG cart but decided to pass since it looked like junk and weight capacity was listed as only 100lbs which seemed very, very optimistic to me. The store and everything we took home smells like burning tires.
 
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