HF tools that don't suck

[Lanmanb4]

What broke on your torque wrench that you needed it replaced?

[steve45]

What broke on your torque wrench that you needed it replaced?

It jammed internally, so it wouldn't click.

[gnm109]

It jammed internally, so it wouldn't click.

So did my HF 1/2" T.W. Having little to lose, I marked the handle with whiteout and, holding the sleeve in a vise with soft jaws, removed the Large nut on the end. I measured how far the threaded sleeve inside was inserted. Then I removed the rotating cover and squirted some WD-40 up inside and at the same time, I exercised the ratchet end.

When I re-assemblled per my mark and measurement, guess what? It works again! Hee Hee.

What you say, you took it apart, it won't be accurate anymore.....?

Wait a mijnute, we're talking about a tool that I bought on sale at HF for $11.95 plus tax.

In fairness to myself, I checked against my 1/2" beam torque wrench and it's pretty durn close.

Never give up!

[steve45]

I just picked up a non-contact laser thermometer (#91778). Works well, but it only goes up to 571 degrees or something like that.

[bullrider]

hey,guys two things that have worked for mr,the 4"drill press vise and the tubing notcher.

[Rojodiablo]

I NEVER thought I would say this, but I just spent $208 at Harbor frieght, and it was money well spent. I have several plumbing snakes, and today, my 1/2" snake busted the main shaft. It was worn when I got it used, years ago, so it was no great surprise that it died. So I went to HF and bought their $230 3/8X50ft. snake. It is manual feed and retrieve, so it is a little more work, but it worked just fine. And if you have never goofed with a power snake, you have to manipulate the cable anyway, even on a pretty simple run. So I was very impressed. And, it was on sale for like 179.00 so my out the door was 208.00. I am covered in... well, what comes out of plumbing lines. Smells and tastes like money I guess. So I can honestly say, the tool did a fine job, and it is taking its' well earned spot in my tool bin. I am flabbergasted.

[Joker11]

I got the 50ton press. It has some upgrades needed, but doesn't suck so far!

[ltlvt]

Beware of some of the cheaper stuff. I bought a pressure washer by DeWalt that was made in China from a company called Max Tool .com I have had very good results for several years buying C/P and Ingersol rand tools and other name brands from them. To make a long story short the pressure washer works fine but when I aired the tires up on the thing it blew the wheel in half.. Yep the damn wheel was injection molded plastic. Any one with a brain knows not to put a pneumatic tire and tube on a plastic rim. I emailed them with pics of the damage and suggested they post an alert on these and got no response. I really loved doing business with them but if they don't even take time to reply then they have lost me as a loyal customer... Terry

[cell]

I had bad luck with the 12 ton press. Either I managed to break the 12 ton bottle jack with one hand, or there was something wrong with it to begin with.

I took it back and threw $80 more at the problem and upgraded to the 20 ton, which has worked great for pressing on / removing pinion bearings for my differential.

[medic99]

Several air tools that are holding up fine for home/hobby use.

A couple hand tools that are O.K.

The hardware (screws,bolts and such) are pretty poor quality.

30 ton log splitter with Robin engine works like a champ.

[steve45]

Just got the Farm Jack. It's rated for 7000 pounds, but I don't think I'd trust it quite that far. It really seems pretty well made, however. It should work well for pulling fence posts, and small construction projects around the house.

[Brad Blazer]

I had bad luck with the 12 ton press. Either I managed to break the 12 ton bottle jack with one hand, or there was something wrong with it to begin with.

I had a similar problem with the 12 ton press I got for $50 at a Homier show. A check valve quit working and the handle would just spring back up when pumped. I substituted a 20 ton jack (Sams club) to finish the project, then took the jack apart. The little valve had dislodged. I put it back in (don't remember exactly what I did to make it fit tighter) and it's still working fine.
Here was the project - bending 1x1 HRS.









Brad

[Teddco]

Nelson,
Do you have the needle scaler? I have been eyeballing that thing for a while, wondering if it's worthwhile.

I just bought a HF needle scaler and spare needles today - both for about $50 on sale. Tried it out briefly on some really horrendous practice welds on some steel plates. It removed the slag well, but beat the weld surfaces up to a point that some would find objectionable on a nice smooth bead. It does beat a manual welding hammer in my world.

[jaded13640]

I've bought quite a few HF tools. Most are pretty much junk but are better than nothing. If I need a tool that I don't already have, and can't afford to get a really good one and fully expect it to fail soon, I'll buy it from HF. Some times I buy something just to see how good or crappy it is. Good example is the 3/8" rechargable impact gun. What a piece of crap. But again, I didn't have one, kinda needed one, it was cheap and I knew going it that it wouldn't last long. I had hoped it would be a little better than it is but what can you expect from a tool that is about 1/8 of the price of a good one. If you get a few uses out of it, you got your money's worth.

Some things from there are great. Air fittings, cheap and work fine. 4" grinder wheels, seem to hold up just about as good as any. Jack stands, it's tough to screw up something like that. Auto darkening welding helmet, it's kind of crappy quality but the business end works fine. I don't do that much welding to where it's important for the hinges to hold up forever. I recently bought a rolling tool cart. Works great, I have the contents of two transmission on it now. Ratchet straps, I loose them before they wear out anyway. Most of their impact sockets are crap but I got a set each of the 3/8" drives that are great. I got a set of 1/2" drive metric impact sockets that I've yet to use. High speed steel drill bits. They're gonna need sharpening where ever you buy them from. Why not get inexpensvie ones?

Like someone else said, go into it knowing that most of the stuff is disposable.

Wayne

[themow]

Bought the 46pc bolt puller set to pull flywheels of of jetskiis. It has worked great.

Left handed drill bits. I was sick of using easy outs and having them break off in whatever i was working with. These have changed my life. They have worked on everything i have used them on. The smallest one broke but other than that im pleased.

I bought their tire inflator with the gauge right on it. I love this thing and it has held up well.

I needed a tap and die set and was about broke so i bought one of theirs that was onsale. Well none of the taps or dies have broken yet and theyve worked every time.

I bought their electrical connector set with all the male and female connectors not bad.

I think that the lesson here is that theyre pretty good at the simple stuff.

[dstaley]

I've gotten great results from:

• $10 spray gun (used it to spray POR, which makes any gun "disposable")
• small (airbrush size) air pressure regulator- same name brand as local tool shop had
• Drill bit grab bag (awesome for pilot holes!!!)
• Slide hammer- must be the AK47 of slide hammers- big, crude, works.
• Power steering pulley install/removal tool- again, it works just fine.
• $2 digital meter- useful when I don't want to risk the Fluke
• Engine stand- Faithful tool for over 20 years
• Engine hoist- non-folding, same as above, still going strong since 1986
• air "high speed" cutoff tool

[3 weelin geezer]

Well, here is another one for the scrapbook. I was using a cutoff tool that sucks air faster than if I had the hose by itself trying to cut an 80 cuf cylinder in half and it got stuck. Just stopped with something rattling inside. Goddamn thing fell apart then. Just fell apart. The cutoff wheel and whatever that thing inside that rotates just fell out! God, I am pissed!! How am I going to cut this tank so I get a nice edge???? Now I either have to resort to a hacksaw which will take forever or go with the O/A torch which will of course make a mess.

I guess its not a total loss as the outside of it is made of aluminum. Not much but at least it will contribute to many parts I need to make one of these days as soon as I get to melting all this stuff laying around when I go shootin out in the desert.

[steve45]

Well, here is another one for the scrapbook. I was using a cutoff tool that sucks air faster than if I had the hose by itself trying to cut an 80 cuf cylinder in half and it got stuck. Just stopped with something rattling inside. Goddamn thing fell apart then. Just fell apart. The cutoff wheel and whatever that thing inside that rotates just fell out! God, I am pissed!! How am I going to cut this tank so I get a nice edge???? Now I either have to resort to a hacksaw which will take forever or go with the O/A torch which will of course make a mess.

Did you oil it?

[Raindem]

I look at HF tools as if they were rentals. I didn't have to pay a lot and the tool will only be around temporarily.

[3 weelin geezer]

Yes, I did oil it with 3 drops before each use as it says. It didn't seize as I could still turn it when it popped out. I am going shopping for another one later to finish the job or find one of those skinny cutoff wheels for my angle grinder

I look at HF tools as if they were rentals. I didn't have to pay a lot and the tool will only be around temporarily.


Amen to that!!

[steve45]

Left handed drill bits. I was sick of using easy outs and having them break off in whatever i was working with. These have changed my life. They have worked on everything i have used them on. The smallest one broke but other than that im pleased.

I've been wanting some left-handed bits, but I couldn't find them at HF. After your post, I went back and looked again, thanks!

I used them last night to drill out a stainless steel screw that was broken off in the bottom of a JetSki. I thought the drills wouldn't touch stainless. The nut was embedded in the fiberglass hull. I started small and worked up in size. On the 5th bit, the screw just backed out! The bits have already paid for themselves in my opinion!

[yorkiepap]

Hey guys,
I will add to the list of products I have from HF and are quite reliable, no problems, and IMHO are great buys.

A) Band Saw Blade Welder (sale price=109)
B) (2) 4 1/2" air grinders
C) Electric 4 1/2" grinder w/paddle switch(orange unit)...this grinder has been used about as hard as any I have ever used with both cutoff disc & grinding wheel.
D) The tire inflater w/gauge
E) Set of deepwell 1/2" impact sockets(black)
F) 3/8" dr. air ratchet
G) 1/2" dr. air ratchet
H) (2) 12ton air hydraulic jacks...these have been in daily use for 6 years...One is used for a horizontal press & the other on a vertical press.
I) Tubing notcher w/bi-metal cutter set
J) High speed air body saw
K) (2) AD welding helmets w/blue flame & the new large window AD helmet that is absolutely fantastic for TIG. All work perfectly w/no issues incl. headband.
L) The 21gal 4hp vertical air compressor(Central Pneumatic)
M) The 9 X 20 Bench Lathe....Our company bought this unit to turn our small parts....In 7 years, only replaced the drive belt once. This is an excellent bench lathe for small parts and comes completely equipped.

Anyway, these are some of the HF items that have been used, and at times, abused without problems. I'm sure there are items that have failed for others and HF seems to replace them without issue. Hope this helps some of you who are considering any of these units....Denny

[Cracker]

I may have missed it in earlier threads. If so, please forgive me but, does anyone have experience with the HF chainsaw sharpener? I couldnt sharpen a chain worth a damn even if you held a gun to my head. I probably spend $50 a year paying to have my chains < I keep a spare onhand> sharpened. If this will work, it'll be money well spent.
http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/...bCategoryName=

[themow]

I used them last night to drill out a stainless steel screw that was broken off in the bottom of a JetSki. I thought the drills wouldn't touch stainless. The nut was embedded in the fiberglass hull. I started small and worked up in size. On the 5th bit, the screw just backed out! The bits have already paid for themselves in my opinion![/QUOTE]

yea those intake grates can be a pain in the ***

[Joker11]

TheMow,

I had no such luck with my intake grate bolts. I had to drill the nuts in the hull out and insert one of those helicoil inserts. It held tightly enough to use and then I sold the ski. So I hope it held up!
That was a terrible design by kawasaki, if you ask me!