Some of it is really good and some of their stuff is really bad. Their ratchets, 3500w inverter generator, top end car polisher, chainsaw sharpener, airless paint sprayer, and Doyle line have been outstanding for me. Also, their tool chests are absolutely outstanding.
I’ll have to split this thread out, because of my dumb ass and thread drift.
#RESIST
I'm on the buy-once-cry-once team when it comes to tools. Have never regretted buying quality, and I'm getting on toward 40 years of use on some stuff.
I had a buddy who used to really like their $30 butterfly impact wrench. Super convenient. When he bought the third one, I pointed out that he could have bought one Ingersoll-Rand and it would still be going strong. He couldn't argue with me.
If it doesn't have more than a couple (or any) moving parts, doesn't have to be sharp and cut something, doesn't have to be super strong, doesn't run on electricity or air, and doesn't have to be precise, it's worth looking at HF.
Always buy in person at the store so you can see what a POS something is before you've handed over money. Never online.
I usually keep a lot of their gloves and some wire brushes on hand. Have a bunch of their plastic sawhorses. Some pry bars, some bar clamps, chip brushes, magnetic parts dishes. Twenty years ago, they used to sell Amflo QD air hose connectors, but then they went cheap on that.
I expect extensive reconditioning/re-engineering/preparation when trying to make anything more complicated ready for use. Deburring, upgrading hardware from grade 2 to grade 8, shimming, etc. More than once, I've realized I'd have been way ahead spending more on better equipment from somewhere else. (Like with an engine stand that I picked up on sale and left in the box under my work bench until I needed it, then had to cut it apart and reweld it so all four wheels would touch the floor at the same time).
Interestingly, only people with really expensive cars ever seem to have the aluminum jacks fail to work, at least that I hear about.
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Not another dime.
I found my best TIG welding glove there - the goatskin glove. Soft, pliable and, of course, 20% of what I have paid in the past for a good TIG glove. I actually like them better because they are more pliable.
With liberty and justice for all...must be 18, void where prohibited, some restrictions may apply, not available in all states.
When working on old and/or obscure guns there are specific tools that are no longer produced or unobtainable. I find Harbor Freight small tools to be great for the purposes of modification to suit a purpose. In short, it's a piece of shit that I don't feel bad grinding on or bending to shape. Since I may only need it one time, if it only lasts that one time than it's little money well spent.
We may lose and we may win, but we will never be here again.......
Their shop presses have become the gold standard for AK building, including some professional AK builders not just garage hacks like myself.
The wrenches and socket sets seem to be solid.
I have one of their air compressors, other than being louder than a jet flying right above you, and taking several minutes to fill the tank when you fire it up, it's worked well for me.
I got a bench vise from a family member for Christmas. It's a little hokey, but it works well for holding my reaction rod when I'm working on an upper.
He could have argued by saying "what about all the time I spend a 1/3 of what you did on various tools that worked perfectly and never broke? Even though this impact wrench was a bad purchase, I'm still ahead of you and your buy once/cry once philosophy."Originally Posted by OlongJohnson
That's what this thread is for. To get a little help on when to buy cheap (HF) and when not to.
The Mythbuster guy Adam says buy cheap, and if you break it then go buy a better one. I hate making extra trips to the store when I've started a project, but that seems like a pretty good method.
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I was in HF not long ago. They've come a long way. Their new ratchets are nice, for example. I tell you, it worries me a lot how China has closed the quality gap with other countries (US, Taiwan, Europe, etc). That's if you can even find a comparable tool made in the U.S. Sometimes you can't.
Their submergeable pumps worked beautifully for me.
Living in a high altitude desert, Harbor Freight was the only tool supplier around that had these in stock. Everybody else could order something (and so could I) but it all came from China anyway.
Don’t blame me. I didn’t vote for that dumb bastard.
I have moved cars across a parking lot with a pair of their aluminum, low-profile floor jacks. They are legit.
I have their Pittsburgh low profile 3 ton jack and a set of tall 6 ton jack stands that work great for me. Both tools are oversized for my needs, but I feel like the additional capacity gives me enough margin for error, especially when I'm underneath a vehicle.
I do kind of wish I had sprung for the aluminum version of the jack as the steel version is a heavy beast to move around.
I have a few other odd tools, they mostly do the job, but the jack and stands are the standouts.
Chris
Harbor Freight tools are absolutely superb for a person who does not make a living with, well, um... tools.
I have a few, cheap, rarely used Chinese tools and I appreciate the cheap single-use tools provided to me from the same Communist originators of Covid-19.
Paraphrasing Wyatt Earp: The first shot is twice as important as the second shot, the 2nd shot is twice as important as the 3rd shot, the 3rd shot is twice as important as the 4th shot, the 4th shot is twice as important as the 5th shot…
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