Admit it-What Harbor Freight tools do you have?

[Curt Harms]

6" & 12" F clamps and spring clamps. Tarps and glue brushes, 3 Ton auto jack. T50 pneumatic stapler that will sink 1/2" staples flush in oak, way better than the electric stapler it replaced. It seems like their hydraulic stuff isn't too bad for weekend warrior use, don't know that it'd stand up to regular use. The pneumatic fittings I bought there leaked. I did buy one thing with an electric motor - I needed a buffer for a one off job and wasn't near home so I bought a Harbor Freight one. It did the job, still works but I know understand why they sell gloves that are supposed to isolate vibration. If I use it for more than a couple minutes my hands tingle.

Edit: I have 2 sets of combination wrenches, SAE & Metric. They seem to fit the heads fine, no rounding off or slipping. The edges of the handle portion are not well rounded over so they can hurt my hands a little if applying quite a bit of force. For my very limited usage that's not a problem, I have gloves if needed.

[David Buchhauser]

Be warned they all reek of Chinese cosmolene & rubber.

I have a few things from HF, largest is a bead blaster, no power tools, & some small tools, & a digital caliper. When you could buy one of their 4" grinders for around $12 bucks, was asked to look at one, realized why, cheesy wiring, no UL or other NRTL, listing just a cheap throwaway tool, since I made the repairs for free, that was the only reason it was worth repairing. I'll keep my old 30 YO Hitachi, & pre ChiCom Milwaukee grinders.

I'm gonna go down there tomorrow. If I see any evidence of Chinese cosmolene or rubber on any of the items, I will immediately exit the store. I want good quality without any undesirable smells on my tools.
David

[Curt Harms]

I'm gonna go down there tomorrow. If I see any evidence of Chinese cosmolene or rubber on any of the items, I will immediately exit the store. I want good quality without any undesirable smells on my tools.
David

Gonna be a short visit I think.

[Jim Becker]

I'm gonna go down there tomorrow. If I see any evidence of Chinese cosmolene or rubber on any of the items, I will immediately exit the store. I want good quality without any undesirable smells on my tools.
David

There's no way to avoid this kind of thing...at HF or any other tool purveyor, honestly. Even my big SCM/Minimax equipment had some healthy doses of cosmoline on them and where it was produced isn't evident by the petrochemical odors. Nature of the beast. That said, there may be a tendency to notice it more with a bargain/low cost supplier because there will be less pre-provided labor to remove it. You pay less but have to remove it yourself.

[David Buchhauser]

Perhaps they have some wrenches, hammers, or other items I might need with no smell or grease. I'll let you know what I find out. I'm actually looking for a smallish air compressor that I can wheel out to the from yard to air up some tires on some of my vehicles. A friend also told me he bought an aluminum floor jack there. Sounds like a treasure trove of nice stuff.
David

[Jim Becker]

There are bins and bins and racks and racks of small tools like wrenches, hammers, etc. You'll enjoy your visit no matter what you walk out with.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I’m starting to think this HF dust collector blower isn’t such a gem. The very marginal motor trips my 20a breaker on startup pretty well every time and cannot be rewired for 220v. It also seems to be an odd non-NEMA frame that cannot easily be replaced with something else.

Have you considered changing the breaker? They do go bad.

[David Buchhauser]

There are bins and bins and racks and racks of small tools like wrenches, hammers, etc. You'll enjoy your visit no matter what you walk out with.

I can use some new dead blow hammers also. I used to have some Stanley - but they eventually got hard and started chipping. Do you think that HF will have something similar?
David

[Peter Kelly]

Have you considered changing the breaker? They do go bad.

I’ve tried three different 20a breakers, one of them brand new. They all seem to trip right off, I reset the breaker and immediately switch on the blower. If I switch the unit off, I have about 5 minutes where I can turn it back on w/o resetting.

Going to install a 25a breaker in the panel once I get the shop space back together here, hopefully this resolves things.

[Stan Calow]

I can use some new dead blow hammers also. I used to have some Stanley - but they eventually got hard and started chipping. Do you think that HF will have something similar?
David

Yes they usually have them.

[David L Morse]

I’m starting to think this HF dust collector blower isn’t such a gem. The very marginal motor trips my 20a breaker on startup pretty well every time and cannot be rewired for 220v. It also seems to be an odd non-NEMA frame that cannot easily be replaced with something else.

I’ve tried three different 20a breakers, one of them brand new. They all seem to trip right off, I reset the breaker and immediately switch on the blower. If I switch the unit off, I have about 5 minutes where I can turn it back on w/o resetting.

Going to install a 25a breaker in the panel once I get the shop space back together here, hopefully this resolves things.

Something's wrong. Rather than hijack this thread how about starting a new one in Workshops?

[Peter Kelly]

Okee.

Years ago (mid 90s) I bought an actual German-made AEG jigsaw from HF, still runs like a champ. Funny to look at their website archives from then, much less generic Made in China throwaway stuff. https://web.archive.org/web/19971016...orfreight.com/

[Jeff Monson]

Read the reviews, I have several larger "one time use" tools that have gotten good reviews and the tool has performed above my expectations. I wont list the small stuff but the 3500 watt predator generator is nothing short of awesome. The central machinery plate compactor is awesome. The chicago electric 10" brick saw is great with a good blade on it. My opinion is they make some decent tools just do your homework.

[Marc Fenneuff]

About 2 years ago I went into HF to get a 10-ton shop press. They were out of the 10-ton and offered the 20-ton for the same price (I said yes). With the 20% off coupon in force at the time, I got out of there with a 20-ton press for less than $100. It's a cheaply-made, sloppily-welded-together and barely square tool that saved me over a grand in labor by replacing two wheel bearings myself in my garage.

I own no other HF tools, though I would like an HF pneumatic-over-hydraulic 20-ton bottle jack to upgrade my press. I've looked around and bottle jacks like that are either the same price/apparent quality as the HF jack, or vastly more expensive.

[Billy Merrill]

Titanium coated drill and step drill bits. Hard to beat for the $
Impact driver tips (seems to be as good as the name brands for 1/2 the cost)
Torque wrenches. My son worked at an airplane assembly plant and they used them.
Socket set (kept in camper)
4 way lug wrench
Fuses
Crimp connectors
Allen wrenches
Tie saw (top rated on review sites, works very well with a good diamond blade)
Zip ties
Heat shrink tubing
Heat gun
nitrite and work gloves (great value, purchase often)
bottle jacks.
brad nailer (10 years plus)
Ratchet straps, bungee cords (repeat purchaser of these)
Moving dollies. (large size, rated at 1000 pounds, hard to work in a mobile shop with out them, have about 10, some connected together with boards to make them larger, moved a 300 pound generator and a sawstop saw (before assembly) with them.)
Heavy duty hand cart w/pneumatic tire. (moved a 400 pound generator with it, several large appliances, use with yard work
folding chair with side table (wife's from the monthly tent sale, 3 years and going strong)
screw drivers
bearing/wheel puller (had to have one)
pipe clamps.
floor jack
jack stands (check yours, there is a recall on some)
metal stand for a bench grinder
sponge and chip brushes.
Pneumatic sheet metal cutter
Angle grinder