Opinion On Harbor Freight Tools

[Cary Falk]

I have their 4x6 horizontal metal cutting bandsaw. It has been running like a champ for years. It was cheaper than a chut off saw and is much quieter. HF is like any other store. HF is like any other store. Not everything is good. I have the same rule with HF as I have Rockler. I do not step foot in the store unless I have my 20% coupon.

[Mel Fulks]

They have a 25 foot garden soaker hose that is the best I have seen anywhere. They are covered with a braided nylon
cover,and don't break like the ones made from old tires. They are being CLOSED OUT with a big mark down off an
already low price. Yes ,I gave some for Christmas.

[Karl Card]

floating around the net is a list of DO's and DONT's about what to buy from HF... I have a drill press that I bought used for 50 bucks that came from HF. It is on the list of DO's and I love it. Has plenty of power and is very accurate. Do a google search and you will find plenty that list. One thing that I did that made things eve better was to throw away the oem belts and get the link belt for this drill press and that made it smoother than silk...

[Steven Hsieh]

Does anyone here own their paint can shaker?

[Michael Mayo]

Well I bought a full face visor to protect my face when working in the shop and immediately brought it back as I couldn't even see through the plastic face shield. The same day I also bought a HD slide hammer pulling kit. I was working on my front wheel hub on my 2000 Ford F-150 and needed to get the hub off the steering knuckle. Well it lasted exactly three pulls on the slide hammer before the adapter that bolts to the wheel hub snapped in half. So there is two DON'Ts. I have bought other stuff and not had any problems but it is definitely buyer beware when purchasing anything from there.

[Steven Triggs]

The linked article is very funny.

I love Harbor Freight. They are great for tools you'll use only a few times and could therefore never justify the price of brand name.

Probably my best purchase from them though has been a bed extender for my pickup. It puts a support about 4' behind the hitch, making it practical to tie down and haul 16' lumber in a truck with an 8' bed (it is then supported back to 12'). At harbor freight it was only about $30, and everywhere else they seem to be over $100. I have used it at least a dozen times, and it has worked great.

[ryan carlino]

I need to stop reading this at work!!1 Got a major chuckle out of that one!!!!

[David Hostetler]

Harbor Freight takes plenty of abuse at the butt end of jokes, some of it deserved, some just garbage being spread by a sort of wierd tool snobbish elitism. Some of their larger tools are actually quite good if you know what you are looking for, and have an idea of the features you want...

Northern tools, which carries almost exactly the same stuff as Harbor Freight with slightly different paint, and the Cosmoline cleaned off for you doesn't take this sort of abuse for their stuff.

Now having said that, I have bought a few items at Harbor Freight that were junk. But I pretty much knew it going in, I was being stupidly hopeful that the items would work for the job at hand. They didn't. Specifically the aluminum corner clamps, and hole saws, utter, and complete junk.

[Steve Peterson]

I've made a lot of good purchases from HF over the years. The have many of the exact same items as Sears, Auto parts stores, etc. only much cheaper. Especially if you watch the sales flyers and coupons.

I doubt that they are always the exact same item as other places. The castings may be identical, but anything electrical (motors, switches, etc.) often appear to be smaller on the HF versions. They may label it as having the same hp and it may use just as much electricity, but I doubt that it produces the same power. Most everything at HF with a motor seems to get labeled as underpowered.

Steve

[John Coloccia]

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.

Exactly. I go there for Goodyear air hose, and that's about it. Beyond that, it's like gambling and I can't afford to gamble with my time and money. When I buy something it has to work and it it has to work reliably. What's the point otherwise? I'm at a stage in my life where my interest in tools has become strictly utilitarian and I'd rather find a way to work around a tool I don't have than to work with a piece of junk that will just frustrate me and possible damage whatever I'm working on.

[Ben Johnson WI]

+ 1 on the 1236 lathe clone. Great starter lathe.

My only problem is that it is too small and underpowered. But I would have the same issues w/ the Jet for 3x the price.

Here's a good link to a guy who souped up his HF lathe with a variable speed DC treadmill motor, built a new base, and added riser blocks to get the swing up to about 16", all for around $200-$250.

http://hardpan.com/34706/

Pretty good setup for <$500 out of pocket plus your time.

@Steve - last time I was at HF before the holidays, they still had the US-made link belts.

[Jon Shank]

I'll third the 12x36 lathe appreciation. It's not a top of the line tool by any stretch of the imagination, but for the money it's pretty darn nice. I've had the opportunity to play around on the jet it's a clone of and other than better finish I don't think your missing anything. It turns as smoothly and as far as I could tell (didn't exactly mount it on testing equipment , mind you) it's at least in the same class power wise. No question the stand is complete garbage but with some wooden additions and added leveling feet it works ok. Another pretty good addition is the HSS lathe tools they sell. Cheap and crappy by comparison to the better name brands I've had a chance to play with, but good fodder for learning to sharpen them. Honestly they hold an edge ok too, pleasantly surprised, didn't expect much. Not really comparable to the better brand names from what I've had a chance to play with, but I heard alot of stories about burning up alot of tool length in the learning process and the stories have held true. By the time I figured out a proper edge on the 1/4 inch spindle gouge I'd ground off about an inch a and a half.

I wouldn't buy any of their cordless tools, but like others have said, the lesser used hand tools can be ok. Nitrile, latex, and leather work gloves, acid brushes, 1" x 20' sandpaper rolls for the lathe. Alot of simple consumables in other words.

Keep in mind, it is Harbor Frieght. So ya spends yer moneys, ya takes yer chances.

Jon

[Bud Millis]

Sucks to works very well. For the most part there stuff is pretty good and works well. I've had bad luck with raised panel bits and a tile saw. Hit or miss.

[Chris Fournier]

HF is a symptom of the current consumer/economic malaise in North America or rather Western culture. I would rather have 30% of what I want as long as it was good quality rather than 130% of what I need that is off shore disposable crap. I want the money that I spend to support my fellow North Americans (no not just the importers of cheap crap, the manufacturers) and be good value purchases that last me a life time. I'm not a flag waver nor a union member but I do have good quality tools that allow me to work with confidence and with a minimum of fuss.

[steven c newman]

Harbor Freight is....just Harbor Freight. One merely has to KNOW what they are looking at when they go in the store. They have KNOW what to look for. Buyer Beware? Nah, BUYER BE SMARTER. If you know what to lok for it theirs tools, you can find a few very good tools.

I was actually within a quarter mile of a H-F store twice last week, and will be in the area twice next week. Will power didn't keep me out of there, $180 a week sick pay did. Now, I'm sure to some out there, that is mere one days pay (if that) but those that have to live on that kind of pay, sometimes H-F does look pretty good. At least the stuff looks better than what is for sale a Walmart. I still have the same $400 tablesaw saw I've had for +30 years. For those that can drop $$$$ on a tool, Hey, have fun! For those that merely have to "make-do", Hey, we having fun, too.