Harbor Freight tool thread

[SAWYER]

Yeah yeah I know they are cheap but for some of my uses they have been fine for the price. I figured I could make this thread for people to share experiences with stuff from HF. I have been using their motorcycle jack for the past year or two and it has been great and held my heavy bike up with no issue. I have also used it to hold up a riding mower. Mine is like this except yellow
http://www.harborfreight.com/1500-lb-capacity-atvmotorcycle-lift-61632.html

I got it for 60 something bucks with a coupon

I also bought a cordless drill earlier this year and have used it for several things, it cost me 18 bucks. It also has a led flashlight that activates when the drill has power, that is pretty cool
http://www.harborfreight.com/18-vol...h-keyless-chuck-21-clutch-settings-68239.html





I am looking at an angle grinder to cut a couple pieces of tile I have to replace, any suggestions?

 

[edro]

I have one of their oscillating tools. It has worked for the half a dozen or so projects I've used it. The blades are junk, but it you use another brand of blade, it works fine.

 

[slag]

I have a pittsburgh torque wrench that appears to work fine and some of their 3/8 inch drive allen bolt drivers.

I use this frequently:

http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-motorcycle-lift-68892-8495.html

and also have this and it works great:

http://www.harborfreight.com/50-ft-compact-electric-drain-cleaner-68285.html

 

[NoTine42]

Yeah yeah I know they are cheap but for some of my uses they have been fine for the price. I figured I could make this thread for people to share experiences with stuff from HF. I have been using their motorcycle jack for the past year or two and it has been great and held my heavy bike up with no issue. I have also used it to hold up a riding mower. Mine is like this except yellow
http://www.harborfreight.com/1500-lb-capacity-atvmotorcycle-lift-61632.html

I got it for 60 something bucks with a coupon

I also bought a cordless drill earlier this year and have used it for several things, it cost me 18 bucks. It also has a led flashlight that activates when the drill has power, that is pretty cool
http://www.harborfreight.com/18-vol...h-keyless-chuck-21-clutch-settings-68239.html





I am looking at an angle grinder to cut a couple pieces of tile I have to replace, any suggestions?

It seems people either hate their angle grinders, or love how cheap they are.
The heavy users generally own several grinders, with warranty, and get a free replacement as they wear out.

If you are just cutting a few partial tiles before installing, I'd recommend getting an abrasive diamond blade for a circular saw.
If you are using the gribder to remove the existing tiles, then that might be best with the grinder.

I have one of their oscillating tools. It has worked for the half a dozen or so projects I've used it. The blades are junk, but it you use another brand of blade, it works fine.

I've not heard much good about HF consumables. I think a lot of the HF hate is because their poor quality consumables make the tools apera worse than they actually are

I have a HF pancake oiled air compressor. It built half a house for me and still running (other than the reset switch that went out)
I do keep wanting to pickup an angle grinder.

 

[Humpy]

I have the $20 oscillating tool that I bought hoping to make one cut. Tool cost less than blades. I've beat the crap out of it, it gets too hot to touch, but is still working good. Same deal with a low speed mixer/drill. Needed to mix one bucket of stucco but the good one was at another job.

I have a $2 flashlight from there too.

The offgassing makes the store nearly unbearable to enter. I will probably got the cancer from having gone in there.

 

[Gillbot]

I have an 18v battery drill that's probably more than 5 years old, still works great. I use their torque wrenches a bunch, and I checked their calibration with a snap-on checker and it's more accurate than my craftsman. My angle grinder and saws all are still kicking and they are probably more than 10 years old. They have plenty of good items, but they also have junk too.

 

[shortylickens]

If you think your tools will get stolen, lost, or broken, go with Harbor Freight.

 

[Greenman]

If you think your tools will get stolen, lost, or broken, go with Harbor Freight.

That's pretty accurate. I use them as "disposable" tools. I have an HF electric jackhammer that works, though it can't begin to keep up with my DeWalt or Hilti jackhammers (the Hilti hammer is five times the price of the HF). I also have an HF floor jack that seems to be ok.
I've also owned an HF concrete vibrator and a half inch drill. Killed the vibrator in under 60 seconds, the drill lasted near two months.

If it was just home use I think I'd use a lot more HF stuff than I do now.

 

[SAWYER]

I am just home use so I dont mind using their stuff. I just got back, I bought the 4.5" heavy duty angle grinder. Normal price was $29 but it was on sale(when are they not having a sale?!) for $21 and I used a 25% off coupon and got it for 17.97 out the door. When I was looking at them there was a guy shopping who said he had the one I got and had used it around the house for a few jobs and it had been fine. The extended warranty was 8 bucks or so but for what I paid and the little I will use it, I passed. I was surprised at how solid it felt, the body has an almost rubberized feel. The gear housing is obviously cheap cast aluminum.

 

[stargazr]

I recently bought a circular saw and diamond blade from HF. We had a leaking pipe under a sidewalk, and had to cut out a section of concrete. At first I was going to rent a concrete saw, but remembered watching a plumber use a cheap circular saw on my driveway a few years back. Anyway, it worked out great. Probably cheaper than a rental, and I still have the saw.

I saw the exact set of saw horses at HF that I had bought earlier from Lowes for more money. Some things are the same quality you would find any where, for less money. It just depends. Generally I like better quality hand tools, but will buy something like a pipe wrench there. It might not be as good as one from Lowes or Sears, but then again I will only use it a few times.

 

[Greenman]

I recently bought a circular saw and diamond blade from HF. We had a leaking pipe under a sidewalk, and had to cut out a section of concrete. At first I was going to rent a concrete saw, but remembered watching a plumber use a cheap circular saw on my driveway a few years back. Anyway, it worked out great. Probably cheaper than a rental, and I still have the saw.

I saw the exact set of saw horses at HF that I had bought earlier from Lowes for more money. Some things are the same quality you would find any where, for less money. It just depends. Generally I like better quality hand tools, but will buy something like a pipe wrench there. It might not be as good as one from Lowes or Sears, but then again I will only use it a few times.

I would guess that a lot of the store brand tools you buy at Lowe's are the same manufacturer as HF.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

I have the angle grinder above and it's worked fine for what I've used it for. The best thing that I've bought there is rolling tool chest.

http://www.harborfreight.com/tool-s...er-glossy-red-roller-cabinet-combo-67831.html

It's so much better than the chests that you get at Home Depot, Lowes, and Sears.

One thing that I got there that was disappointing was a ratchet bar clamp. It could not hold a meaningful amount of pressure and would be suitable only for extremely light duty use.

 

[alkemyst]

With HF keep in mind their is usually a 'good' version of a tool and a crappy one with both being nearly the same pricing.

They do have some gems. Some of their pneumatic items (fittings and the like) are just as good as the higher priced options elsewhere and some just suck.

 

[HeXen]

Screw that place. They can't even sell a simple liquid transfer pump to do the most simplest thing it was designed to do. I wouldn't buy an ice scraper there.

 

[alkemyst]

Screw that place. They can't even sell a simple liquid transfer pump to do the most simplest thing it was designed to do. I wouldn't buy an ice scraper there.

I haven't had a problem with anything there that I bought. That said, most people don't know how to use the things they buy from there many times.

 

[SAWYER]

With HF keep in mind their is usually a 'good' version of a tool and a crappy one with both being nearly the same pricing.

They do have some gems. Some of their pneumatic items (fittings and the like) are just as good as the higher priced options elsewhere and some just suck.

How do you know which one is the better one?

 

[alkemyst]

How do you know which one is the better one?

Usually posts on Garage Forums will tell you.

 

[Zorba]

I got the Pittsburgh 3 ton low profile jack. I don't use it a lot (just my cars) but man it is nice. I looked around a lot for a jack that could get under my Legacy and wasn't $300, this one has been very nice to have.

I also really like the plastic panel pry tools I got there. Plus air fittings/hoses are much cheaper there and work fine for me, except some of the wrench flats on the air fittings are too small so you can round them off.

I also just like they have a lot of practical things that are hard to find else where, like bottle pumps.

 

[smitbret]

Mitre Box Saw
Table Saw
Oscillating Tool
Handheld sander
Belt Sander

All tools that I needed to do a quick job that I wouldn't plan on using more than a handful of times a year. The palm sander's on/off switch stopped working after about 4 days of use I just plan to plug/unplug to turn it on or off and it works well for the 17.99 I spent on it. Everything else runs like it did on day 1. I have found myself using the Mitre Saw about once a month and don't know how I lived without it.

I bought some sanding belts for the belt sander once; pack of 5, I think. They would last about 7 minutes before the seam would just come apart. Learned my lesson there and I don't think I would ever trust anything with a battery from HF.

Not sure why I got the table saw. Once I figured out how to just clamp a 2x4 to whatever I am cutting to use as a a guide for my circular saw I have pretty much stopped using it except to trim pieces of wood lengthwise.

For some tools it is literally cheaper to buy it at HF than it would be to rent a good one.

 

[Greenman]

Mitre Box Saw
Table Saw
Oscillating Tool
Handheld sander
Belt Sander

All tools that I needed to do a quick job that I wouldn't plan on using more than a handful of times a year. The palm sander's on/off switch stopped working after about 4 days of use I just plan to plug/unplug to turn it on or off and it works well for the 17.99 I spent on it. Everything else runs like it did on day 1. I have found myself using the Mitre Saw about once a month and don't know how I lived without it.

I bought some sanding belts for the belt sander once; pack of 5, I think. They would last about 7 minutes before the seam would just come apart. Learned my lesson there and I don't think I would ever trust anything with a battery from HF.

Not sure why I got the table saw. Once I figured out how to just clamp a 2x4 to whatever I am cutting to use as a a guide for my circular saw I have pretty much stopped using it except to trim pieces of wood lengthwise.

For some tools it is literally cheaper to buy it at HF than it would be to rent a good one.

Do you get good cuts out of the miter saw? I played with one in the store and seemed to be extremely sloppy. There was honestly 2 degrees of swing when it was locked on position.

 

[Zorba]

Anyone try one of their 1/2" hammer drills? I've always wanted a hammer drill, but wouldn't use it enough to justify paying for a high end one.

 

[alkemyst]

I got the Pittsburgh 3 ton low profile jack. I don't use it a lot (just my cars) but man it is nice. I looked around a lot for a jack that could get under my Legacy and wasn't $300, this one has been very nice to have.

I also really like the plastic panel pry tools I got there. Plus air fittings/hoses are much cheaper there and work fine for me, except some of the wrench flats on the air fittings are too small so you can round them off.

I also just like they have a lot of practical things that are hard to find else where, like bottle pumps.

Anyone try one of their 1/2" hammer drills? I've always wanted a hammer drill, but wouldn't use it enough to justify paying for a high end one.

Their plastic pry tools are very good. They don't last like the really great ones, but unless you are using them everyday; they probably will last a lifetime. I picked mine up as a two for one purchase and I still have a complete set 10+ years later.

For a hammer drill, I probably wouldn't buy there unless I had a need and posted on a garage forum if it would work or not.

 

[Scarpozzi]

The longevity of harbor freight tools is directly proportionate to the number of parts and weight of the tool. The more parts it has and the lighter it is, the more likely it is to break. They sell excellent anvils....anything with a motor should be avoided.

Having said that, I bought a concrete/mortar mixer from harbor freight a few years ago for $150+tax after a coupon... I used it on a job for 3 days to lay foundation block. I hosed it down and listed it on Craigslist for $150. It was cheaper than a rental and I didn't have to worry about buying one and having to store it.

 

[IronWing]

The longevity of harbor freight tools is directly proportionate to the number of parts and weight of the tool. The more parts it has and the lighter it is, the more likely it is to break. They sell excellent anvils....anything with a motor should be avoided.

Actually their anvils suck.

<= wife is blacksmith.

I had very good luck with their electric chainsaw. As Alky said, it dpends also on the user. I don't know much at all about chainsaw use but it worked and didn't break.

 

[acheron]

I have a circular saw from there that has been ok. Automotive jack has been fine though I don't use it more than a few times a year. Garden hose is not great (inflexible, kinks a lot) but it does move water from one end to the other. *shrug*

I've found anything that needs to be made to a tight tolerance (e.g. wrenches) is a crapshoot and not worth it. Like someone else said, a lot of times it's the same manufacturers as some place like Lowe's, but probably with less quality control.