So lets talk Harbor Freight tools

[Ben Cadotte]

A comment in another post got me to thinking. Alot of people complain of HF tools. Some say they are ok. And some others absolutely trash them. So I am wondering what tools you have tried from them? What is still working, what broke, what is working but had to be worked on / fixed?? What definately needs to be avoided? If the tool failed. Was it being used correctly for the quality of tools its known to be (ie..expecting Festtool quality and accuracy for 1/10 the price).

I have several power tools from them.

Whats been good straight from them-
2hp DC- Not a single problem. Added their 1 micron filter. Works great. (3-4 years old)
17" swing drill press. Not a single problem. Run out is .0015. 6 years old
6" Jointer. Not a single problem. Fence is a pain in the arse though. 6 years old.
9" grinder. Has taken a bit of abuse and still going strong. 2 years.
2hp sds rotary hammer. Serious use / abuse for 3 hard days work. Then just occasional use. 1 year.
14" bandsaw- Not a single problem yet. Just installed height block. Everything lined up with no modifications. 6 years old.
23 and 15 gauge brad, 10 gauge full head framing nailer. Worked great from the get go. No issues (except for impropper use by me for the first couple times). Once figured out what I was doing wrong. No issues what so ever.

What been good after modifications / small repair.
10" slide miter saw. Fence was out of alignment. Had to file 1 hole oblong. Saw is now accurate on all factory stops. Off and on moderate use. 6 years old.
18 gauge brad (2" and 1 1/4"). Would not consistantaly shoot a brad out. After loosening and realigning the nose piece. Works great.

Whats been an ok tool.
1/2" Earthquake impact wrench. Works fine. Direction switch little hard. No failures, but don't think its as strong it says it is. Copy of IR's Thundergun. It is stronger than my MAC 250# gun, but not sure its quite as strong as its rated to be.

Whats been a bad tool.
Not a HF tool but HF sells identical item (specs, color, size).
14"x40" 1/2hp wood lathe. It can do only basic lathe work. Managed to turn 4 - 36" long bed posts with it. But probably took at least 2x longer to do. Items have to be nearly perfectally balanced or lathe will vibrate too bad to use (runs decent after initial rough cutting). Bearing is starting to make noise. Probably 40 hours of total use. Would avoid buying again.
Speed square - Out of square by several degrees- trash canned it. Cost more to ship it back than its refund value.
Bought and took back 2 sets of wrenches that was going to be a gift. The finish was poor enough that I decided to take back and gave Craftsman wrenches as the gift.

[Jerome Hanby]

Saber saw: Pretty much total junk. Blade will not stay on what amounts to a thrust bearing. The laser is pretty though.

F Clamps: Not as beefy as the Columbian ones I got from Woodcraft, but they do work well.

Allen Wrenches: Not sure what to say. Set contains all the normal standard and metric sizes. All I've used work fine.

Biscuits: They fit the slots and seem to swell after I glue them

Brad Nailer: Bought it on one of their super sales. I was surprised, it works well.

Sliding x-y vise: Weighs a ton and works as expected

Wood Chisels; Complete junk, bought them to practice sharpening.

Corner clamps: Look okay, haven't used them yet.

That covers what I've taken home, I've looked at lots of other items in the store and taken a pass.

[Brian D Anderson]

I've had this site bookmarked for a while . . .

http://woodworkerszone.com/wiki/inde...r_Freight_Gems

Certain tools of theirs are great if you only use them a few times per year. I have their reciprocating saw, a framing nailer and various other nailers. Their 4.5" angle grinder is great. I sanded the exterior of my house with it a couple summers ago.

I think if anything, HF shows us how much we're getting ripped by brand name tools.

-Brian

[Rob Luter]

Woodworking Vise - Trash (I was a newby and didn't know better). Suitable for use in my garage to hold mower blades, etc.

Pipe Clamps - Trash (took them back) Everything was machined so crooked they wouldn't even work. (That said, I have a co-worker who swears by them.)

Misc Hand Tools for my kid - Good value. They work just fine when you need an occasional pair of pliers or a screwdriver for fixing stuff around her apartment.

[Ben Cadotte]

F Clamps: Not as beefy as the Columbian ones I got from Woodcraft, but they do work well.

I have about 8 or 9 F clamps from them. They are about middle of the road for the ones I have. I have some other imports that have thinner steel rails. The HF ones in the middle. And my heavy duty Jorgensons definately thicker. The HF ones are better than my ebay ones, but not quite as beefy as the Jorg's. But I also got them for 1/5 of the Jorg's.

Would like to try their new cabinet clamps. But want to see them first. Only chance I get to see tools is when I travel for work and they have a store in that town.

[Jerome Hanby]

Looking at that site reminded me, I've got one of their digital calipers. It works great, I use it all the time. I plan on getting one that displays in fractions, but I imagine the HF one will still get use.

I've had this site bookmarked for a while . . .

http://woodworkerszone.com/wiki/inde...r_Freight_Gems

[Kim Spence]

23 Gauge Pin Nailer - works fine, shoots pins below the surface, never misfires. It doesn't have a soft tip so it tends to leave a small ding in your workpiece, I solved that by taping on a piece of thin cardboard and firing through it. I may try dipping in plastic cote stuff used on tool handles. The HF Pins though are complete junk, way to flexible, they blow out the side of the piece you're nailing into. I switched to Grex pins and no problems since. I think this tool is a hidden gem.

1/2" crown pneumatic stapler - got it on sale for $10. Has a very small small air leak I can hear it hissing when air hose attached, but doesn't affect function. The HF staples were crap, they fit too tight in the clip and wouldn't advance up after firing. Switched to some staples from Menards, can't remember brand name, works pretty good now. About every 10 to 20 staples or so it doesn't fire a staple, just dryfires. Upping the air pressure seems to minize this.

Pneumatic fittings - price is right and not much that can go wrong with these.

I've bought miscellaneous small items, storage boxes, etc. all which seem to do their job fine.

Their chip brushes seem to be a good bargain and decent enough quality for slapping on stain or glue.

Dial indicator and magnetic base - Definitely not machinist quality but good enough for setting up WWing tools. Made a jig to slide in miter gauge slot and it worked nice to square up my tableaw and fence.

I think you have to watch what you buy, but there are some good things to be had at HF. Only thinig I've ever returend is the 23gauge pins and 1/2" crown staples, they gladly took them back. Everything else has been satisfactory.

[Mike SoRelle]

Reciprocating Saw - Used the crap out of one to cut out a whole house worth of 4" cast iron drain and galvanized pipe, one time worked it to the point that I *almost* let the smoke out (actually did get some smoke, but I stopped just short of actually burning off the coating on the windings) after cooling finished the job with it. For the 20$ investment, it's a spectacular tool. After abusing the first, I picked up a spare that's sitting on the shelf just in case it dies for real.

Ratchet straps/tie downs - as good as the cheap ones from the BORG and cheaper- wouldn't use in a life safety situation.

Pilers/screwdrivers - junk, but disposable, I used to do professional pyrotechnics and I used to get HF hand tools for 4th of July shows on a pier in Myrtle Beach, didn't have to worry if the salt water got to them and didn't have to painstakingly wipe them down afterwards. Also never cared if they broke or got lost because they were so cheap. For short term use, they work as advertised.

Hamburger press (I know, it's not a real 'tool' but it did come from HF) great for mass production, used mine last weekend

[Bruce Page]

I like their Nitrile gloves at 10/11 bucks per 100.
That’s about it….

[Montgomery Scott]

I bought the wire wheel - work fine
diamond hone plates - cheap; the diamond powder scrapes off easily
tarps - ok, but the grommets come out easily
hand broom - works fine
adjustable wrench - $13, but is very nicely made

I won't ever buy a power tool from them for political and quality reasons.

[Joe Scharle]

Dial indicator VG $4.95
Mag base VG $3.95
HB DT jig VG (after I found Woodhaven's instructions) $19.95
Biscuit jointer G (noisy) $29.95
Digital micrometer G (turns itself ON sometimes, but so does my Wixey) $9.95
Various clamps JUNK
Nitrile gloves VG
Spotlights VG

[Brad Townsend]

This HF tool works great:

[Tom Esh]

Like many I've found it hit & miss. I think they're completely at the mercy of their suppliers when it comes to QC. Fortunately their return / exchange policy seems adequate to cover it, but for me the "hassle factor" includes the better part of an hour in traffic, so I've gotten very conservative on what I'll chance.

Hit: Casters. (The tire compound really stinks for awhile, but eventually dissipates.)
Hit: Dead blow hammer and rubber mallet. (I know, pretty hard to foul these up, but the heads haven't flown off yet.)
Hit: Spring loaded center punch.
Miss: Fractional dial caliper. Smooth and accurate enough, but the scale is a pain to read - too few fractional text marks and the hash lines are all the same length and weight. (I bought 2 others from various sources before I finally wised up and got a Starrett.)
Miss: Digital dial indicator - Lcd display failed almost immediately. (Hit:Replacement working fine).
Miss: Digital angle gauge. Bad switch pad. Returned it and bought a Wixey instead.
Miss: Portable miter saw/planer/whatever tool station. Absolutely horrible quality and workmanship - probably the worst I've ever seen. Had to bend parts to assemble it, which was way too easy. Could barely support its own weight.
Miss: Anvil. I thought this would be hard to foul up too. Wrong! Edges chipped and crumbled immediately. Might as well be made of concrete.

I've not bought any HF portable power tools, though I might be tempted to risk it for a one-use or once a year use. For sure anything I can't carry back under one arm is a non-starter.

[Larry Fox]

Auto drain for compressor - complete junk. Since then, any advertising material they mail to me - junk and goes straight to the trash. My time is too precious to deal with the hassle of either a poorly functioning tool or the hassle of trying to return it only to have to buy another one - didn't take me too many times to learn that lesson.

[Loren Hedahl]

3/8 inch drill -- approx $13 on sale -- works great
router -- junk -- balance problem, vibrates at high speed
hvlp spray gun -- fair -- works OK for wood finishes, and solid color auto, but not for metallic
digital micrometer -- works great
1 inch belt sander -- works great
sanding belts -- OK
casters -- got HF casters on just about everything