The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Bench Racing → Harbor Freight Tools
Don't buy electrical connectors from HF, either. They're absolutely terrible.
The Craftsman 'lifetime warranty' on 'hand tools' can be misleading, in least in my case it was. The company I used to work for made large diameter FRP pipe and we had to pressure test it in some situations. Most of larger pipe sizes use bolts like 3/4" diameter and up. These bolts need a BIG torque wrench like a 3/4" drive so we bought one at the local Sears. After a two jobs it was broken so we took it back and we were told a torque wrench was NOT a hand tool! WTF? I'm thinking either it's a power tool or it's a hand tool right? According to them a tool with internal moving parts doesn't qualify for the lifetime warranty so we were SOL. We bitched about it and even called the corporate office but to no avail.
that's Bullshit. under that premise, their ratchets would not qualify for the warranty; yet they do. Sounds like a cop-out to me. I personally just wound up with an HF clicker-style torque wrench. seems of very good quality actually, but i rarely use it, so what do i know...
They've always had a policy that clicker torque wrenches don't have the lifetime warranty, or at least as long as I can remember.
Went to HF today. Just picked up the general crap you need in your garage. Their tools looked super crappy.
On another note, I bought a parts washer there. What solvent do you use in those things?
Went to HF today. Just picked up the general crap you need in your garage. Their tools looked super crappy.
On another note, I bought a parts washer there. What solvent do you use in those things?
I use ordinary paint thinner (from Home Depot) in mine. It stinks a whole lot less than the old standard, Stoddard Solvent, and appears to be virtually identical (except for the smell).
Yes, Harbor Freight tools are pretty crappy, but I still sometimes buy them for light-duty or single use. I got a hydraulic lift table to use at work for lifting heavy computer servers and similar equipment into racks. It has been a real back saver.
Super Agitene by Graymills is a good general purpose parts solvent. It takes about 8 gals to fill my wash tank, so I use a 5 gal bucket of Agitene and 3 gals of odorless mineral spirits.
It can be UPS-ed from mcmaster-carr, item # 3457K11.
I've had a set of these for quite some time and have used them in some very high torque situations... They are all still working perfectly. Wish I had an excuse to buy another set or two. For $25 they are awesome. I have some geartech swivel head ones and some craftsman swivel head ones, but the pittsburg HF no swivel have seen the most use!
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-piece-sa … 96654.html
On another note, I bought a parts washer there. What solvent do you use in those things?
I use Purple Power in mine. Ir works great on dirt, but will etch aluminum parts. I probably would have used Simple Green if the auto parts place had enough of it.
Simple Green also etches aluminum.
"Earthquake" impact wrench at Harbor Freight has been the best money I've ever spent. Took off some head bolts with it last night, despite a non-impact extension, non-impact 1/2" to 3/8" adapter, and non-impact 10mm allen socket. I bought it because I couldn't get a 36mm axle nut off of a car, despite 6' worth of cheater (broke my 1/2" Craftsman breaker instead). Spun it off after 2-3 seconds of hammering. Looks identical to the Bluepoint one my buddy bought from the Snap On guy for $200.
Their jacks are decent, the aluminum ones are light and seem to last, but don't lift much. I ended up getting a 3-ton aluminum jobby from Costco for $119.99, even picks up my 37' toyhauler (14k lbs).
I don't buy anything they sell with an electric motor:
1. Sawzall sucked. The blade clamp continually broke, and it shook a brand new blade back and forth so bad you couldn't cut anything without slowly starting. Milwaukee FTW!
2. Angle grinders, horrible. Loud, and the bearings (bushings, maybe?) are so horrible, it'll shake your hands to numbness in a couple of minutes of use. Bought a $30 Ryobi one, 1000x better.
3. Drills, as said, suck. Slow, and not so round.
I did, however, have excellent luck with their "Oscillating Multifunction Tool" (http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tool … 67256.html). Works great, but will make you go deaf.
I've also had two of their 240v MIG welders. Work great, the first one broke after 7 years of (ab)use where I didn't pay attention to duty cycle once. Finally stopped working one day welding a 1/8" skidplate together (3 joints 36-48" wide). Their gas regulators work well, and their wire (Hobart brand) is actually of better quality than the overpriced stuff at AirGas (IMO).
Either way, just play with the part before buying, you can usually tell if it's junk or not.
"Earthquake" impact wrench at Harbor Freight has been the best money I've ever spent. Took off some head bolts with it last night, despite a non-impact extension, non-impact 1/2" to 3/8" adapter, and non-impact 10mm allen socket. I bought it because I couldn't get a 36mm axle nut off of a car, despite 6' worth of cheater (broke my 1/2" Craftsman breaker instead). Spun it off after 2-3 seconds of hammering. Looks identical to the Bluepoint one my buddy bought from the Snap On guy for $200.
Their jacks are decent, the aluminum ones are light and seem to last, but don't lift much. I ended up getting a 3-ton aluminum jobby from Costco for $119.99, even picks up my 37' toyhauler (14k lbs).
I don't buy anything they sell with an electric motor:
1. Sawzall sucked. The blade clamp continually broke, and it shook a brand new blade back and forth so bad you couldn't cut anything without slowly starting. Milwaukee FTW!
2. Angle grinders, horrible. Loud, and the bearings (bushings, maybe?) are so horrible, it'll shake your hands to numbness in a couple of minutes of use. Bought a $30 Ryobi one, 1000x better.
3. Drills, as said, suck. Slow, and not so round.I did, however, have excellent luck with their "Oscillating Multifunction Tool" (http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tool … 67256.html). Works great, but will make you go deaf.
I've also had two of their 240v MIG welders. Work great, the first one broke after 7 years of (ab)use where I didn't pay attention to duty cycle once. Finally stopped working one day welding a 1/8" skidplate together (3 joints 36-48" wide). Their gas regulators work well, and their wire (Hobart brand) is actually of better quality than the overpriced stuff at AirGas (IMO).
Either way, just play with the part before buying, you can usually tell if it's junk or not.
My current impact (Kobalt) sucks, so I'll look at the Earthquake per yours and others recommendations. Sounds like a good X-mas gift.
I didn't know the HF MIG wire was the Hobart brand. I've been using the Lincoln wire (at Lowes), which is a little more, but only a couple of bucks more IIRC. The Lowes is 5 mins from my work, and the HF is 45 mins and when I run out wire its just closer.
Over the years I've purchased a welding cart, metal cutting band saw, and a $10 angle grinder from HF. The switch on the grinder stopped working after a decade and the bandsaw still works great. Not a fan of their sockets and hand tools but I find that the stuff from Taiwan is of better quality than what's made in China.
I spent money on an Ingersoll-Rand twin-hammer impact wrench. $250, but it's big enough to remove and reinstall RX-7 flywheel nuts (280 lb/ft of torque).
I bought a $70 tubing notcher from Steve's Wholesale (local version of Harbor Freight). It worked like a champ when we built our cage. My welder decided he wanted to buy one for home use.
I bought a $100 gasless MIG that's good at stitching sheetmetal together and not much else. It works great for small jobs, like tacking some turn-downs onto our exhaust to keep it from heating the rear brakes.
I've also bought packages of Sawzall blades, cotter pins, Roloc discs, a f'n great $30 tile saw, paint supplies, Chinese paint gun, Dremel bits, plastic tool bins, cheap heavy-duty swivel casters, and other stuff I can't remember.
The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Bench Racing → Harbor Freight Tools