HF & Grizzly products the same???

[Brian Fulkerson]

Last night I was browsing through the 08' Grizzly catalogue and couldn’t help noticing that their products look VERY similar to the tools sold at Harbor Freight. Dust Collectors, Nailers, cordless drills, grinders, etc...

The only exception is the larger machinery; Table saws, planers, jointers, etc that HF does not carry.

Some of you may have the facts about this, but I would almost bet that these tools are built in the same factory for both companies. The only difference is the "Grizzly green" and "Harbor Freight Orange".

Makes me somewhat weary about buying Grizzly products....

Thoughts??

Brian

[Kevin L. Pauba]

Maybe the factory supplies Grizzly and those out of spec (missing bearings, bad moldings, etc.) are painted orange and sold to HF at a steep discount. :)

[Ray Meche]

From what I have seen over the years they sell a 3HP plunge router that is identical to Hitachi, plastic bins that McFeeley's sells with their fasteners, Rockler's $100 HVLP sprayer, etc. Grizzly does seem to be a big one, but that is probably because they import a lot from China. Remember there are great factories in China as well as the less than stellar ones.

HF is a mixed bag and you really have to know what you can and can't buy. Having said that I will buy a lot of things once and have used and abused their products for years.

For instance.
$85 10" liding miter saw has been through the ringer and still runs fine, but has been replaced.

My HF 8 gallon compressor outlasted both my neighbors Campbell Hausfield and Porter Cable compressors. The Porter needed welds in less than 3 years with way less use than mine. Campbell died, but HF still going strong.

$20 brad nailers and $10 staplers going strong after 5 years of pretty moderate/heavy use.

3 Tilesaws still in use today, have completed projects in 3 houses. Not to mention my HF $300 saw can cut 18 inch tile on the diagonal where every other saw under $1000 can't do it in one pass.

Just a few examples that there are great deals, but I have many things that suck too. Usually you can tell while you are in the store if you will be happy with most items. Mostly I have good luck with HF, but I don't expect to get a top of the line tool. If you have reasonable expectations and hobbyist needs then HF can make your buck go further.

Having said that I am in tool replace mode and don't shop there much these days. I have many things I use from there on a daily basis, but I know more what I need and want these days. It's kind of like building a house. You shouldn't build one until you have lived and one, repaired it, and know what you want. HF gets a bad rap sometimes, but for the money they are fantastic. Tool snobs need not apply. Just my 2 cents.

[Steven Wilson]

No they aren't the same. Quality at HF is much, much, more variable. Grizzly products are generally pretty good, especially the more expensive equipment. The same can't be said of Harbor Frieght. You really need to see the HF gear in person before buying it as some is useless junk. Having said that, I have some HF air tools that did the job I asked of them and did it fairly well and cheap.

[Ray Meche]

Well put Steven. Variable is a great description. You can tell they buy in lots as the same tool may have different SKU numbers and be priced differently week to week. There have been tools that I returned 2 or 3 times and ended up with a respectable deal. I don't mind a little inconvenience for a 70% savings. Havings said that, all stores have junk and Grizzly has their share. I bought Grizzly's pocket hole jig (Steelex I believe) and it was terrible. The drill guides must have been as hard a pencil lead. But now I know to buy Kreg for pocket holes. Lesson learned, but a cheap lesson.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Even with my merely casual acquaintance with them both I'd say that Grizz is many light years better.

[Brian Dormer]

I think some of the HF stuff is meant to LOOK LIKE other, higher price (and quality) merchandise. Case in point:

I bought a Dovetail jig from HF (thinking it looked just like the Rockler jig - but at 1/5 the cost). Got some Rockler accessories and - BOING! - found out that things didn't fit quite as I had expected. :eek:

Everything turned out OK, because all I had to do was drill a hole in one piece of metal and I got the jig put together - but I learned my lesson. What I saved in cash was spent a couple times over in frustration.

[Ray Meche]

Haha I almost mentioned the HF dovetail jig that I got for $29. Ironically a lot of people put the Rockler one on their worst tool purchases list. I just figured I made a cheaper mistake. Glad to see someone using it.

[John Shuk]

I know that the 1 inch belt sander they sell is the same. I bought the HF version and returned it the same day it was junk. Some of the stuff may share a factory but most I think the machinery for the most part is Grizzly.

[Dave Lehnert]

I also hang out in some Metal working message boards. The 7x10-7x12 metal lathe has a big following. It is known fact with the lathe (and most all metal working tools) made in china that they may look the same but can be made in different factories. Copyright laws in China are almost never enforced. So if factory “A” makes a popular product, Factory “B” will just copy it. But can be major quality difference between the two.
I am sure the same would hold true to Woodworking.

[Curt Harms]

I view Harbor Freight as "variable" in quality and for occasional use only. Example just today: I bought their one ton shop crane. I have some uses for such an animal and renting one 3 days pays for this one. I was attaching the steel casters with about 5/16" stud bolts and the last bolt (of course!) into the frame twisted off. I was using a 3/8" ratchet about 9" long and I ain't Arnie Schwarzenegger. Figured it was a bad bolt and tried another bolt. Same Thing!!:mad:. The bright side is the twisted off bolts were easy to drill out:). The crane itself seems okay, there's not a whole lot to it as long as the hydraulic ram works.

HTH

Curt

[fRED mCnEILL]

"Makes me somewhat weary about buying Grizzly products..."

Or happy about buying HF products.

Last time I went to Grizzly and HF on the same day I compared the castings on a HF planer and a Grizzly. The HF was CRUDE compared to the Grizzly. The HF casting was rough with lots of flashing,definitely not finishe very well at all. The fit and finish on Grizzly is first class.

Fred Mc.

[keith ouellette]

I went through this with a planer and a jointer I bought from a company that no longer exists. The models looked identical to the grizzly and I thought they were the same. Because i am a sucker I wanted to help the little guy over the great big Grizzly; Big mistake.
I now know that machines are copied in china to look like machines built to better standards in south korea or taiwan.

The hand tools may be the same but I know from looking the big machines aren't. My HF carries jointers and table saws and vacs.

[Peter Quadarella]

What do you guys think of Northern Tool? Sorta like HF or something else?

[keith ouellette]

What do you guys think of Northern Tool? Sorta like HF or something else?

I think they seem to be a combination of Harbor freight and tractor supply without the farm stuff.

[Matt Mutus]

I bought a 4 1/2" angle grinder from Northern for $20, that works great. Of course I only did that because I needed one for very occasional use... in a former life I surely would have killed it by now.

I didn't know harbor freight has walk-in stores. I have never seen one. I thought they were just a catalogue ordering place.

[John Canfield]

What do you guys think of Northern Tool? Sorta like HF or something else?I needed a framing nailer for a project and hated to rent one (you know how it goes!) but couldn't see spending 300$ on one I would only use once or twice a year. An advertisement at NT caught my eye for a 100$ framing nailer. Thought what the heck and ordered it and it has performed with flying colors. I've shot up 10 pounds of 3" nails with it with no problems.

Apparently the nailer has proven so popular, NT recently raised the price to 160$.

While I was at HF a few months ago I bought a very inexpensive (~10$) gravity feed spray gun and just started using it for a cabinet/bookcase project. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well it performs. It is my first go-to gun now and it is much easier to clean up than my C-H HVLP gun.