[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Harbor Freight Tools? (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 6/17/2012 6:58:41 PM EDT
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Are they junk?
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| Their jigsaw blads are crap. Everything else that I've bought there has been decent. My favorite screw drivers actually came from there. The angle grinder that I used to grind down and restore my boat worked great. The orbital sander was so-so. The 2 ton chain hoist from there rocks. It was about $20 more than what you can get on eBay but the one I got from eBay makes the Harbor Freight one look like a top of the line product. If you are going to use the item a lot and do hard work with it, I would not buy from Harbor Freight. Lite duty and occassional use go for it. |
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Depends on what you buy. I have stuff that I've been using for 20 years and other stuff that broke the first time I used it. It can be hit or miss. What he said. I've got an air compressor that has lasted forever and a tile saw I redid my entire house in natural slate with. |
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I thought we tried not to buy stuff from China. DeWalt, Milwaukee, Porter Cable, Bosch, Makita, Ridgid, all made in china. 
Hilti is the only one I can think of that is not, and some Hilti stuff sucks. This. I have a metal cutting band saw, almost identical to some of the more expensive ones, works great. |
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If it needs to be made of good/great steel, steer clear. Saw blades, small sockets, screwdrivers etc. Bigger, meaty sockets, ratchets, prybars etc seem to be fine. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile They have some "Pittsburg Pro" swivel head ratchets that I like. My brother in law turned me onto them, and he beats the shit out of his tools professionally. I find them in my hand more often than my better ratchets as they're handier. I suppose I could spend a lot more money and get a similar tool from a better company, but that can wait until this one breaks. |
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Most of their tools are junk,but some stuff is ok. The $60 engine stand that my friend bought is working great. Just depends really. The engine stand my friend bought bent. I laughed when he came to the shop to get a couple of pices of steel to add bracing 
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I thought we tried not to buy stuff from China. DeWalt, Milwaukee, Porter Cable, Bosch, Makita, Ridgid, all made in china.
Hilti is the only one I can think of that is not, and some Hilti stuff sucks. Some Bosch are made in Sweden Or Switzerland I forget which. Some Milwaukee are made in MExico |
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fair
good for truck tools (aka; get you home tools), one time use (I have a metric and sae 3/4" drive sets...try buying those from Snap-On w/o taking out a 2nd on your home) the digital calipers are a great buy for $20. I have tested mine against my Starrett standards and they're spot on. |
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Are they junk? Thanks I buy a bunch of Harbor Freight tools to keep on the motorcycles so if they get jacked I'm out nothing. Some of them hold up SURPRISINGLY well. Bought a motorcycle lift there about six years ago. Use it constantly. It works great, and was a fraction of what other lifts cost. I was afraid it would have trouble with the heavier bikes but it holds up my 750+ lb Harley and 700+lb Triumph Rocket without a hitch. Have one of their cheap Tig boxes, it also works pretty good. The lack of foot pedal means it's regulated to just doing basic small work but it's fantastic for doing that. I've run it on a weekly basis since I got it last year. No problems. Bought a chop saw to cut up tubing for exhaust, and later a tubing bender that required only small modifications to do what I needed. Both still work fine. I like HF most for when I'm in the middle of a project and need a tool that I don't have but funds are tight. HF almost always has what I need, and if I'm never going to use it again I'm out very little money. That said, "You get what you pay for" is ususally true. However, I've acquired many a good and surprisingly durable tool at HF. |
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I love their stuff. I won't hesitate at all to buy something from them. Though for some things I'd rather go with a better brand. I just bought their $25 timing light and it definitely did the job for me. The reason I went there is because its something ill only use once in a while and it saved me money. I also just bought a small wrench set from them and they have a lifetime warranty. |
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My dad bought a "Three Hammer Set" from them. It was impossible to drive a nail with any of them; two of them had the heads 10 to 20 degrees out of allignment with the grip handle, and the 3rd one had a loose head that could not be made tight because the head hole had no area that was flat or straight! I think he paid $7 for "The Set", but it was still a waste of $7.
My neighbor bought a bench grinder from them (he AND my Dad were both lovable, but very CHEAP guys  ); it had no power at all, and the armature windings smelled like burnt insulation right out of the box.
I cannot recommend anything  .
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It's hit or miss. Generally the more mechanical and less electrical the piece of equipment in question is the better it will be.
I love my impact sockets and electric impact wrench, and my creeper and my rolly stool with the storage area, and my "racing jack", and all of the tarps I've gotten from there, and my hitch mounted aluminum cargo rack. For a lot of things there, when the item is on sale, it's almost worth it because you could buy, use and break 4 of them before you would cover the cost of a good name brand one. Example: The reciprocating saws. When they are on sale and you have a coupon from the mail you can get one for about $25. I could replace one of those several times before I got to the cost of a Milwaulkee. Of course I would only use it a couple times each month. Depends on who you are and what you plan to use the tools for. |
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Those guys do like the tool boxes and rollarounds. I'm a little more partial to older American made stuff with a brand name on it. I've been a member there since it was GarageJunkies, and it's frequently been a good read. |
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I like their assortments of shrink-tubing and such. Tough to find the variety and kits they stock.
I bought a blast-cabinet from them today for my dad for Father's Day. I know I'll eventually need to replace the gloves, the light, and possibly even the blast-gun. |
| I've bought and used quite a bit of tools and what not from HF, but you have to know what to look for. I've bought a few power tools like the mini bench grinder that's been going strong for awhile now. Hand tools are a different story but I usually buy the odd ball/useful stuff from HF and my standard tools stay in the realm of Craftsman,Snap-On,Mac,Husky, etc.. |
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HF can be summed up in one "word", meh.
Sometimes you find a score, sometimes you find complete junk. I go there for odds and ends that I just can't justify spending money on. Like a rubber mallet, Craftsman wanted something like $50 at the time while HF was only $10. Or I go there for small stuff, bungee cords, tie down straps, zip ties, etc, etc. Their little Chicago Electric generator is pretty decent too, it's loud as Hell and sucks down a ton of gas under load, but a good buy for the dollar –– especially with their coupon. Don't depend on it to keep you going for weeks after a disaster all day and night, but it's good to at least allow you some electric conveniences when there is no power otherwise. |
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Quoted: the digital calipers are a great buy for $20. I have tested mine against my Starrett standards and they're spot on. You will find that same $20 caliper for sale with every name under the sun printed on it, and often for a higher price. Same thing sold by MidwayUSA under their Frankford Arsenal name as well as with a Hornady label, and I have seen them for sale in many other places - the only thing that ever really changes is the color of the label and the name on it. For hobby use or reloading, it works fine. I've had a lot of HF stuff go bad on me(usually electric - I had two grinders that didn't work on the first try, finally said fuck it and bought a Ryobi) - but there are plenty of items that worked fine(5yo drill press is covered in rust and wobbles like a mofo at times, but still runs fine), or were only needed once and were cheaper than even renting a high end unit. |
Majority of their stuff is crap, but dead blow hammers, wrenches, sockets, screw drivers, misc. hand tools have been holding up pretty well.. I have this tool box that I got from there and it was the best deal ever.. Super ridged, ball baring, and sturdy... I payed 320$ for it.. Was on sale plus used a 20% off coupon.. Its way better then anything craftsman puts out for double the price.
Edit: also had a pair of 4" digital calipers that I bought for 8$ they worked well for measuring tools and what not.. I think it was about 2 years before they broke... I considered that a good buy. |
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I'll agree with the other posters in that it all depends on what you are buying from them. Some of their heavy duty tool boxes are rather nice. I recently bought a 3 1/2 in. electric cut off tool in the Chicago brand and it has worked pretty good so far. I've been using it to cut up the old galvanized fence posts from a chain link fence I removed.
The ratchet sets are crap. We needed new tools at work and our project manager bought a few sets because he didn't want to spend even Craftsman money. He figured that since we do a lot of work over water (industrial wastewater treatment plant) that we ran a high risk of dropping them in the water and losing them. One of our maintenance goes busted the guts out of 2 or 3 ratchets the first day we got the sets. A couple of the boxes the sets were in didn't even survive being in the trunk of the PMs car I've also used an air powered chisel and sander that worked well. Also, the LED lights on my boat trailer were bought at Harbor Freight, and I've had them on the trailer for at least 3 or 4 years. |
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Majority of their stuff is crap, but dead blow hammers, wrenches, sockets, screw drivers, misc. hand tools have been holding up pretty well.. I have this tool box that I got from there and it was the best deal ever.. Super ridged, ball baring, and sturdy... I payed 320$ for it.. Was on sale plus used a 20% off coupon.. Its way better then anything craftsman puts out for double the price. http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp102/todoubled05/0da9fc0b.jpg Edit: also had a pair of 4" digital calipers that I bought for 8$ they worked well for measuring tools and what not.. I think it was about 2 years before they broke... I considered that a good buy. My brother in law has that tool box. They are built good. They also have the add on cabinets to expand it. I wanted that box for my shed, but ended up buy a Craftsman box that I found on closeout because the box from Harbor Freight wouldn't fit after I decided to get a 6 ft work table instead of a 4 ft. |
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In the Survival Gear forum there is a three-year-old thread about the little generator you can still get for $70 with the right sale / coupon there. It seems to be a favorite. I'm pretty happy with the $12-$20 paint guns. Edit: (okay it's not three years old yet...) http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_18/632490_Review_of_the__79_Harbor_Freight_Generator__with_pics__56k_noway____update_page_14.html&page=1 |
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Majority of their stuff is crap, but dead blow hammers, wrenches, sockets, screw drivers, misc. hand tools have been holding up pretty well.. I have this tool box that I got from there and it was the best deal ever.. Super ridged, ball baring, and sturdy... I payed 320$ for it.. Was on sale plus used a 20% off coupon.. Its way better then anything craftsman puts out for double the price. http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp102/todoubled05/0da9fc0b.jpg Edit: also had a pair of 4" digital calipers that I bought for 8$ they worked well for measuring tools and what not.. I think it was about 2 years before they broke... I considered that a good buy. I have that same box and paid the same price. It was an absolute steal compared to anything Craftsman (now made in China) had at twice the price. HF it is hit or miss. Great for the weekend warrior types. Just make sure you do your research on any big purchases. Some things are deals and others will be horrible. |
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Do not, under any circumstances, buy their wire brushes/cups for drills/grinders. I also would not buy anything else that goes round such as saw blades or cutting wheels.
ETA- I've used one of their cheap airbrushes to spray Duracoat with good results and I've got one of their pneumatic staplers that works well. Nothing wrong with their magnetic parts bowls either- they go on sale for like $3 periodically. |
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power tools I wouldn't expect to last longer than one decent use. Any more you get out of them I would consider a bonus. had tools can be decent. Cutting tools aren't worth your time. I am not a huge fan of their wrecnhes as they look poorly made but the box end probably works ok... I kinda like their ratchets and sockets. Ratchets are at least as good as crapsman are these days. |
| They wouldn't be worth hauling home if they were free. Who are we kidding? If you buy them and they " serve you well " occasionally assembling a piece of Ikea furniture is probably the extent of your use of tools (and that shit comes with it's own allen wrench!). |
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Use HF just like you'd use Amazon–– search their website for what you want (even if you have a retail store down the street), and check the reviews carefully!
They sell some very good tools for the money, but they also sell some crap. Electronics and power tools are more likely to be crap than hand tools, but there are diamonds and lemons in every category. Let the user reviews guide your decision. ETA: Take the SKU numbers of the items you've vetted if you're shopping in their store. They have lots of near-duplicate items that can be very confusing. |
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Angle grinder- Still works great but the aluminum around the button to lock the head broke. I just stick a allen wrench in there when I need to change the disk.
Drill- Runs like a champ Die grinder- Runs like a champ Heat gun- Runs like a champ $4 Trickle charger- works decent on small stuff, lawnmower, atv, etc. 3" cutoff wheel- Runs like a champ Sockets, wrenches, ratchets- Never broke one Cast pliers and channel locks- Broke plenty Air fittings, batteries, clamps, abrasive disks, etc will be fine. The stuff you should worry about is metal blades and things that are used to cut metal. ie jigsaw blade, holesaws, sawzall blades. Chicom metal will not cut USA steel. Their power tools are so cheap though if they make it through one job I consider to have gotten my money out of it. If I built houses for a living I would shop at Home Depot. http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1245868_What_are_some_of_your_favorite_inexpensive_things_from_Harbor_Freight_.html |
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I have a healthy number of HF tools and have been very pleased with them. Examples are too numerous to list (I'm a "tool guy"), but here's a few:
5' "johnson bar" has been great. The farm supply stores get $45 for them, I paid $18 and haven't bent it so far. Largest blast cabinet––GREAT thing at a tremendous price. Largest blast bottle––GREAT thing at a tremendous price. Fence post puller––ended up being great, but I had to rebuild it to make it work well. I ended up paying 1/3 the cost of the farm supply one, but had to use an hour of my life to make it work well. Screwdriver sets––good enough, VERY cheap. Sockets––always highly rated and work great. 3' aluminum pipe wrench––great tool and really cheap. Various trailer hitches and balls––always good welds and half the price of others. Load binders––ratcheting load binders are expensive if Am. made––these aren't ($19.99 for a 9400#) and work well. If you are an NRA member they have a 20% off coupon every month in the magazine, as well as numerous coupons. As with MANY other guys, I watch what I buy, use coupons, and LOVE HF. 
Many of the tool snobs who declare "everything they sell is junk!" have likely never shopped there. |