Rate your Harbor Freight Tool Experiences!

[Longboardr]

Motorcycle tire bead breaker
Had to add a long piece of tubing to the handle for more leverage and I'll clamp it to the table next time I use it. Broke the bead as advertised. Hard to beat for $20

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by Longboardr

Motorcycle tire bead breaker
Had to add a long piece of tubing to the handle for more leverage and I'll clamp it to the table next time I use it. Broke the bead as advertised. Hard to beat for $20

Nice! I was looking at this one myself. I might pick one up tomorrow!

Jim

[ksrider]

Big Pass! I got this wheel balancer for about $50. Works very well.

[Superdave Osborne]

Originally Posted by ksrider

Big Pass! I got this wheel balancer for about $50. Works very well.

Was just wondering about that one.

[svejkovat]

Hmm,
A 3/8 sliding T handle socket wrench. Unusual design. Never seen one before like it. Made in Taiwan. Love it. Versatile and nicely made. Didn't see it listed. Guess it's no longer avail?



Pass. Who knows how consistent is the quality of these odds/ends assortments from ship to ship, but the bin I got was excellent. I find these things pretty useful.



Fail. For basic electronics they're fine and a great bargain. But for motor vehicle use here at ADV I discovered that these to not bear up well to gasoline or solvents. The 3M stuff that I've used is excellent by comparison. This stuff almost melts.



Fail. Did not get this assortment, but an assortment of the that serrated edge style. The metal is of such poor alloy that the 'teeth' are easily squashed into uselessness.



Pass. But only because they are 1/8 the price of the better ones and sometimes you just need any step drill in pinch and these at least do the job. But I really prefer the single flute type...

... for ease of use and accuracy.



Pass. I've got pretty expensive mitutoyo. This one was on sale for nine dollars so I got it for roughhousing. Turns out to be decently built and accurate enough for 98 percent of my needs. The mitutoyo hardly leaves it's case. Like many of this quality level of tools, I like to open half a dozen boxes and look closely at the mating parts, screw threads, mating lines of cases, etc. It's usually easy to find the 'pick of the litter' this way since there are often very slight irregularities.


Pass. Nine dollars came to seven something with a 20percent coupon. Has worked beautifully for my needs. Again, open a few boxes and pick the best one. Check the alignment of the pin to the anvil. Turn it and check the runout. Not talking thousanths here. But some I checked were really out of whack. Had to turn down the diameter of the pin just a bit to fit a 415 chain.



Pass. Sometimes you just grab this instinctively and wonder why you never had one before. One of those tools I never bought, because it seemed an extravagance. But at this price.... it was a nice discovery.



Fail. But it's personal. They look well made enough but I just couldn't get comfortable with the locking mechanism. A tiny ball ramps back in the head and digs/locks into the band. Problem is that with traditional nylon style mechanisms the ratchet is pretty precise and easy to gauge the clamping pressure. With these, once tightened, they back off a bit to set the little ball bearing. You need to over clamp, very carefully, to compensate. And then if you get it wrong, you can't readjust since the ball has imprinted the strap and now refuses to tighten just a "little more". Frustrating. I returned them.



Big Pass. I love these. I only wish they had a set twice the size in closer increments. Hold up well if used with care. Love them for clean holes in gaskets and for making plugs and washers out of a variety of materials. Easy to resharpen.



Pass. Handy and in lots of sizes. Easy to machine to other useful sizes. Thick enough for crush washer use.


Pass. With a decent selection of brass and copper tubing you can do some nice precision plumbing. This swaging tool was on sale for four bucks so I got a couple of them. One I cut into three pieces for shallow depth work.

Lots of other odds and ends. But this is all I thought of off hand.

[GreaseMonkey]

These snap ring pliers get a pass from me:

I got them on sale for $1.99 and figured I'd toss them into my tool kit I keep in the car, and I've had to use them a half dozen times including R&R the snap ring on a truck AC compressor clutch. The only problen is you need to replace the funky pin that holds the jaws to the handle with a small nut and machine screw (#8 IIRC) but for the money they work pretty good.

I just got this pick up tool on sale, and the lock-screw broke at the weld the first time I tried to tighten it down. Now the funny think is that the inner telescoping section is retained, so you can't just pull it out and use it that way. I haven't welded the nut back on yet but it was on sale and I think when it is fixed it will be useful. Anyway, if you have a welder then it is OK but if you don't then I'd pass.


Just got one of these saws, I had high hopes and boy am I disappointed:

maybe I got a bad one but it cannot cut well at all. I'm returning it.

[LI LT Owner]

I've used this baby three times to move my snowblower and leaf vacuum around town in the back of my pickup. Works a whole lot better than the long wooden pallet I was using for the past 5 years. Back in September, I used a coupon and got this thing for $50.

[P B G]

Originally Posted by svejkovat

.

Good to know, I have a handful of "osbourne" punches in larger sizes, but want a more complete set. If only HF would make more of the odd shaped ones, V shapes, Curved, oval, belt/strap end punches etc. I shop for them at antique shops to do leather work.

[VStromTom]

Note that the bead breaker is 18" max diameter.

[azcycle]

4.5" Angle Grinder. Purchased three years ago and has seen a decent amount of use/abuse. Works fine, though it starts to smell "hot" after long use. I let it cool down and go back at it. Also purchased their "variety pack" of various grinding/cutting discs and they all perform well.



17-Piece Slide Hammer Set. Only a couple months old and only used once or twice (to pull the main seal from my r65). Worked fine for what I used it for, but life expectancy is unknown. Seems pretty cheap but we'll see. Comes in a crappy molded plastic container within a cardboard box, both of which are worthless.


Actually very curious about the welder. I've been wanting to dabble a bit and this might be a good, inexpensive introduction.

[P B G]

Originally Posted by azcycle

Actually very curious about the welder. I've been wanting to dabble a bit and this might be a good, inexpensive introduction.

I have this one.



Pass so far, although I'm a rubbish welder, and basically have only been using it to learn. But almost every day after work I strike an arc with this thing for a few minutes and just practice laying down tracks.

I would rate this as a pretty neat little unit, but then again who knows, it might really suck?

[SimpleSimon]

Found a $1k wood chipper/shredder on craigslist for $25 bucks because the guy let the motor sit out in the rain and the tank rusted. $99 bucks later I replaced the brigs and stratton 5hp with a 6.5 honda clone. Bolted it right on, added oil and let her rip. Runs like a top.

[hugemoth]

I have the 110 V flux welder which I find very adequate for the welding I need to do. Since my house is off grid and I only have 110V available from the inverter a 220 unit isn't possible. It takes a bit of practice but it works great and is very cheap to run compared to my oxy torch. I use it a lot. One of the best things I've purchased from HF.

Originally Posted by P B G

I have this one.

Pass so far, although I'm a rubbish welder, and basically have only been using it to learn. But almost every day after work I strike an arc with this thing for a few minutes and just practice laying down tracks.

I would rate this as a pretty neat little unit, but then again who knows, it might really suck?

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by hugemoth

I have the 110 V flux welder which I find very adequate for the welding I need to do. Since my house is off grid and I only have 110V available from the inverter a 220 unit isn't possible. It takes a bit of practice but it works great and is very cheap to run compared to my oxy torch. I use it a lot. One of the best things I've purchased from HF.

I second this one, though my welding sucks! It holds fine, but looks like crap!



http://www.harborfreight.com/welding...der-98871.html


Jim

[SimpleSimon]

Those flux welders work even better if you mod them by using Miller wire and a better ground clamp.