HARBOR FREIGHT QUALITY

Someone wrote: 'YOUR OUT OF YOUR F**KING MIND' ...with regard to
suggesting people buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight.

I disagree.

I've come to see HF products as a kind of semi-finished kit, something
you have to take apart, clean up, align and re-assemble before you can
use it.

See those angle-head grinders over there? Most wear out in a matter
of hours... unless you dismantle the gear-box, add a Zerk and fill the
thing with high-pressure moly lube. Give it a shot of lube now &
then, the things last a good long time. Ditto for their gear-head
bench mill. I took about a tea-cup of SAND out of the thing, then
dressed the gears, stoned the ways, did all the usual stuff a
machinist does to ensure his tools run true... and it does.

The point here is that the odds of plugging in a tool from Harbor
Freight -- and having the thing actually work! -- are vanishingly
small. But the difference between a usable tool and a piece of junk
is often no more than a bit of attention on your part.

Some insist this is kinda crazy -- buying a tool only to fix it. (Like
the ALL CAPS profanity fellow.) But a fundamental part of having and
using tools is knowing how to maintain them, from simple sharpening
chores to periodic re-alignment & adjustments. With HF tools you
simply start with the maintenance. By the time you're ready to put
the tool to work you know it will do a good job.

-R.S.Hoover

wrote in message
...
Someone wrote: 'YOUR OUT OF YOUR F**KING MIND' ...with regard to
suggesting people buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight.

I disagree.

I've come to see HF products as a kind of semi-finished kit, something
you have to take apart, clean up, align and re-assemble before you can
use it.

See those angle-head grinders over there? Most wear out in a matter
of hours... unless you dismantle the gear-box, add a Zerk and fill the
thing with high-pressure moly lube. Give it a shot of lube now &
then, the things last a good long time. Ditto for their gear-head
bench mill. I took about a tea-cup of SAND out of the thing, then
dressed the gears, stoned the ways, did all the usual stuff a
machinist does to ensure his tools run true... and it does.

The point here is that the odds of plugging in a tool from Harbor
Freight -- and having the thing actually work! -- are vanishingly
small. But the difference between a usable tool and a piece of junk
is often no more than a bit of attention on your part.

Some insist this is kinda crazy -- buying a tool only to fix it. (Like
the ALL CAPS profanity fellow.) But a fundamental part of having and
using tools is knowing how to maintain them, from simple sharpening
chores to periodic re-alignment & adjustments. With HF tools you
simply start with the maintenance. By the time you're ready to put
the tool to work you know it will do a good job.

-R.S.Hoover

I'll add to that. I bought three of the small angle grinders. Christ the
cost was so low the only fear I had was the possibility of damage to the
rotator cuff when I threw them away. Guess what. All three are still
working in spite of some heavy grinding. 3rd wheel, wire brushes, and more
on them now. Didn't do a thing but plug in and use.
Now I could have bought one from Snap-On but I would have to have a clean
dirt proof storage and gloves to operate and a maintenance program.
Now the "Professional" grade drill drivers that I bought from Sears?? Have
had a lot more trouble with them. I've found some good value with HF tools
and continue to use them.
Stu

wrote:

Some insist this is kinda crazy -- buying a tool only to fix it. (Like
the ALL CAPS profanity fellow.) But a fundamental part of having and
using tools is knowing how to maintain them, from simple sharpening
chores to periodic re-alignment & adjustments. With HF tools you
simply start with the maintenance. By the time you're ready to put
the tool to work you know it will do a good job.

-R.S.Hoover

I'm with you, veedubber. My rule is to buy anything I expect to cut
(bits, blades, etc) from a 'quality' vendor. Anything I expect to turn
true, I can buy from HF, but need to swap in some decent bearings. If
it just has to turn in some form, or is just a chunk of metal, it comes
right out of the box from HF.

On Aug 6, 6:07*pm, "Stuart & Kathryn Fields" wrote:
wrote in message

...





Someone wrote: *'YOUR OUT OF YOUR F**KING MIND' *...with regard to
suggesting people buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight.

I disagree.

I've come to see HF products as a kind of semi-finished kit, something
you have to take apart, clean up, align and re-assemble before you can
use it.

See those angle-head grinders over there? * Most wear out in a matter
of hours... unless you dismantle the gear-box, add a Zerk and fill the
thing with high-pressure moly lube. *Give it a shot of lube now &
then, the things last a good long time. *Ditto for their gear-head
bench mill. *I took about a tea-cup of SAND out of the thing, then
dressed the gears, stoned the ways, did all the usual stuff a
machinist does to ensure his tools run true... and it does.

The point here is that the odds of plugging in a tool from Harbor
Freight -- and having the thing actually work! -- are vanishingly
small. *But the difference between a usable tool and a piece of junk
is often no more than a bit of attention on your part.

Some insist this is kinda crazy -- buying a tool only to fix it. (Like
the ALL CAPS profanity fellow.) *But a fundamental part of having and
using tools is knowing how to maintain them, from simple sharpening
chores to periodic re-alignment & adjustments. *With HF tools you
simply start with the maintenance. *By the time you're ready to put
the tool to work you know it will do a good job.

-R.S.Hoover

I'll add to that. *I bought three of the small angle grinders. *Christ the
cost was so low the only fear I had was the possibility of damage to the
rotator cuff when I threw them away. *Guess what. *All three are still
working in spite of some heavy grinding. *3rd wheel, wire brushes, and more
on them now. *Didn't do a thing but plug in and use.
Now I could have bought one from Snap-On but I would have to have a clean
dirt proof storage and gloves to operate and a maintenance program.
Now the "Professional" grade drill drivers that I bought from Sears?? *Have
had a lot more trouble with them. *I've found some good value with HF tools
and continue to use them.
Stu- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Their bench grinder and sander are fine as are most of their air tools
and for the price, even better when on sale, why worry over it. Most
home shop tools aren't used to the level or degree that an industrial
tool might be used. So with this as a given why do you always need a
big name high dollar tool that spends more time in a tool box than its
ever used?
An entire sub culture of hobbiest and small scale machinest exhist
solely supporeted by lathes and mills from HF, these hobbiest have
taken the time to address minor issues and with a little extra effort
end up with a very good quality machine tool. Can you buy better
quality tools and such? Sure, but why? Just my $.02 worth.

wrote in message
...
Someone wrote: 'YOUR OUT OF YOUR F**KING MIND' ...with regard to
suggesting people buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight.

I disagree.

I've come to see HF products as a kind of semi-finished kit, something
you have to take apart, clean up, align and re-assemble before you can
use it.

See those angle-head grinders over there? Most wear out in a matter
of hours... unless you dismantle the gear-box, add a Zerk and fill the
thing with high-pressure moly lube. Give it a shot of lube now &
then, the things last a good long time. Ditto for their gear-head
bench mill. I took about a tea-cup of SAND out of the thing, then
dressed the gears, stoned the ways, did all the usual stuff a
machinist does to ensure his tools run true... and it does.

The point here is that the odds of plugging in a tool from Harbor
Freight -- and having the thing actually work! -- are vanishingly
small. But the difference between a usable tool and a piece of junk
is often no more than a bit of attention on your part.

Some insist this is kinda crazy -- buying a tool only to fix it. (Like
the ALL CAPS profanity fellow.) But a fundamental part of having and
using tools is knowing how to maintain them, from simple sharpening
chores to periodic re-alignment & adjustments. With HF tools you
simply start with the maintenance. By the time you're ready to put
the tool to work you know it will do a good job.

-R.S.Hoover


RS,
I add my agreement. I got a hunnerd-dollar air compresor from them about
five years ago, and it is still doing everything it shouold. No prob.

Likewise, the dial calipers and the digital calipers. I'm fussy about
measuring instruments, and the HF stuff is just as good as Amtos, SPI, and
all the "next-to-prime" lines. In fact, I expect they are made by the same
folks on the same machinery.

I haven't had cause to regret any purchase, yet. and HF is only an hour's
drive up the pike from me. And I've bought a lot of other stuff there. One
thing, I bought three of the $9.99 all-purpose, wind-up, solar, batteries,
110vac AM/FM radios, the ones with the light on the end, and they all work
well, four years later. (Now, they are $19.99) One goes fishing with me.


Flash

Their electrical tools don't seem to last very long. However.............

Eleven years in the aviation industry, and everybody in the shop swore by:
1- Die grinders $9.95 to $14.95 vs Dotco, I-R, etc at $150.00 - Lasts just
as long if you oil daily.
2- 6" digital caliper $14.95 vs Mititoyou at $79.95 and up - Just as
accurate (checked with gage blocks)
3- Digital voltmeter, $4.95 with battery vs Fluke, etc.at $79.95 - Works
fine, and you can't buy the batteries for the Fluke at that price.

YMMV
Bob
wrote in message
...
Someone wrote: 'YOUR OUT OF YOUR F**KING MIND' ...with regard to
suggesting people buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight.

I disagree.

I have bought a number of different tools from Harbor Freight and thus
far been satisfied with all of them. No, they are not the top end
tools but all have been good value for the use intended. I see no
reason to pay top end dollars for tools that will only receive light
and infrequent usage. The engine hoist I paid $99 for has been just
as good as one the guy in the hangar down from me paid over $250 for.
That cheap ($199) tile saw I bought worked great and I later found
that many professional tile installers use the very same saw. The air
tools I bought have all performed upto expectations too. I will add
though, I don't buy from their catalogue but from a local store which
allows me to examine the tool before purchase.

Bob Murray wrote:
Their electrical tools don't seem to last very long. However.............

Eleven years in the aviation industry, and everybody in the shop swore by:
1- Die grinders $9.95 to $14.95 vs Dotco, I-R, etc at $150.00 - Lasts just
as long if you oil daily.
2- 6" digital caliper $14.95 vs Mititoyou at $79.95 and up - Just as
accurate (checked with gage blocks)
3- Digital voltmeter, $4.95 with battery vs Fluke, etc.at $79.95 - Works
fine, and you can't buy the batteries for the Fluke at that price.

YMMV
Bob
wrote in message
...
Someone wrote: 'YOUR OUT OF YOUR F**KING MIND' ...with regard to
suggesting people buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight.

I disagree.

One
thing, I bought three of the $9.99 all-purpose, wind-up, solar, batteries,
110vac AM/FM radios, the ones with the light on the end, and they all work
well, four years later. (Now, they are $19.99) One goes fishing with me.


Flash


Has it caught anything yet?

{;-)


Jim

I generally agree but I have bought unusable tools from HF. An example is a
tap and die set which contained taps and dies that didn't match any known
thread, metric or SAE. As it happened, the one size I needed when I bought
the set (M8 x 1.25) was useable. I discovered the bad ones when I had long
since lost the receipt. Anyway, the set cost little more than a single tap
from a machine supply company so I didn't lose more than the trip to HF.

I decided that taps and dies need to be sufficiently accurate that they
should be sourced from known reliable vendors even if at a higher price.

Then there was the electric metal shear that disintegrated upon its first
contact with sheet metal. The motorcycle was still warm from the trip to HF
when that happened - they happily replaced the unit. I just lost two hours
work.


"BobR" wrote in message
...
I have bought a number of different tools from Harbor Freight and thus
far been satisfied with all of them. No, they are not the top end
tools but all have been good value for the use intended. I see no
reason to pay top end dollars for tools that will only receive light
and infrequent usage. The engine hoist I paid $99 for has been just
as good as one the guy in the hangar down from me paid over $250 for.
That cheap ($199) tile saw I bought worked great and I later found
that many professional tile installers use the very same saw. The air
tools I bought have all performed upto expectations too. I will add
though, I don't buy from their catalogue but from a local store which
allows me to examine the tool before purchase.

Bob Murray wrote:
Their electrical tools don't seem to last very long.
However.............

Eleven years in the aviation industry, and everybody in the shop swore
by:
1- Die grinders $9.95 to $14.95 vs Dotco, I-R, etc at $150.00 - Lasts
just
as long if you oil daily.
2- 6" digital caliper $14.95 vs Mititoyou at $79.95 and up - Just as
accurate (checked with gage blocks)
3- Digital voltmeter, $4.95 with battery vs Fluke, etc.at $79.95 - Works
fine, and you can't buy the batteries for the Fluke at that price.

YMMV
Bob
wrote in message
...
Someone wrote: 'YOUR OUT OF YOUR F**KING MIND' ...with regard to
suggesting people buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight.

I disagree.

I have many HF tools and earn my living with them. I don't order anything,
I go to a store and look at the items I want first. As an example, their
"high end" polished wrenches (still dirt cheap) fit nuts and bolts better
than my Craftsman wrenches. The have been beaten with hammers, used every
day and plain abused and still work great, haven't broken a single one. I
have some of their air tools and they have held up well too, but I take care
of them. They do, without a doubt sell some crap, you can see it when you
look at some of their stuff in person, but it's easy to weed out the bad.
I've had very good luck. And for specialty tools I don't use every day, but
make life easier, I can afford $20 instead of 200 and make my life easier
when I do use them. Another case and point. 2 years ago I bought a roll
around, ball bearing tool box ($399), and added a hanging box for $299.
Heavy duty, nice ball bearing drawers, and came with drawer liners. A Snap
on box of this size would be $5000 and up. I'm sorry, I'm not giving $5000
for an empty box so they can hand out free tools and boxes to Nascar
rednecks and the like.
And HF is a whole lot better than they were even 5 years ago. Just go to a
store and look at the item you're interested in first if possible.
Just my $.02