List of Useful Turning Accessories I have Found from HF

[Mike Peace]

I have found a lot of useful and inexpensive things at Harbor Freight that I find useful for turning. I thought I would provide a list of some of the handy and cheap stuff I have found. I know some will pile on about "Harbor Fright" and cheap Chinese stuff. And that is OK but would hope you would hold those comments until you have taken the time to look at the list.

Anyone else find some useful turning accessories there that I did not mention?

Normal disclaimer that I get no payment from HF for my endorsements. Just a lot of cheap stuff that fits a niche need for this frugal turner!

[Tom Winship]

If it works, don't knock it.

You can add cloth buffing wheels also.

[Bill Embrey]

Great list Mike... I've got quite a few items on it :) . The red handled tools were a great inexpensive starter set, I used them for several years and still use both of the skews.

[Tim Rinehart]

Hey Mike, absolutely there are some bargains and items that will last plenty long enough to determine if something is a tool you want to use.
I'll add a few more I like that I use regularly...
#40432 Flex Shaft Grinder (under 50 bucks). This is a Foredom/Wheecher knockoff, but works very well. I was able to buy a Wheecher handpiece and adapt to the supplied flex shaft that uses the 'universal' flex shaft quick connect system. Add to this a set of #35453 rotary rasps and you are in business for some decent rough carving.
#95088 Oscillating Spindle Sander (under 100 bucks when on sale or with coupon). Great for all sorts of stuff, like contoured sanding.
#97869 Dust Collector for under 200 bucks (occassionally find coupons for about 140 bucks). I set this up permanent on far corner of shop, ran 7" (8"??) DWV duct and over a total run of about 30 feet, draws sanding dust from lathe quite effectively.
#90566 Magnetic tray is a couple dollars, works great for keeping small tools, chuck parts in (I keep extra jaws in these, as well as allen keys)
#65489 Magnetic tool holder for about 5 bucks is superb for upper keeper for turning tools, or as I use mine, mounted to wall to hold things like rulers, saw, calipers/dividers, ...

[Noah Barfield]

Great list Mike... I've got quite a few items on it :) .. Same here--I really like the close quarter's drill for sanding!

[Scott Hackler]

I have bought a few of those things and a few others (recipricating body saw for cutting away stock before shaping a carved portion), but I would add that the rolls of sandpaper (emery cloth) and their sand paper in general, are junk and I wouldnt ever buy their sand paper again. Good thing was that it was cheap and I didn't waste too much money!

[Charles Bjorgen]

I'd also recommend their Cen-Tech 6- piece measuring set. Item 94447 for $10. The set includes:
5" non-digital caliper
6" spring inside caliper
6" spring divider
6" spring outside caliper
6" depth gauge
6" pocket ruler
I believe these tools would be sufficient for all but the largest lathes.

[Bill Bulloch]

You left out the "1/2" MT2 Mini-Lathe Drill Chuck". The list price is $14.95, but like all HF stuff, there are all ways sales. I bought six of them (one for each of the drill bits I use the most) several years back for around $7.00 each. They are still working fine.

[Harry Robinette]

I fill like Scott H. there sand paper,abrasive is total junk, very bad shedding of particulates and all kinds of different sizes mixed together that you can see with your naked eye. It's junk.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Got lots of those items Mike. All have served me well so far.

[Alan Trout]

Mike,

That is a nice list thanks for putting it together.

Alan

[Carl Civitella]

I go to my local HF store and pick up a lot of great deals. A couple of years ago i built a shed up at my cabin and did not want to cart up my good DeWalt miter saw. I did not want to spend a ton of money on a air nailer either. Anyway i built the shed using their 10" sliding compound miter saw that with the sale price and 20% off for $49 and the air nailer for about $50. The whole shed was built using rough cut lumber and board and batten and those two tools were a god sent with all the cutting nailing done with this type of building. The two items have a home in that shed and they still work good. I will probably never use the nail gun again, but who knows. Carl

[Rich Greinert]

Great list Mike, thanks for sharing it.

[Bob Rotche]

In general, I'm a believer in buying quality tools and you get what you pay for but there are quite a few items on your list that I may have to pick up. Clearly, things like gloves, disposable brushes, etc. I do have a HF close quarters drill that I use for bowl sanding and it has served me well but the plastic is starting to crack. Can't argue for the price and a bit of duct tape will keep it going for awhile longer.

[Terry Quiram]

I have bought a couple of the turning tool sets. I regrind all the flat tools into something use specific and donate the gouges to my club's raffle.

[Paul Singer]

I have two off there close quarter drills and they are great for the price. Also their "1/2" MT2 Mini-Lathe Drill Chuck" is hard to beat when I see them advertised for close to $30 at other vendors. They are not drilled and threaded like the more expensive ones but I did that myself on one of the two I have. I do agree their abrasives are not worth using even if they were free. Many small things at great prices. I will have to try the gloves after I use up my latex ones. Thanks for the ideas. One thing to remember you can find their 20 percent off coupons everywhere and everything goes on sale eventually.

[Al Wasser]

I made a couple of purchases at that joint. Been there, done that and won't do it again. Their junk just falls apart.

[Jeff Fagen]

I just bought a small screw chuck for $10.00 and last year I got a moisture meter for $12.00 among other things.They work OK although I have returned things that were just junk.

[Hilel Salomon]

Hi,
I go frequently to HF when I'm in Columbia, SC, and I wish there were a store near me in VA. As someone who is always misplacing hammers, pliers, and other small tools, it's nice to have bunches of the inexpensive ones around. Incidentally the drill was on sale for something like $15, and I bought two of them which I use for sanding on the lathe. HF also has frequent 20% coupons. Now I'm glad that you labeled the gouges "starter sets." In the long run. you're much better off with Thompson, Hamlet or Crown lathe gouges.

Hilel

[Royce Meritt]

I agree. Lots of nice bargains at HF. Also some junk but if you shop carefully there are some good items.

Most of their sandpaper is iffy but I've had pretty good luck with HF's sanding sponges. Seems to be better quality than the sandpaper.

The cheap moisture meter I picked up there a few years ago seems to be pretty reliable.

The chainsaw sharpener works OK. A bit of fussing to get it set right but after that it works fairly well. No more often that I have to sharpen a chain it works for me.

I also agree, the various disposible brushes and the nitrile gloves serve me well.

[Jim Sebring]

I think Bill mentioned the 1/2 inch MT2 Jacobs chuck knockoff. I have two that have been drilled and tapped for a 1/4 x 20 allthread draw bolt. I use them in either the headstock or tailstock depending on the operation's needs. The material is pretty soft so is easy to drill and tap. They're on sale for about $8, or so, now and then. I did the same drill and tap process to a real Jacobs - it's much harder material!

[Mike Peace]

Clearly I am not the only bargain hunter to support my addiction!
Thanks to all for sharing. I will update the list posted on my woodturning blog http://mikepeacewoodturning.blogspot.com/

[Lee Koepke]

Mike, I too have most of those already. Have to agree, never had success with their sanding products

I also found one of the 2" velcro sanding pads, since I messed up the one I got from Vince. It had a threaded stem for use on some other tool, but I just put a 1/4" All thread Rod coupling on it, chucked it into my $25 close quarters angle drill .... and its a $3 fix until I order more stuff from Vince!

[Tom Wilson66]

I have some of the same items from HF as listed above, and all work fairly well. Just wanted to add the transferr punch set, which also doubles as a pen disassembly set (has saved me more than one pen). Just used it last night for marking the base holes to mount my 46-460 to a new stand.

[Chris Burgess]

great list. I have about 3/4 of that list on my bench as I type.

[Bill Boehme]

I found the ideal cart with a lid to cover the top tray, 4 drawers at HF to hold my turning tools plus the open tray at the bottom is nice for storing stuff too large for the drawers. The only problem is that my 45 tools have filled all of the available space so I can't buy any more turning tools -- ever.:D I am sure that there is a work-around for this difficulty. This is what it looks like. They had an in-store price of $99.

http://www.harborfreight.com/580-lb-capacity-four-drawer-roller-cart-95659.html

[Jim Burr]

Wow!!! Thanks for the effort to put that together Mike and for all the additions! My wife is always asking for Christmas and birthday ideas and this may help...she always accuses me of being hard to shop for because I'll just buy it myself:eek:

[John Lifer]

I don't have number on hand, but their lower end paint brushes are a great value when on sale. Can be cheaper than big box store chip brushes.