HF Tools That Suck

[Sandy]

I've got a HF hose real (air), orange hose. Less than a year old and the hose is starting to crack.

[ozzie]

Bauer 18V angle grinder - takes forever to spin up, then runs for about 2 minutes and randomly turns off. Give it a few seconds to cool down and it'll do it again. For about the same money on sale, I bought a dewalt brushless and OMG what a difference.

I've never had trouble with my HF deadblow, except when I tried to use it in the middle of winter and knocked a chuck out of it. It still works fine though.

[SlowBlues]

Diablo black air hose, cracked everywhere in a couple of months in constant shade but outside. centering punches - tips are not hardened AT ALL (re sharpen using drill press or hand drill and sander). small red oil canister/pump - leaks a ton (solder it before you fill it with oil, they've since changed design i believe)

[txpitdog]

Diablo black air hose, cracked everywhere in a couple of months in constant shade but outside.

Aww crap. I just bought one of these. Lol


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[SlowBlues]

Aww crap. I just bought one of these. Lol


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The diablo didn't leak but did have a couple of bulges starting, it saw very very little use. I changed over to a husky polyurethane hose and have been really happy with it, though used often i'm not a heavy compressor user. polyurethane is what almost everyone in the housing construction industry uses, from framers to staplers putting up corner-bead. It's light, very slippery for going around corners, easy and cheap to repair, does not get stiff in cold, and is cheap ($15 for 50 ft). Stretch each section a bit by hand to take out the memory when first purchased. i like the visibility of the light colors and use mine on a retractable reel.

[txpitdog]

The diablo didn't leak but did have a couple of bulges starting, it saw very very little use. I changed over to a husky polyurethane hose and have been really happy with it, though used often i'm not a heavy compressor user. polyurethane is what almost everyone in the housing construction industry uses, from framers to staplers putting up corner-bead. It's light, very slippery for going around corners, easy and cheap to repair, does not get stiff in cold, and is cheap ($15 for 50 ft). Stretch each section a bit by hand to take out the memory when first purchased. i like the visibility of the light colors and use mine on a retractable reel.

Mine is going to spend its life on a reel in my garage. I hope that it lasts for such a difficult demand as being stationary LOL.


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[Tiggatoo]

This one of HF's bench vises.It had a serious issue with staying locked on the rotating base.Where the arrow is pointing the surface is sloped up towards the inside of the base so that a small amount of surface contacts the vise.The pic doesn't show it too well.Next pic ground down to horizontal.Added a 1/2" hex bolt to those cheapo locking screws.This tool still sucks IMO but just not as much.

[California]

... "Some assembly required" ...

[ronsii]

This one of HF's bench vises.It had a serious issue with staying locked on the rotating base.Where the arrow is pointing the surface is sloped up towards the inside of the base so that a small amount of surface contacts the vise.The pic doesn't show it too well.Next pic ground down to horizontal.Added a 1/2" hex bolt to those cheapo locking screws.This tool still sucks IMO but just not as much.

Nice fix Taggatoo,

Seems like most of the import swivel base vices suck at locking!!! I did something similar to one of the 50 pounders... ground the base ring flat then went to work on the locking bolts but instead of welding nuts on the existing locking bolts I replaced them with grade 5 fine thread - welded the top parts back on and helicoiled the base to match... locks way easier and tighter than before

[Slob]

Aww crap. I just bought one of these. Lol


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Son purchased me a 100' length of the 3/8" and 100' of the 1/2" "Diablo" air hose(s). The 1/2" is red in color, the 3/8" is black. Neither coil has ever been taken out of the package, nor connected and they sit on the floor next to my roller cabinet. After seeing this post I got a look at them yesterday. The black one is starting to crack and the red appears fine. Again, neither of these have been taken out of their packaging so I think both will go back.

I very rarely patronize there myself as in reality I like good tools and am willing to pay for them.

[paul. m]

I believe WILTON is one of the last AMERICAN made vises . But are top notch quality ! If the funds are not a problem .

[Oscar]

Aww crap. I just bought one of these. Lol


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The Diablo 1/2" air hose has lasted for me. In the shade, but outside. No cracks that I can see with normal use. One thing that I did to my 2nd 1/2" hose, was wrap the whole thing in electrical tape, then used 3/4" expandable sleeving over it. This should keep the cracks at bay by eliminating exposure to sunlight/UV, and the plastic expandable sleeve will give a little of abrasion resistance to the electrical tape.

[pprobus]

I will add the new Hercules 20V Hammerdrill to the list. I have the older version of the 20V hammer drill when it first came out in a kit with the battery and charger, now they have just the bare tool. It stalls easier than the older one that I have and I cannot get the chuck tight enough for using with forstner bits drilling in wood. The older one will lose grip, but not nearly as quickly as this one. As a basis of comparison, I have a C3 Craftsman hammer drill, so its not exactly a pro level drill, it will neither stall nor lose grip, it will twist the whole drill and either hurt my elbow or bang my hand into whatever is available to stop the drill from twisting. This new Hercules is an utter fail. I will be returning it this weekend. I had high hopes after the first one was pretty good for about 95% of the uses, just a bit underpowered compared to my Craftsman HD (about the same as my C-man non-hammerdrill C3 drill) and am always needing "another drill" because one is out in the workshop, another is in my finishing shed, one up in the attic when I am working in the basement, etc, so, for the price ($49.99 with the recent coupon) I figured it'd make a good companion to my other Hercules drill. So if you are looking at getting a new drill, don't bother with the Hercules.

[California]

Harbor Freight Jack Stands Recalled.

item numbers 56371, (3 ton) and 61196, 61197 (6 ton).

a total of 454,000 jack stands made between 2013 and 2019.

[TraditionalToolworks]

Harbor Freight Jack Stands Recalled.

item numbers 56371, (3 ton) and 61196, 61197 (6 ton).

a total of 454,000 jack stands made between 2013 and 2019.

Holly flock sheepman, can you imagine getting under your truck and trusting a Harbor Freight jack stand?

[Dank]

Their spot weld cutters, Shed their teeth after 5 or 6 cuts

[Flyer58]

Hmmmm. I've seen others complain too among all manufacturers but I used mine and cut out about 30 welds with the same bit. I found that slightly tilting the drill and moving it in a circular motion, pivoting around the point, to remove a little at a time instead of jamming the bit straight down works well and is probably just as fast. In my case it was on 18ga body panels.