Harbor Freight review site

[David Nebenzahl]

Saw this on another newsgroup, thought it good enough to bookmark:

Independent reviews of their stuff. Check it out.

[blueman]

There must be something wrong with the site -- almost all of the reviews are positive (4-5 out of 5) ;) According to this Usenet group HF is supposed to be all junk...

My own experience with HF has been somewhere in the middle of the two extremes though...

[David Nebenzahl]

On 1/26/2010 9:26 AM blueman spake thus:

Well, in case anyone is wondering about the integrity of this site, there are some reviews that ding HF tools where needed, like this review of their "multipurpose machine" (aka lathe/milling machine/drill):

The reviewer gave it a 2 (out of 5), but does give credit where credit is due.

[HeyBub]

I'm sure the low price compared to the competition is worth one more star...

[David Nebenzahl]

On 1/26/2010 12:33 PM HeyBub spake thus:

I would think that that is implicitly factored into peoples' reviews (at least the better ones).

[blueman]

I didn't mean to come across as criticizing the site -- just was struck by the different perception vs. the typical slamming of HF that you often see here.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about buying HF. On the one hand price is so attractive that I am able to buy all sorts of tools that I would never think of buying at name-brand price.

On the other hand, I am painfully aware of the old dictum (which I'm sure I am butchering) -- buy a low quality tool and cry each time, buy a high quality tool and you only cry once.

So, I try to reserve buying HF for tools that I would never consider buying at name brand price while going with the best (even if it means biding my time) for the basic tools that I will be using repeatedly. I also try to avoid buying major power tools from HF that cost more than about $20 since they seem to always suffer from accuracy, lack of power, and overall poor quality -- and it's one thing to throw away $20 on a tool, it's another to throw away $100. So, basically, I buy things that are so cheap that I don't care if they break the first time...

YMMV...

[Existential Angst]

Indeed, buying from HF is its own skillset.... :) As is saying no to alladatshit they're scripted to sell you over the phone.... Otoh, they're pretty good about refunds/returns.

[Red Green]

blueman wrote in news: [e-mail]:

A lot depends on what you expect. If you compare to Crane or Fein tools then HF is junk. If you compare to Borg tools then, well, it's a draw :-).

[blueman]

I think Borg-owned power tool brands like Ryobi are still a little better than HF. Though both are much worse than the big name brands.

[Pete C.]

It depends on the tool. I have a $20 Ryobi RO buffer that works wonderfully. Also, as far as I know, Ryobi is not in any way owned by the borg.

[mkirsch1]

Maybe not owned, but they are "owned" by HD. I don't see Ryobi tools anywhere else these days.

[blueman]

From the Ryobi website: We're proud to sell our tools exclusively through The Home Depot, where the values are unbeatable, the staff is knowledgeable and friendly - and you're just steps away from everything else you need to enjoy your Ryobi tools to the fullest.

[salty]

You really have to take it tool by tool. Some of the borg tools are the same tool as HF, but a different color and brand name. Of course at the borg, it's 200% higher priced.

[Twayne]

HF is like most places; you have to know what you're buying to be sure you get what you expect. I do like that they have name brand tools like DeWalt, etc., even if many of them are end of line products. Also, as I recently did, not everything has to be top quality either. e.g. a zipper for vinyl siding to replace one piece of it doesn't require a $9.90 tool; the $0.99 will do fine for that one time use. It's flimsy and not made of spring steel, but I didn't need that kind of quality. OTOH the best router I have is one from HF with no name on it. Looks like it's actually a Ryobi IIRC, and it has all the bells & whistles and more accuracy than one I paid twice as much for at a local HW store. When you can actually put your hands on the tools, you find they do have some really good stuff. And some junk too, of course. So far (knock on formica) I've had really great luck with them.

HTH,

Twayne