Quality of Harbor Freight and Chicago Electric tools

[davefr]

Like I said, it depends on the tool. You're rolling the dice. Several of there tools that are actually acceptable and represent pretty good value.

However most of them are unfit for any reasonable use. If you only get one usable tool for every 4-5 you purchase then you have been penny wise and pound foolish.

I think their upper end air tools are decent. Feedback on their cheapy angle grinders is also pretty good.

However I would never touch any of their tools where precision or cutting is a requirement. An example if their cordless drills. You can actually wobble the chuck laterally!!

I bought one of their 1/2 HP 6" bench grinders. What total garbage. The motor is so gutless it stalls out at the slightest load. I measured the running amperage and it was only 2 amps. (another deceptive HP rating)

On the other hand I bought one of their $2.99 digital multimeters. It's perfectly acceptable for basic use. If I need precision I'll dig out my Fluke, but for simple continuity tests or rough voltage measurements it's OK.

[bojonson]

Just curious, which HVLP Paint gun did you buy from Harbor Freight? I'm thiinking of buying one of their turbine type sprayers (no air compressor needed).

[tablesawnut]

Several

you'll

frustrated

high-priced

perspective

I have been eyeballing HF power power tools for about a year. I finaly brokdown and told my wife to get me a combo disk/belt sander for Cristmas as an experiment. It was the central machienry brand 4" belt with a 6" disk. On christmas day I assembled it pluged it in and fooled around with it for about 10 minutes. It seemed to be acceptable. I did not expect it to last very long because it was CHEAP. The other day I needed to use it for real the first time. I turned it on Its motor was bound up and it literaly went up in smoke.

I dont use some of my more than others this was one I knew I would not use every weekend but when I had a use for it, it would be very handy to have.

I think this exeriment can be dubed a colosal failure. I tried to return it but could only get store credit which is fine I love HF. But I think I will stick to buying thier disposable hand tools, saw blades ect.

I am an avid woodworker and It is a good rule of thumb you get what you pay for when you buy power tools. HF power tools are great for a one time project after that the tool will probably just colect dust in a garage.

The argument of buying a cheap tool to learn with I find very strange. Why not buy a good tool that is easy to use. I makes learning much easier and fun.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

All this and you "love HF"???

I don't live near any of their stores to actually see the tools first hand, but I've not been tempted to order anything based just on stories like yours.

[Lobby Dosser]

The two exceptions to this are the 4" angle grinder which can sometimes be found for as low as $12, and the 7x10" machinist's lathe which has sold for as little as $250 in the past and gets very good reviews from folks who seem to know what they are talking about. My angle grinder takes a licking and keeps on ticking. If it ever stops, it goes in the trash with few regrets.

LD

[Lobby Dosser]

I've got a store nearby, but based on what I've seen there I would NEVER buy anything from them online - even clamps.

[John Manders]

Ah the old argument, cheap v expensive tools. I'm in UK so no HF here but we have our equivalents and I assume that the same Chinese tool factory supplies our retailers. I have a number of cheap 4 1/2" angle grinders. They're great tools. Not as powerful as the top line stuff so I take a little longer on a job. That's not a problem for a hobbyist. I take the view that even top grade tools fail eventually. If you have spent all of your $ on one of those, then you are stuck. I have a few cheap grinders so when one fails I always have a replacement. I can also have them set up with different wheels for the same job. e.g. one for cutting, one for grinding. The other side of the argument is whether the tool will actually do the job. This is when cheap = nasty. When you need accuracy or you are relying on one tool, pay for quality. I carry good quality tools in my car so that I don't have to carry more than one of each. In the workshop, space is not so much of a premium so I may risk cheaper tools. It is not always the case that cheap = poor quality. Many Chinese tools are now very good indeed. When I was maintenance engineer in a sawmill, a local supplier sold spanner sets (6 - 19mm) for £2.99. That's 1/4" - 3/4" for about $3. In 5 years we never had a spanner fail and, believe me, they were used hard every day. We lost a few but who cares at that price. The difficulty is spotting quality in a tool. If anyone can tell me how to do that without reference to the brand name, please do so.

John

[buck]

Have bought lots of stuff from HF and like it. Can't beat it for non-precesion tools like clamps, rulers, misc, etc. I needed a cheap router for some jobs that I only do a few times a month so picked one up for $49 and it has worked out great. Picked up a really nice drill press for $40 and it has been better than expected. If I were to use a router on a regular basis I would have got a good one and it would have cost me a couple of hundred bucks. So, as was said, you get what you pay for. Only you know "how much tool" you need. As far as waiting and spending all of your $$ to get a top quality tool is not always the wisest thing to do either. Use some common sense and you will be fine.

[cm]

We use several HF / Central Machinery tools in our business and have found they are either go bad right away or they last a good while. We bought a Central Machinery demiliton rotary hammer last Wedsnday and have already put

8 hours on it. It has paid for itself twice already. $59.00 vs $349.00 for a name brand. We have several. nail and brad guns and have never had a problem with any of them. $19.99 for a 2" brad nailer !!!! I love it!!! I don't worry about theft near as much. You don't see any HF tools in a pawn shop.

AZCRAIG

Vintage Travel Trailer Restorations and Repairs

[Larry Jaques]

On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 09:52:16 -0000, the inscrutable "John Manders" spake:

Gunner over on rec.metalheads coined a name for those companies: Red Dragon Noodle and Machine Tool Factory.

Toss the socket in the vise (2nd aisle over at HF.) If you can crush it, it's not very well made. Be sure to leave it on top of the stack of those sockets so everyone can clearly see the quality. For ratchets, chuck the square drive in the vise (which is usually bolted down) and give it an enormous yank. If it breaks, sending you into the stacks of rubber gloves, you know it is of poor quality, too.

-- Life's a Frisbee: When you die, your soul goes up on the roof. ----

Comprehensive Website Development

[Jim K]

HF is pretty much a hit or miss outfit. On the one hand, I bought a $30 (on sale for $10) dado blade that I'm very happy with. I've been using it (hobby use levels) for over a year and it still cuts clean.

On the other, I bought a set of $4 allen wrenches that stripped off in the first bolt I tried them in and I spend more time fixing the 7x10 lathe than working with it.

One set of 3/4" pipe clamps has been great, but the other set I bought (since the first set was good) was the pits. The $30 (on sale for $15) digital caliper has also been a good buy.

Save your m>"tablesawnut" wrote:

[rcook5]

I don't know what the phrase for 'quality control' is in Chiawanese, but I don't think the word exists in Harbor Freight's vocabulary in any language.

--RC

"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells 'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets fly with a club. -- John W. Cambell Jr.

[Lobby Dosser]

'Good enough to sell.'

[bridger]

like any vendor, there are the good ones and the bad.

Porter Cable routers are among the best made. PC's detail sander seems in the running on the most useless tool thread.

Harbor Freight's 2 HP dust collector gets good reviews. their bench grinders, OTOH....

[Duane Bozarth]

[e-mail] wrote: ...

...

I think that particular rap is on the detail sander as a tool itself, not PC...

And, as noted, my wife uses one a fair amount and is quite pleased to have it..."different strokes..."

[mac davis]

Sorry to hear about the sander... bummer, man..

I bought the 6" belt/9" disk unit years ago, with "free" stand... it's been a workhorse! I've probably used 15 belts and 2 or 3 disks and had few problems with it... mostly adjustment things, which I'm sure I'd have with any brand... It's not "quality", but it was cheap and I can't see doing "quality" work that requires a belt sander.. lol

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[mac davis]

I bought their $20 recip saw for a specific weekend chore... and use the hell out of it now...

My neighbors drop off all their "turnable" wood and some of the stuff is 6 or 8" in diameter... too big for "loppers" or what ever you call those long handles sniper thingies, but not enough cuts to be worth digging out the chain saw..

I use the HF recip with an 8" Milwaukee blade to cut the stuff up and halve the bigger stuff... figuring that when it dies, it's already paid for itself... damn thing just keeps on cutting... not smooth or powerful, but it gets the job done..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Lobby Dosser]

I use a recip saw (cheap Skil) for the same thing. The 'pruning' blades seem to do just fine for 'logging' and a whole lot less hassle and potential hazard than the chain saw.

[mac davis]

yep.. besides the safety thing, I have using even the electric chain saw in the garage.. umm I mean shop... Also, for the stuff that I'm cutting to turning blanks, a chain saw has way too wide a kerf... I wouldn't have any blank after the cut..

mac

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[tiredofspam]