Stuff (not) worth buying at Harbor Freight?

[Jeffreybomb]

I bought a framing nailer earlier in the year and I've been very happy with it. I'm almost done framing out my entire basement with it (it's taking me a while because work has been exceedingly busy as of late with all the big news stories going on).

I'll also be using it to build a riser for a home theater and a basement bar. It may also come in handy with a few game room projects as well.

 

[rasband]

I bought a framing nailer earlier in the year and I've been very happy with it. I'm almost done framing out my entire basement with it (it's taking me a while because work has been exceedingly busy as of late with all the big news stories going on).

I'll also be using it to build a riser for a home theater and a basement bar. It may also come in handy with a few game room projects as well.

I bought one too, zero complaints so far after a year and a number of projects! Honestly with the price, it could have lasted half the projects and I would have been ahead of the rental prices.

 

[MountaineerTom]

There are different thicknesses of 'em. I bought the thicker ones, and found them to actually hold up better than expected. But yeah, the thinner ones are junk. A damn fingernail will tear through 'em.

The 7 mil rubber gloves of theirs are good. I use them a lot.

 

[alittleoff]

There are different thicknesses of 'em. I bought the thicker ones, and found them to actually hold up better than expected. But yeah, the thinner ones are junk. A damn fingernail will tear through 'em.

Yeah I know, but I’m just a cheap sob. I go for the 3 or 5 mil at first and I might even double up on the 3’s. But I always go for the 9 mil when I’m messing with Anti-Seize.

 

[jeepins]

My last cordless drill/driver was a 12V Makita and it did last me awhile but a replacement battery alone would've cost me $45 so I had been eyeballing the Bauer lineup at HF everytime I walked in and thought hell for $65 I can get one of these, it's 20V and comes with a spare battery. I've literally put this thing through the ringer TRYING to wear it out and it's been nothing but awesome on my Jeep, F150, everything around the house, building a shed, etc etc.

I would never buy a torque wrench from HF no matter what the reviews/tests are. Any other motorized/powered tool from them I give it a really good stare and unless it's a one off type of tool where I need it for one job or maybe a few, still am very leery of it. But they have gotten much, much better than they used to be.

 

[Squatch]

I bought a heat gun that has a whole selection of temperature settings. It was cheap enough that if it only did the job once or twice, I would've been satisfied, but it just keeps on going. One thing I would say, though, is I never pay the extra coin for extended warranties. Sometimes those things are damn near the cost of the item, and I just don't see the point.

 

[Moab]

Their 12 and 20 ton presses are good. They can be improved. Just google it. But we use them in the gun building hobby almost exclusively.

Disposable stuff. Rubber or cloth gloves. Hell any gloves. Shop rags or micro fiber. Sandblasting media.

Their sandblasting cabinets. Seal the seals with tape though. My garage set up was invaluable. I did everything from car parts to gun parts.

I'm not a hardcore user like you. Although I do build guns. I liked alot of their air tools. Which are unbelievably cheap.

Walk up and down the aisles. It's not until your there that you realize how much cheap stuff you need. That doesn't matter if it's shitty or not.

Avoid there vise grips. Hammers are good. It's hard to f up a hammer. lol.

My mother used to work there. And she was amazed at what they would take back. Contractors would use an electrical tool for a year, run it into the ground and come back for a new one every time. I just took a broken star socket back. No questions asked. They didn't even look up my receipt. Just swapped it out on the spot.

 

[Tranz Zam]

So far I haven't had a bad experience with anything HF related, though I'm also not using the stuff regularly. I've heard bad things about their winches (but you know better anyways), and jack stands are an obvious no-no.

I have a HF 12,000lb winch on my car trailer. It's a beast.

 

[Zorba]

I have one of their 2 stroke, 900w "TailGator" generators. For what it is, it isn't bad. If you overload it, even briefly, it takes awhile for the voltage to build back up (I installed a mini voltmeter on mine) - it probably has to re-magnetize itself.

 

[Moab]

My last cordless drill/driver was a 12V Makita and it did last me awhile but a replacement battery alone would've cost me $45 so I had been eyeballing the Bauer lineup at HF everytime I walked in and thought hell for $65 I can get one of these, it's 20V and comes with a spare battery. I've literally put this thing through the ringer TRYING to wear it out and it's been nothing but awesome on my Jeep, F150, everything around the house, building a shed, etc etc.
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I would never buy a torque wrench from HF no matter what the reviews/tests are. Any other motorized/powered tool from them I give it a really good stare and unless it's a one off type of tool where I need it for one job or maybe a few, still am very leery of it. But they have gotten much, much better than they used to be.

I have this same drill. Been good to me. But not a heavy user.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

1. Things that only through ridiculously unintended use could possibly fail. Like a feeler gauge, or a soapstone.

2. Tools I'm likely to use once. If I really only use it once, I haven't spent hundreds on a nice Milwaukee power tool to take up space and carry with me forever. If the cheap one breaks in the first use or I end up using it more often and it breaks later on, I'm not out that much when I go buy the nice one on the second go-round.

3. things where the name brand options aren't likely to last significantly longer. An example would be a cheap set of torx bits. I don't think I'll ever break or strip enough of the ones from HF to pay for the ones I've already broken or lost from SnapOn or other reputable brands (I broke a $40 SnapOn torx driver on my tailgate hinges, and unfortunately I'd borrowed it so I had to buy another one to return to the friend I borrowed it from). An example that would NOT fit this is reciprocating saw blades. When I had to cut my LCA bolts out, I went through 5 HF blades without getting halfway through. I got DeWalt blades from Lowe's and finished that bolt and 2 more on the same blade, and it still had some life left.

4. Things that could not possibly present a safety risk if they did fail. I broke this rule for jack stands last year and wouldn't you know, they got recalled and now exist in the form of what's left of a HF store credit and an LED shop light to replace the halogen one my kid knocked over and a magnetic LED work light to replace the one that disintegrated the day after it fell into a cup of brake fluid. On the other hand, the floor jack I bought at the same time I'm still using, because I treat EVERY jack as if it could fail at any moment, even an expensive name-brand.

5. Things that are so absurdly inexpensive that I won't care if they do fail. I had a coupon for their lowest-end angle grinder for FIVE DOLLARS. I already had a better one, but it would have to fail early even for HF standards to not save me $5 worth of tool changes. I'm totally happy with this purchase...the HF grinder wears a wire brush cup 95% of the time and sits on my welding cart (from HF...see #3) to knock the slag off of fluxcore welds (from my HF welder).

 

[Rick Flair]

I sold my welders a while back for kid reasons. Had a nice Miller 211 and a Hobart 185.

I needed a welder for my trailer project and some small other things. Got a deal on a titanium welder from HF, figured I’d give it a shot and I won’t use it much. So far, the darn thing works. The gun is on the cheap side as is the grounding clamp, but rollers are metal and quality feeling and it welds damn good.

I have some air tools, a air compressor, some other things. I always go there for my cable ties and things like that. The hammer drill I needed for 12 holes worked great and I don’t care if I ever use it again for $20. I couldn’t rent one for that.

The tool boxes are really nice. I have a smaller craftsman that I need to upgrade, I will by a general box from them.

 

[InOmaha]

I've always assumed Northern Tool is basically the same as Harbor Freight. Do they have the same cheap Chinese stuff or is Northern Tool better quality?

We have both stores here in town.

 

[ejay]

I stay clear of the power tools... Especially battery powered ones.

I used one of their $12 corded angle grinders to help prep my entire house for paint. The whole time I was waiting for the motor to burn out. Worked like a champ. Less than half the weight of my Craftsman grinder which helped when I was doing the overhangs.

To answer the OP question, I've not had a lot of luck with their reciprocal blades; though I'm not sure that they are exclusively sold at HF.

 

[pagrey]

I've always assumed Northern Tool is basically the same as Harbor Freight. Do they have the same cheap Chinese stuff or is Northern Tool better quality?

Northern Tool sells Ingersoll Rand, DeWalt and Milwaukee tools. They are more a distributor or regular store than Harbor Freight which mainly deals only with their own Chinese import brands. Northern might have a few branded products of their own but I don't think that's their main deal.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

The tool boxes are really nice. I have a smaller craftsman that I need to upgrade, I will by a general box from them.

that's good to know. My 20 year old Craftsman setup (which was entry level back then) is on it's last leg. I overloaded the second drawer from the bottom and now it comes off the slider about every other time I open it.

 

[Zorba]

Check to see if the tool boxes have a drawer lockout - when one drawer is opened, the others cannot be. Also check to see if they tend to roll open by themselves.

Why: I bought a Stanley from Mal*Wart. Very nice - BUT - it has neither of the above features. Its in my garage. Most garage floors have a slight slope. Drawer #2 in particular wants to roll open by itself, when it gets to full extension, the slight shock of it stopping starts another drawer. And so on, until the whole thing ends up tipped over on the floor!

I chained it to the wall so that won't happen again, and I have to use the lock to keep #2 in its place! If I had known...

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Check to see if the tool boxes have a drawer lockout - when one drawer is opened, the others cannot be. Also check to see if they tend to roll open by themselves.

Why: I bought a Stanley from Mal*Wart. Very nice - BUT - it has neither of the above features. Its in my garage. Most garage floors have a slight slope. Drawer #2 in particular wants to roll open by itself, when it gets to full extension, the slight shock of it stopping starts another drawer. And so on, until the whole thing ends up tipped over on the floor!

I chained it to the wall so that won't happen again, and I have to use the lock to keep #2 in its place! If I had known...

wow, my old craftsman isn't ball bearing so the drawers don't open easily enough to slide out themselves. Don't think I would have thought of that until it was too late.

 

[Apparition]

Check to see if the tool boxes have a drawer lockout - when one drawer is opened, the others cannot be. Also check to see if they tend to roll open by themselves.

Why: I bought a Stanley from Mal*Wart. Very nice - BUT - it has neither of the above features. Its in my garage. Most garage floors have a slight slope. Drawer #2 in particular wants to roll open by itself, when it gets to full extension, the slight shock of it stopping starts another drawer. And so on, until the whole thing ends up tipped over on the floor!

I chained it to the wall so that won't happen again, and I have to use the lock to keep #2 in its place! If I had known...

I think you can open more than one at a time but they do hold in the shut position via some sort of indent. Very happy with my HF tool chest.

 

[MountaineerTom]

Check to see if the tool boxes have a drawer lockout - when one drawer is opened, the others cannot be. Also check to see if they tend to roll open by themselves.

Why: I bought a Stanley from Mal*Wart. Very nice - BUT - it has neither of the above features. Its in my garage. Most garage floors have a slight slope. Drawer #2 in particular wants to roll open by itself, when it gets to full extension, the slight shock of it stopping starts another drawer. And so on, until the whole thing ends up tipped over on the floor!

I chained it to the wall so that won't happen again, and I have to use the lock to keep #2 in its place! If I had known...

Put a small square of cardboard, or something to shim it up a little bit, under the wheels on the drawer side. That might angle it up enough to keep drawer 2 from rolling out. Might need to fold a piece or two.