Opinion On Harbor Freight Tools

[Darius Ferlas]

I bought only an HVLP sprayer from them 3+ years ago. One sale plus coupons, it cost me a little less than a gallon of decent quality topcoat. This is exactly the same gizmo Rockler sells for twice the price. If used only for WB finishes it would last for a good number of years.

Every now and then I see a power tool, or a hand tool in other stores such as Sears, that has an eerie resemblance to the HF equivalent.

[Mike OMelia]

Their brad point drill sets are good. Actually, very good. And at &19 for something like 30 bits or so, a steal.

[steven c newman]

I do have a power tool or two of theirs. Needed a benchtop drill press a couple years back, found one of theirs for ~$70. Needed a $.49 set screw in one pulley, and it has been good ever since. Got a $10 "Dremel" clone. use it to help clean the handplanes i restore. Speaking of Handplanes... BUY that Windsor #33! Only ~$10! I turned mine into a VERY GOOD scrub plane. It will make decent shavings right out of the box as a "regular" #3 sized plane, but as a Scrub? A1+!!001.jpgThis is how it does right out of the box. Grind a 3" radius or so ( about like a Stanley #40) and then it will scrub all week long.

Hand Tools: H-F does have two very different "grades" of handtools. The ones that just say "Pittsburgh"? Stay away! If they have added "Professional" to the name, should be alright. They cost a bit more, but it is worth it.

[george newbury]

HF is GREAT for second copy hand tools. I've gotten to the point I need a LOT of duplicate basic tools. Hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, measuring tapes, drill bits etc. I spread them around between my workshops and houses enough so I don't have to spend 5 minutes walking to get a tape measure or hammer or wrench that I didn't anticipate wanting.

Their power tools are useless. I only get them when I know I'm going to use them right off. I had a reciprocating saw ($19 on sale) I put about 5 hours on for a job, It worked for another 5 before it died.

Their 900 watt generators are fair for < $100.

[Ken Kimbrell]

Lucky for me HF is 30-40 minutes away, otherwise who knows the trouble I would be in...

[Larry Whitlow]

My local Harbor Freight is literally right next door to the local Rocklers store. It is like two opposite worlds about to collide.

[Peter Kelly]

Same situation with the Rockler store Pasadena, there's a HF just a few feet away. Probably didn't happen by accident.

[Dick Mahany]

I finally broke down and went into a Harbor Freight (with a bag on my head so that nobody would recognize me ) and bought one of their metal digital calipers. I used them to measure the pen bushings on a pen mandrel. To my surprise, the bushing IDs measured 0.002" smaller than the OD of the shaft that they were sliding on! Either my pen mandrel kit is magic, or these calipers are worth exactly what I paid for them ~ $15.

[Dan Hintz]

To my surprise, the bushing IDs measured 0.002" smaller than the OD of the shaft that they were sliding on!

Sounds like that's readily resolved... file away some of the metal on the inside caliper wings. Though I understand your point.

My HF calipers seem to be dead-nuts on when compared to a Mitutoyo. They also make great tear-down units for use as a height gauge on planers and such. In fact, I should probably pick up another set or two during the next sale so I can have them at different spots around the shop.

[Jim German]

I've stopped buying stuff at HF. Its just too expensive. Half the time the tool works fine and I save a couple bucks. The other half the time I throw the piece of junk away and have to buy a good brand anyway, or even worse the crappy tool wrecks my workpiece.

Its not worth my time or money to buy stuff there anymore, I'll just buy a good tool to start with. If its something I only need once I'll either buy a good one and re-sell it or buy a used one.

[BOB OLINGER]

The first time I went to HF, I turned around about 10' into the store and left. However, I'm now a HF addict. Our closest store is about 35 mi. away. But I shop in others depending on the city I'm in. Over the last few years, I've found some very good buys, such as:

- I bought 3 of the wood work benches ($139ea) and put them together/side-by-side for a workbench. They work great!
- Dust collector kit
- Plastic drawer liners - super!
- Furniture dollies - work OK, save a lot of work
- Male and female cord ends
- Raised panel combination wrenches - don't use frequently, but seem OK for an occasional use
- Green/black ratchets and sockets - only had for about 1 yr., but seem fine for occasional use; reasonable price provided
me the chance to have SAE and metric; also the extensions
- Pneumatic orbital sander - seems very well made and it works beautifully; this appears a candidate for one of the most
under rated items.
- Goodyear orange air hose - great
- Just bought a pair of ramps like to load a snowblower into the pickup - like about $50 - how can you go wrong?
- I ordered a metal tool cart on casters for about $50 after the 25% off online coupon last week; hasn't arrived, but
the quality I saw in the store appeared very worth the $50.
- Rotary drill that we occasionally use at our plant; for occasional use, seems great for about $70 (or less?)
- Air compressor that we use at one of our plants; gets a good workout, seems OK, especially for the $

My only regret is not having a store closer.

[ray hampton]

the H F are under 10 miles from me and they sell tools that I never found in any other store, some of their tools may be bad but bad tools can be bought from the finest stores, thanks for this post

[Rich Riddle]

I tend to purchase consumables at harbor freight, things like sand paper, grinding wire wheels, heat shrink, zip ties, dollies (someone always seems to "borrow" mine), etc. I purchase their spray guns when painting and throw them away after the job is done. Works great for that. I am not inclined to purchase any power or cordless tools there though the plastic calipers have come in handy. A dandy place where you can leave with three bags of merchandise for $25.

[Lee Schierer]

I'm not a big fan of HF. I have purchased their VOM for $2.99 and it tells me if there is power present and if batteries are okay. I wouldn't trust it for precision work.

I also have purchased their Nitrile gloves. They are cheap and work well for putting on stain.

They have some decent C-clamps in the 4"-6" size that work great for woodworking.

I wouldn't buy major power tools from them as getting parts will be a problem if anything breaks since they change factories often. I'm not sure I would buy power tools from them nor safety equipment like jacks, jack stands etc.

[Steven Hsieh]

Surprisingly they sell michelin us made air hose