The Good, The Bad and Ugly from Harbor Freight

[ETsC10]

Originally Posted by Chad215

I got the little sand blaster last weekend-
Works fine for what it is designed for. I wouldn't try to do a whole frame with it, but it is called a spot blaster- I'm happy with it so far. Should save me a trip when I need some small parts cleaned.

Their older siphon feed guns work awesome!
You can suck up darned near anything and it
sprays with gusto.

I can also admit they ended up saving me
quite handsomely with the same siphon feed
sand blaster thingy a while back.

Our shop blaster started whoosing out, installed
the HF gun (with the short, fat, expensive (elsewhere)
ceramic tip and was back on the road.

Unfortunately, they have gone to the long,
skinny tip types now and I can no longer cut corners...
...don't have the right gun.

Buggers.

[blacklistcustoms]

I too have had a lot of fun with the Harbor Freight Tools russian roulette-o-rama! Here is what we have found:

Good:
240v Plasma Torch- the consumables are not available everywhere
jack stands-all
eng stand- I broke the front wheel so I modified the front
2 ton engine hoist
10 pack of 4.5" flap discs
25pk of 3" and 4.5" cutoff discs
and brushes and other disposable items

The Bad:
4" and 4.5" elect grinders
pneumatic body saw, air drill, 1/2" band saw, sheet metal shears

The Ugly:
1500# swivel casters - I made my own auto skates(custom sized) and the axles sank into the wheels. The rolling chassis truck rolled off the skates.
sawzall blades and drillbits seem to be made of reconstituted beer cans.

I am trying out the stud welder kit now
Cheers- Nate

[ERASER5]

I bought a buch of the color coded deep well socket sets with the idea I would use them for "light" work. Like at my job (very light) and for a car/truck tool box. I really hate having to track down the "essetial tools" for every trip, and then put them away afterwards.

Weeell, the *250 broke and i needed some metric deep sockets. The only ones were the HB sockets. Time for a test of strength and wills. I won, and the HB sockets won. I pushed with my leg on a 3/4" drive breaker bar adapted ti 1/2". The bar was 2 feet long with a 2 foot pipe slid over the end. I had about 3-1/2 feet of leverage, I was braced and I apllied it ALL!

The socket held up perfectly. Guess what resides in the "good " tool cabinet now? That'll do, pig.

[Zeke's Garage]

Ah, how I love the HF goodies. I mostly use the place to keep shop consumables in stock, or get a tool to modify and or/destroy for a specific purpose.Occasionally I'll get one of their bigger ticket items after doing some research, but I think we all realize, that you do get what you pay for.. So here's my list.

The Good:
2 Ton floor jack, black and yellow - This replaced a craftsman 1.5 ton unit and has great height and release control and it gets used a lot!
Floor standing 1/2 drill press, tons of speed options, mounted a mini vise (purchased separately) on the platform for a very useful item
12 ton hydraulic press - A-arm and trailing arm bushings are the only items used so far, but it was great to have it onsite.
Some 120v 2 ton electric winch - I turned this into an overhead hoist with a pulley block and have used it for pulling engines, cabs, beds,bodies and even small to medium children. One of the best items in my shop.
Blue Nitrile Gloves - lets you have a white collar job and a greasemonkey hobby without going to work with stained hands
Hardware assortments - Cotter pins, snap rings, O rings, pop rivits, zerk fitting, heat shrink tubing, you name it. It makes things so much easier when you can just go to your bench and have that last little part to get the job done. And the stuff while inexpensive, works just as you expect.
3" pneumatic cutoff tool - I know some folks have had issues with theirs, but mine works fantastic, but I've never had another one, so I might just be ignorant, but this one has been going strong for over 6 years.
3" Cutoff wheels - These may be poorer quality than the 3M stuff, but for $4 I can get a stack of them that will last me 8 months, just the right balance of price point and utility.
Air hammer/chisel - kind of lightweight, but great for getting through rusty spotwelds to remove rockers, floorpans and such.
Solar Auto Darkening Welding Helmet - I was a bit skeptical, but I needed one NOW and for HF $59 seemed like it must be magical to be so expensive. But it works great. I installed new floor pans in my '69 Chevelle wagon, and my welds were so much better and cleaner because I could finally see! (My old helmet was the one that came with the welder and was WAY too dark).
Bulk pack of 1/4 and 3/8 drill bits - Yes, I know that overall they suck, but again, for $3 I can get like 8 of them and I seem to get decent life out of them if I take it easy and don't expect too much. I've got much nicer bits I use if I have to drill through a frame rail or something significant.
Towing/Lifting Straps, quick links and binders - These have been invaluable for lifting bodies, beds, cabs as well as providing soft tie down points around axle tubes and a-arms for a car on a trailer. With them being so inexpensive, I can have an assortment for just about any need.
The purple HVLP spray gun - I sprayed my friend's '72 C10 with it using the John Deere Blitz Black, and I couldn't believe how well it sprayed. Maybe it was the paint, but it went on flawless. Thank god we got two. They were $9 each!


The Bad:
Tailpipe expanders - those stripped out almost immediately
Various cheap electric winches - total crap.. the larger badland winches got really good reviews from some 4x4 magazine... might try one soon for the car trailer.

The Ugly:
Honestly everything there is pretty ugly, there's not a whole lot aesthetic design going on, but there's not really any point to that anyway.


Shawn

[Mr-Jack]

good:
- pittsburgh impact socket set...been using them for years, without a problem have 2 sets both standard and metric
- 6k / 12k jack stands...haven't dropped a truck on me yet (and i'm not exactly careful under a truck
- air saber saw...cut like butter and used it for a lot of sheet metal...wouldn't advise working on mild steel tho
- big chop saw blade - got about 20 uses out of it on 1/4" pipe and still had enough left over to cut up a few sticks of angle iron...not too bad considering the price
- portable band saw...for light work...bolts and such works great, don't know how it holds up to really strong steel tho

bad
- big ass crescant wrench, umm...didn't have a wrench big enought to change the ball on my hitch a while back, so i picked one of theirs up for cheap and luckily got it to loosen the nut, but when i put some back into it upon tightening, the thing fell apart


i don't shop their for the quality...i don't think anyone does. it's for the convenience and affordability. kind of like..."i need to use a tool, but don't know anyone that has it...i'll go to harbor freight...if it gets good use i'll consider upgrading later". I never go in there trying to invest in a tool or piece of equipment that I want to keep around for life and that will last forever...that's just goofy, but you'd be pleasantly surprised by how long some of their stuff lasts.

Jack

[Mr-Jack]

Originally Posted by NONHOG

The only good thing about those pliers is you can twist them and wad them up like a pretzle before tossing them in the garbage.

yeah...after going thru a set of the HF snap ring pliers and craftsman ones...i called my snap-on dealer...i was tired of dicking around with crappy pliers

[theastronaut]

A little HF humor.

[arturo7]

Pulley puller pulled perfectly.

[ERASER5]

Originally Posted by arturo7

Pulley puller pulled perfectly.

But can you say that while eating crackers? Or peanut butter?

I am yanking your chain because you started a stupid song in my head! Pulley pulley, Pulley pulley, Pulley pulley....

[arturo7]

I don't know a pulley pulley song, but I do know one about a badger.

http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/

[FrankieD]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

A little HF humor.

WOW somebody put a lot of time in this pretty funny

[ETsC10]

WOW!! Christmas shopping in one stop!
I know at least 5 people getting the headlamp and
I MUST have that nail-unbender!




.

[zaccaglin]

Originally Posted by ETsC10

WOW!! Christmas shopping in one stop!
I know at least 5 people getting the headlamp and
I MUST have that nail-unbender!




.

Don't forget the garden hose/extension cord combo. Great for your mother in law!
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[midniteblues]

boy only if they made the muppet grade gloves in the two finger configuration i would buy a dozen

[71K20chevy]

Well the aluminum duct tape is good for putting new chrome trim around the woodgrain on door panels


I think the roll (it's big too) was like $7 or something.

[ETsC10]

Originally Posted by 71K20chevy

Well the aluminum duct tape is good for putting new chrome trim around the woodgrain on door panels


I think the roll (it's big too) was like $7 or something.

Holey cr**p! That looks awsome!...what's going on tomorrow...

OH! Gotta go get "trim" tape ... hehehe

[71K20chevy]

Thanks! I used a Q tips to burnish the tape to the surface, then used an Exacto knife to cut it.

Took a couple hours, but time well spent IMO.

[ole dollor]

71k20 chey : man that looks great....never thought it would have turned out that good....

[Sillyoldman]

Originally Posted by 71K20chevy

Well the aluminum duct tape is good for putting new chrome trim around the woodgrain on door panels


I think the roll (it's big too) was like $7 or something.

The secret is out. I did mine the same way except I used a screen roller tool. It's held up since '05.

[ETsC10]

Any idea how weather-proof that tape might be?
Wow...the possibilities are making my head spin!

Dash bezels...domelight housings...???...

[71K20chevy]

Thank you, thank you

Not sure how it'd stand up to weather. It seems to be somewhat similar to the stuff that was on there from the factory. I screwed up and sprayed degreaser on it, which took the chrome off.

I doubt you'd be able to do a dash bezel because it would be impossible to get the tape to curve without it wrinkling.

So..domelights? Maybe. Dash bezels? Probably not.

I never thought of doing a domelight though, I'll have to try it

[bnoon]

I have several items that have been good including the cheap purple HVLP gun in quart and half quart sizes, 2 grinders (one with cutting disc and one with grinder wheel both from HF). I have one of their drill presses that I modified from a 13" to about 2' with adjustable table and it works fine. Nice wood lathe converted to soft metal with a larger base from Ebay and an x-y vice from HF. Blast cabinet is still working good too. I have 2 of their auto darkening welding helmets and several several several clear shields... oh, and the blue nitrile gloves when they go on sale.

The bad, I'll have to agree on the lock ring plier sets (tried two different kinds and both bent way to easily) and I've broken 2 pry bars (the blue 24" long ones).

[ETsC10]

bnoon, pics of your x-y vice and your drill press mods?
Sounds like some cool "outside the HF box" uses!

[gringoloco]

Blast cabinet is a good deal on sale. Seal the seams with silicone caulk and buy the nozzle upgrade kit from TPtools and you have a quality unit.
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[FrankieD]

My cousin had to turn his 36yro Snap On tool box so I told him to look at the 54" one at HF he ended up buying it he said it is 3X better than the Snap On box I have the 44" bottom box makes the Craftsman box look like a tin can
Biught the $20 sand blasting helmet works great