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Thread: What Do You Purchase at Harbor Freight?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
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    Cincinnati Ohio
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    4,731
    I have a set of HF tools to keep at the house. Handy when you need to screw on a cabinet handle or hang something. Pain to go to the shop just to get a hammer or screwdriver.
    "Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
    - Rick Dale

  2. #17
    The multifunction tool is mentioned a lot on this site, and I get a lot of use out of mine. I LOVE my 4x24 belt sander though. It's helped me recently to make really quick work of the sanding stage of a large deck refinishing project.

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    The Hartland of Michigan
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    7,628
    I've gotten all kinds of stuff. Have to go back sometime as my Brother gave me a $35 gift card.
    Gotta load up my 25% coupons and head up to Flint.
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Rochester, NY
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    4,717
    The metal F-style Pittsburg bar clamps are a great deal on sale....I have several. I also have a 13" model 38142 DP that I've very happy with, and a mortiser that works fine. The digital calipers also work well. The $5 electric hair clippers are garbage. The brad nailor works most of the time, but occasionally jams.
    Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Doylestown, PA
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    7,551
    F clamps, nitrile gloves, rectangular LED lights for $2.99, multimeter for $2.99 for checking batteries, glue brushes, wire wheels.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Mountainburg, AR
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    The F clamps work pretty well, but the quick clamps with the pistol grip are less than useless and a complete waste of time and money! I also have the 23ga pin nailer which has worked out great. I think I paid $9.99 for it. I have run countless pins through it and I can't remember even 1 jam or miss fire. It can leave a small dent in the wood however. I had a need for a reciprocating saw for a one time job, I could buy one for $20 at HF or rent one for a day for $30. I went the HF route, and still have it. It has been used several times since that one job and is still going strong!
    Oh, yeah, I have also bought a few air hoses and fittings from them. Never had a problem with those.
    Last edited by Larry Browning; 01-07-2014 at 10:38 AM.
    Larry J Browning
    There are 10 kinds of people in this world; Those who understand binary and those who don't.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    5,427
    About the only thing I buy at Harbor Freight is Nitrile gloves. I bought a cup brush for my grinder two or three years ago, but I noticed this Fall that the cup brush is shot. I wasn't able to find a cup brush that wasn't knotted except at Harbor Freight back then. There seem to be more options now, or I just didn't look hard enough the last time.

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Upland CA
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    5,548
    Same as Curt (above), and add 12 packs of small drill bit sizes, like 1/8 and 3/16. Those little work lites are great.

    Rick Potter

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Rutherford Co., NC
    Posts
    1,126
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich Riddle View Post
    It's not often I get tools there but it might be time for a change to less expensive items infrequently used. So, what tools or items do you purchase at Harbor Freight (or another less expensive retailer)? Is it worth it to purchase their tools?
    I have bought a bunch of stuff through them going back to the mid-1980s when I had to call the 800 number and give item numbers and quantities. Some of it has been great, some of it not so great, but a lot of the items are still in use. One of my first orders included a box of 100 course hack saw blades - best I've ever used - and I still probably have 10-12 left. A set of four hammers, all of which I still use, sets of SAE and metric combination wrenches, which I still use, a set of pliers and a set of crescent wrenches, which I still use, mostly for odd jobs, a set of screwdrivers which have been replaced for the most part, but I still use the large ones for prying and the like.

    About that same time I also ordered two socket sets knowing full well that the ratchets would be crap. I bought Master Mechanic ratchets to replace them and donated the ones from the set to the Art Department. They were both toast in a few months. The larger set came with several extensions and a universal joint adapter that I have used several times over the years. In over 25 years I think I have replaced two sockets that cracked under the stress.

    I also have tons of plastic spring clamps, which are great, some 2' aluminum bar clamps which are my clamps of last resort, a paint sprayer I have only used once (I don't have a compressor), an 8" dado stack, which is OK (I'd like to replace someday) and I'm sure lots of other things I cannot recall right now.

    Anymore, if it has a motor, has to hold an edge, or needs to be precise, I generally don't even consider Harbor Freight, but I will for just about anything else.
    "Live like no one else, so later, you can LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE!"
    - Dave Ramsey

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    In the foothills of the Sandia Mountains
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    16,621
    Nitrile gloves. I have a couple of their air nailers that I bought for outside fence/home maintenance that work quite well.
    Please help support the Creek.


    "It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone."
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  11. #26
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Toronto Ontario
    Posts
    11,248
    Nothing.............Regards, Rod.

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Seabrook, TX (south of Houston)
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    My rule is not to buy anything whose failure can cause me bodily harm. So no jacks, jack stands, hoists. etc. I did buy their oscillating multi-tool for a single use and have used it several times. Got some picks for getting out glue squeeze out, jewelers loupes of various magnification, magnifying glasses on a head band (I use it a lot more than I thought I would). When I get room for a dust collector I will probably try theirs with the upgrades recommended here on the Creek.

  13. #28
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    SoCal
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    Quote Originally Posted by Art Mann View Post
    I got a great deal on a rubber hammer. I also bought a $10 23 gauge pin nailer on sale. I keep hoping it will quit working so I can buy a nice one but it just keeps on working after years of steady use.
    I too have a couple inexpensive dead blow mallets that have worked for years. I also have the pinner which works flawlessly. I try to avoid anything that should be highly accurate or is motorized although I bought a $14 'Sawzall' 9 years ago to demolish some garage fixtures. It sounds like every use will be its last (shakes, grinds, etc.) but, it just keeps going.

    Other diamonds in the rough include their $1.50 rubberized cotton gloves. I use them for loading and handling rough stock. A pair lasts about a year of regular use. A lot of the stuff is worth less than you pay for it but, there are exceptions. Actually this is true for many big names that we use as well, isn't it?

    Charles said it best: "Anymore, if it has a motor, has to hold an edge, or needs to be precise, I generally don't even consider Harbor Freight, but I will for just about anything else."
    Last edited by glenn bradley; 01-08-2014 at 8:18 AM.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  14. #29
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    You buys be careful of Chinese plastic. It sometimes starts to stink badly and apparently can start decomposing. I don't know if decomposing plastic can rust your tools or not. Some CAN. I had a gunsmith friend who had a revolver in its box that kept rusting. He'd oil it,clean it,and find later that it was rusting again. The culprit turned out to be the plastic grips. They weren't Chinese,but I'm just saying to not take plastic for granted. Chinese screwdriver handles can also really start to stink like crazy. I don't know what is in that off gassing(as conservators call it). Be careful of your good tools in Chinese plastic bins,etc..

  15. #30
    The only things I buy from Harbor Freight are storage solutions and gloves. I used to go there for Goodyear air hose, but they stopped carrying it a year or two ago.

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