Rate the Harbor Freight Tools Thread- Pass or Fail?

We don't have HF here in Canada but we do have similar type of stores selling inexpensive( I was gonna say cheap:)) Chinese tools ,the name of the place is Princess Auto, they sell exactly the same stuff as HF but in different colors., I don't know if any of you experienced the smell but as soon as you enter the store you get a whiff of rubber mixed with I don't know what. you just can't ignore that odor.
Anyhow, the best deal I got from our HF here is their welding blankets ,amazing deal, these blankets are fire resistant up to 1000F and they are great if you do a lot of welding or grinding.
The second deal I got was their 220v welding cable, you can't make it any cheaper if you bought the plugs and wire and built it yourself.great deal.





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Re: Harbor Freight, I have always thought one got what they paid for.... so, I tended to buy hand tools and small motorized tools. (Discovered that I'd need to chuck the tool, if battery powered, since by the time I needed the battery, it would be priced 2-3 times what I paid for the entire tool. Lesson learned: last battery powered tool was a Milwaukee.) I bought an HF ATV winch a few weeks ago to install inside a trailer and for $69 it was OK, even though I had to rewire with end terminals of adequate quality and buy a separate cover for the unprotected circuit breaker. Lately, though, I have been put off by the prices. My latest acquisition pitted Harbor Freight against American branded makes. I bought a 5500# pallet jack made by Clark for $219. HF catalog price was/is $269 for a 5000# model. 500# capacity for $50 less and the very real possibility that I can buy parts, if needed.....

Caveat Emptor, in this brave new world.....
 
A number of years ago I bought a Harbor Freight carbon steel fractional tap & die set specifically for an aluminum project. It has served me very well. I've done far more mild steel work with it than I expected to be able to do.

Unfortunately this week I broke the die wrench. Cheap pot metal construction, so it's not surprising that the set screw stripped. Now I need a replacement. I've been trying to search on here to see if anyone has plans for one, but I've had a little trouble since the silly search function won't let me use the term "die" because it's too short.

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Wasn't sure where else to put this, but I figured it's a good mixed review of the HF carbon steel tap & die sets, and the poor wrenches (both tap and die wrenches are frustratingly bad).

So, does anyone looking at this have plans drawn up for a good die wrench? Or know of a good thread on the subject here in this forum? I can obviously just order a better one, but I want it tomorrow (literally) and I like making my own tools. Thanks!
 
I have been wanting to make one of those, but I was thinking of something simpler for now (which could just be the end of it sliced off). Maybe I should just go ahead and make the full thing...
 
As a hobbyist, I like Harbor Freight. I'll give them a 'Pass'. The prices are very good for tools I'm not going to use a lot anyway. If my living depended on the tools I buy, I would probably be more critical.

My most recent 'big' purchases from HF are an air compressor and an angle grinder. Both have been better than I expected.

-Ed
 
intjonmiller said:
I have been wanting to make one of those, but I was thinking of something simpler for now (which could just be the end of it sliced off). Maybe I should just go ahead and make the full thing...
Click to expand...


That's what I figured you could do. Just make the front end ring to hold the die, and thread in handles.
 
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