Harbor Freight Tools - a PASS / FAIL reference

[Rodster]

I just found this discussion on the Garage Journal site, and thought I'd pass it along. I have been to HF maybe once or twice. bought a bag of disposable gloves, but not much else. Some comments are surprising, some - not so much. Take a look:

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27192&highlight=harbor

[skullandbones]

If you are a HFF (harbor freight fanatic!), you know what to buy and what to avoid usually. I have an insider "expert" there who steers me to pass or fail an item before I even try it. One example was a wire MIG welder. He nixted the HF brand and sold me a Hobart instead at a very nice discount. They have been very understanding about returns as well. Maybe it also depends on your goals. I know that I am going to wear out their 4 1/2 in grinder in about 3 to 4 months. So I am on my third one as of this posting but at 10 bucks (usually get half price), they have paid for themselves. I am also very tough on tools so I can tell within a few minutes if it's a pass or fail. Take it back and try something else. Some of their stuff is servicable and medium quality such as drill presses, calipers, and other hand tools. Usually their heavy duty equipment is OK too. I have a floor jack I use every day which is lighter and easier to use than my heavy Sears model. So if you go there, "buyer beware and be alert". WEK.

[AJ Roadster NJ]

Harbor Fright sells absolute crap, and I use that word in deference to a family board. I would say that to the President of Harbor Fright if he were looking me in the eye right now. Their only motivation is making a buck on the sale of a product. If it weren't tools, they'd be doing it with cheap pantyhose of somesuch. Who knows, maybe they are. But they have no respect for quality at all, no respect for the hobby, and no redeeming value. They're bottom feeders.

Asking what we as dedicated gearheads think about Harbor Fright tools is like asking us whether a used Yugo might be a viable second car alternative -- after all, can't beat the price, right? :cool:

Whew. End of rant. Think I was dissatisfied at all with the one tool I've ever bought from them before I threw it in the dumpster?

[STLMARSHALL]

The quality varies greatly. To say that 100% of their stuff is crap is just not true. I have a wet tile saw of theirs I bought for $50 10 years ago. It has cut over 100 pieces of tile, marble, granite and even bricks and it is still going strong. It just won't die even though it was left out on the porch during a remodel. I usually get 5-7 years out of their grinders, but have to swap brushes after a couple of hundred hours of use.

The budget is the budget! It would have been difficult to build the coupe with 1/5th the number of tools that I currently have. I have tried to work on friends cars at their house with 1/5th the tools and it sucks. I do wish I had $30,000 worth of tools in the garage, but I realize that is just not realistic.

I find it funny that as I type this I started thinking about my POS Delta drill press that just won't work properly. It really makes me mad when I pay top dollar for a brand name and it works just like a Harbor Freight product.

[riptide motorsport]

Buy the warrenty for $2 and they'll replace it when oit breaks for $2.......infinitum

[ram_g]

I have a bunch of HF stuff and it's not all that bad. Sure they're bottom feeders, but for bottom feeding money. I use them a lot for tools that I think are going to have one off applications, that I don't want to spend a lot of money on.

As someone else said, they're also generally pretty good for heavy "dumb steel" tools. If you wanted a big crowbar or mallet I don't know why you would get it any place other than HF.

[skullandbones]

I have a bunch of HF stuff and it's not all that bad. Sure they're bottom feeders, but for bottom feeding money. I use them a lot for tools that I think are going to have one off applications, that I don't want to spend a lot of money on.

As someone else said, they're also generally pretty good for heavy "dumb steel" tools. If you wanted a big crowbar or mallet I don't know why you would get it any place other than HF.

Hey guys,

There is no consiracy to undermine the capitalistic system. HF is just selling products for a fair profit margin. Personally, I like to think of myself as a "gear head" or car enthusiast just like a lot of other people. I didn't know you had to buy premium tools to be considered a serious builder. After all, we were smart enough to buy an FFR!

BTW: X2 on the using HF tools for one off projects to same some change. Also, I like to save some money in one way a spurge somewhere else like a new dielectric diagonal for my telescope that has a carbon fiber body and transmission specs to die for.

If this thread could help create a Pass/Fail list for HF, I would be a regular contributor. So have at it!! Thanks, WEK.

[Someday I Suppose]

HF is what it is, cheap tools. Not sure I would ever buy a lift from them lol, but the pnumatic riviter I have from them works just fine, no complaints at all. I also have one of their $99 wire feed Mig units, and honestly as a welder to learn / play with it works and has been a fun toy to have.

-Scott

[edwardb]

There's a HF retail outlet about 15 minutes drive from my office location, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to driving over there at lunchtime occasionally. There's a professional tool outlet just down the street from them. I use both stores, and each have their purpose. If I were a pro mechanic (I'm definitely NOT) I probably wouldn't be at HF too often. My main point would be that some things in HF are OK if only used occasionally. When I was completing my Mk3, I needed one size of a flare nut wrench to finish the job. Went to the pro store, and the one wrench was $35. Decided to check HF, and a whole set was on sale for less than $10. Did the job, and for no more than I will use them in the future, was the right purchase. On the other hand, I needed a new bench vise. The size I wanted was $50 at HF, and $125 at the pro place. I bought the better one. Figured in that case it made sense. As a general rule, I stay away from HF's electric tools. Have a few of their air tools, and again for no more than I use them, seem to be OK. So for me, it's a bit of a mixed bag. I agree with the point that there's a ton of quality variation in their products. Some are pretty good. Others are just plain junk.

[turbodon]

HF

Light weight aluminum jack works great (just keep the screws tight).

Their end wrenches are tough real tough (problem is that the smaller ones like 3/8 may not fit anything 3/8).

Their air rivet gun works great with 100 psi.

Their air die grinder works ok if you have a large air tank (efficiency of tool itself).

Their air impact grinder works ok if you have a large air tank and 140 psi (efficiency of tool itself).

Their porta band saw works ok but will wear out fast. (so if you only need it once a year it is a good value, even if the switch is faulty on)

Their calipers and dial indicators work ok for what I measure.

Their $99 dual head compressor pump works great.

Their spray guns work fine for primmer and latex paint even gel coat application with a little thinning or the gel coat material.

Their parts washer, media-blaster cabinet, hydraulic jacks, engine hoist, & engine stand work well.

Sanding disks, punch set, chisel set, air hose fittings all work fine.

If your doing a lot of fiber glass sanding, don't use an expensive orbital sander. Use a cheap one. The nice expensive one will not last long either.

Some things to stay away from the adjustable torque wrenches & drill bits.

[Dan Golub]

My shop has a variety of tools, with many of them from Harbor Freight. The blast cabinet, parts washer, engine hoist, press, and belt sander have all worked great for me. If it is a tool that i am going to use a handful of times each year, HF stuff will typically work just fine for you. For stuff that you will use constantly, I would go with name brands. For instance, all of my hand tools are either Snap On, MAC, or Craftsman, my welder and plasma cutter is Miller, etc. I use those items at least 10 times a week, so it is worth spending more on those tools. Overall, HF has some good and some bad tools, you just need to sort through them to find which is which. Dan@FFR

[tirod]

If you use tools and know them, you know what to get from HF, and what to avoid.

As said, big dumb iron stuff is usually a good deal. Not everything in the store is a captive brand, if you work around tools or sell them, you see a lot of stuff packaged with a different display card, but the same quality. Not top of the line, no. But for a one time use tool that will work good enough, why pay triple, or even bother with a "lifetime" guarantee?

Brass drift punches, or rolling head pry bars - best price. Screwdrivers you can beat on like a chisel, about the only source. Watch repair tools, odd automotive tools, abrasives, wood working, - the HF band saw is a Jet design and recommended in on those forums - lots of decent stuff, and some better value than the big names.

You have to know tools, tho, and the difficult part is they don't keep them in stock for years. If you see it, get it, it may never come back again in the forseeable future. I bought a serpentine belt tool and used it two years later, a lock out kit just freed my daughter's keys from the floorboards of her car. Last I checked, neither was available in the store.

At the price, good value. Check them out.

[Movieman]

I have a rule I've held to for over 40 years and it's served me well: Usage
If a tool is something I'm going to use all the time I buy top end
If it's something that will be used occasionally ( 1-3 times a year) I buy middle of the road.
If it's something that maybe I will use if a F5 tornado hit's here in NH( Not likely) then I buy lower end but check it for functionality before it gets stored on the shelf.
When I decided from watching Norm Abrams on "This old house" back in the 80's that all I needed was megabucks of tools and I would be the picasso of the woodshop
I went by this thinking and it "only" cost me $60,000.00 over 5 years..Buying all top end would have quadrupled that price.
Then the next 10 years were spent getting the skills..:D

PS: My mechanics tools were bought in my youth in the late 60's and all the top end but back then I was working on cars daily.
I still have them all and never a failure.