any experience with harbor freight

[chickenwing]

Model # 39955-vga Production Drill Press. Was a piece of junk! arbor was out of round .030". Took it back and the manager didnt even ask what was wrong with it. Bought a Craftsman and am happy with it.

Central pnumatic(sp?) Body Saw- I love it, works great. The foot could be a lil bit beefier though.

CP 1/2" impact- Working fine for me...

Model 39170-4vga Blast Cabinet- Does ok but leaks abrasive heavily at the seams. Plan on modifying it. Light was very weak. I cut a hole in top and mounted another lens and another higher wattage flouresent fixture.

Model 37151-7vga Horizontal/Verticle Metal Cutting band saw- I love this tool! Cuts very nice. Still, has some cons: Degree indicator on bed is useless. Tool is way too low to the ground for a 6'2" male to use. Plan on making a new stand. Blade guides do not have enough adjustment, particularly in the verticle mode. Their blades are not of the highest quality and you tend to go through them kinda fast. But they are cheap...

1/2" drive deep well socket set- I am kinda shy on the larger sockets in my Craftsman set. Bought this to cover the gaps. Have not busted any. Have not stripped any nuts with em either. So I am satisfied with em.

CP 43430-8VGA HVLP spray gun- Used this info for set up: http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sum...Pspraygun.html I am definately an amatuer at spraying paint. Still, It worked good for me.

Model 42040-3VGA Pick Rack- Love this thing! I got 2 of em and it really cleaned up my garage from all the nit-noid parts you just can't figure out where to put.

Model 32052-7VGA Vehicle dollies- Another 2 thumbs up! I use these things to turn my truck sideways in the garage. When I have a current project I leave the vehicle on em so I can move the car around to other areas of the garage easily. Con: Have steel wheels. If your floor is epoxy coated these WILL gouge the coating.


Model 46104-8VGA Air Hose Reel- I love it. Only has a 25' long hose but centrally mounted it reaches anywhere in my 3 car garage.

Model 3150-2VGA 4 1/2" grinder. I have 2 that I bought for $6 each at one of their sidewalk sales. Use 1 with a grinder wheel and 1 with a wire wheel. They are kinda week and the switches on them are not safe (IMO) but hey, SIX BUCKS!

I've got their air tool water seperator/oil injector and their straight water/seperator for paint. Would like higher quality units but just can't justify the price for what I do.
I use alot of their expendable supplies. #1 Are their rubber gloves. I try to keep the grease out from my fingernails. I use their 2" chip brushes for fiberglass and Por-15 work. I use their sand blast nozzles, their alluminum & plastic abbrasives, 4 1/2" grinding wheels, cut-off wheels and band-saw blades. The wheels and blades wear down quick, but they are cheap. THEIR SANDPAPER IS NOT WORTH BUYING.

Things I won't buy. Ratchets, any wrench 1" and below, 3/8" sockets (non-impact), screwdrivers, files, Ball joint press (I got one but bent it on my C-20, they did replace it on their <30 day warranty) any magnetic tool, and torque wrenches (just don't trust em).

Sure I have more of their junk.... just can't think of anything else. By and large, I love em. Just be cautious and really look at the tool. They will let you take it back the 1st 30 days with a reciept.

[Dick Dale]

I have a 22' boat and trailer on those dollies and they hold up fine. I also have the 7hp 21 gal tank air compressor. It could be better but cannot be beat for the price.

[jtminton]

I have a 24" adjustable wrench hanging on my office wall from Harbor Freight. Never used it for anything other than to look at, though. Quite the conversation piece.

[1STtimePRo'71]

I think It all depends on where they ship from. Because The shop I work in gets an order from them about once a week. Not because stuff breaks but because anyone and everyone that comes around the place puts in an order with my boss. I have yet to have a tool from them that has broken or malfunctioned and I've spent alot of money with them. Not to mention all of the tools around the shop. BUT a guy I know had a ujoint tool bust on him. I guess it wasnt pretty though. Only personal problem I guess.

Like everyone else says, you get what you pay for, but if its cheap than no problem.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

I have just bought a stud gun or what ever you call it to pull dent's and it work's great..The only thing I have ever had fail from hb was a line bender it was pretty damn cheap though.. Good tools all in all though..

[Stiffler]

Harbor Freight tools.....I've heard nothing but negative feedback. My $0.02

[QKENUF4U]

i buy from them alot anymore. i have had stuff break and ive had stuff work perfect. i HATE that im supporting communist china but i gotta do what i gotta do.
oh and chickenwing, FYI all handtools have a lifetime gurantee on them.

[chickenwing]

Yeah, I know. I just don't wanna buy a hand tool (wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers)and KNOW I am gonna have to take em up on the warranty. I hear ya on the communist thing too. Think about it though, those guys are more capitalistic than we are in some ways. They STILL have no idea what a copywrite, patent or intellectual property is.

[ZmOz]

Their customer service and shipping times suck horribly...but often it's worth it to save so much. I just ordered an angle grinder, timing light, reciprocating saw, and 30 drill bit set for $46...where else can you do that?! Before you order something from them search google for "harbor freight coupons"...they ALLWAYS have several of them for free tools/free shipping/discounts...

[chickenwing]

Holy cow!!! MARTINSR actually has endorsed a Harbor Freight product!! Gonna send this to the AP newswire!! http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php3?t=159206

[Matt67C10]

I find that with Harbor Freight, some stuff is pretty good, other stuff is junk. I remember when the store opened here, I received a screwdriver set as a "gift" for the first 100 peoplke in the store. I went home and mangled the phillips by turning a screw that wasn't that tight!

[berkelusa]

That POT blaster they sell for $80 is CRAP, The sucker can take your finger clean off down to the bone IF you dont know what your doing..

That is UNTIL you change it to my design.. lol

Rob

[Josh]

I buy alot of tools from them, they're impact sockets are hard to beat for the $$$ I've only ever broken one and that is because i was using it with a good 1/2" impact and a 1/2"-3/8" change over extension... I like their 1/4" air ratchets, $20 does 25ft lb of torque, and will last over a year of daily abuse even if you don't oil it (I do alot of interior work so i can't oil my 1/4 ratchet or else customers get mad at oil stains in carpet )

[matthufham]

they're really pissin me off lately, bought a cheap sandblaster, cheap air chissel, cheap welder that died, cheap DA sander, the only good thing was my welding helmet, and 4 1/2" grinder that so far hasn't pissed me off.

[chickenwing]

Plenty of warnings around the site about buyin their welders. Heard of a couple of guys liking them but that's it. I have one of their helmets also, it really helped me out on the starts. I have their DA, have not used it much so I'll take your word for it!

[JameslovesJammie]

Ingersol Rand makes Craftsman's air tools. I know because I work for Sears.

[3100 special]

The HPLV gun has worked fine for me but, I not using it for professional full time usage. Hard to beat 49 bucks.
I just bought their 2 ton folding shop crane with an 8 ton ram on Sunday for 149.00...I'm REAL happy with that buy.
There's a store over in Pasadena (Texas) that I've been to a couple of times. Looking over the stuff, some is clear one time use (maybe) and some of it reasonably good for occassion use.

So...this thread's been out here for a while. Did you buy the tools? What did you think?

[patgizz]

bought an air ratchet from them, it broke 3 days later. i took it back and got my $ back and bought a campbell hausfeld ironman one and its been fine.

i don't buy much there just stuff like gloves, crappy throw away foam paint brushes, once in a while they have goodyear air hose on sale. i will never buy power or air tools there and most of their other stuff - well - you get what you pay for.

they do have dewalt made in usa grinding wheels for a buck less than TSC or the home depot.

[BIGT05]

There ok by me

[blaserman]

Since they opened a store just down the street I almost live there. Have bought sockets,wrenches,sawzall,elect.impack wrench,air compressor,welder,etc.. Never had any problems with them. Guess I'm lucky according to some other people.

Art

[chickenwing]

Their welding gloves are no good for heavy use. They come in 3 packs and are red. They did work fine for occasional use at home but they had holes in them after 8 hours use in my welding class. This held true for the 2nd pair too and am now on my 3rd pair. Buy some good ones somewhere else.

Auto darkening helmet. I got the one that is battery powered. Works good. Eyes not itchy at all after continuously welding for 4 hours. Has an auto off feature that sounds cool but the switch is inside the helmet and it is a PIA to take off the helmet every time the thing switches off. Provided their solar powered helmet operates as fast as the battery powered one, would recommend that one as there is no power switch. The shade control on the solar powered model is on the outside also.

[71SWBChevy]

I typically go to home depot for all air tools their husky air tools have a lifetime guarantee and they really do stand behind it they will give you a brand new one on the spot as long as you have the original box and if you don't have the box they'll send it off for you to have it repaired. They stand up to abuse pretty good ours are rarely oiled and used practically everyday sometimes for hours on end on the weekends. They are a little more expensive but those are the only AIR tools I have found with a lifetime guarantee.

[krue]

I have had good results with harbor freight, but I know that you get what you pay for.

[masterbeavis]

HF handtools I try to avoid. I also do not buy brand name tools there either. You can get a better deal if you buy just about anywhere else. I bought a set of 12" end nippers thinking now cutting 16 penny nails would be a snap. They worked like a snap alright, *SNAP* on the third nail. (I know now the proper way to cut a 16, but then it was all muscle trying to get that thing to cut.) I took it back, and paid 3 times as much for a craftsman, I am way happy with it, have used it daily for 4 years now.

HF tools are hit and miss sometimes. Yes the prices are awesome, especially if you dont make a living with your tools, and only need it once.

Stuff I will buy. The impact sockets, 1/2" and 3/4" breaker bar, impact extensions, brass punches, engine hoist, 6 ton jackstans, pair for $20 on sale. Where else can you buy ever sized socket adapters to go from 1' to 1/4" for only $8?? logger chains,( weak, 5400# test, but cheap)

Stuff I wont buy again.
Ccertain hammers, the tranny jack adapter (it makes the trans only lower to about 12-14", you cant get it out from under the car, completly worthless) Off brand drill bits, off brand tap and die set, Anything that comes with chains, bolts or nuts for assembly, I promplty throw away and go to OSH, or HD and replace right away before assembly and failure.

I am forgetting a bunch, but you get the idea. Try it, if you dont like it, take it back. Save the recipt, some places will ask for it.