Harbor Freight Hate Thread

>>1142867
but muh free tape measures and flash lights

>>1142867
Harbor Freight has it's place. It also has places where it should never tread. Which is which is up to you.

>>1142867
european here, that has no idea what's the beef with harbor freight

laughed way too much to that pic, OP

>>1142867
stuff thats good at harbor freight:

-the mid tier air compressor
-the little predator engines
-socket set
-bench grinder

>>1142867
harbor freight is great you idiot nerd

>not waiting for parking lot sale
>not picking up tools that don't need to be name brand
>were the idiots

>>1142867
Harbor freight has its place.

I dont need a $40 hammer when the $10 HF knockoff is exactly the same.

Heat shrink tubing $25 at homedespot $5 at HF.

Screwdriver set $35 Lowes, $10 at HF.

Dolly/Hand truck $50-75 at Homedepot, $15 at HF.

10ft by 10 ft Tarp 25 vs 5.

If its anything that requires precision (ie torque wrench) I will buy it else where but >75% of the tools in my garage dont require accuracy.

>>1142867
>not needing an ass load of c clamps

>>1143027
I just bought 3 torque wrenches from harbor freight for $10 each. all 3 came with a certificate of calibration. I am confident that only the 1/4" drive wrench is off, because when i opened it, it was set to 70 in-lbs instead of its lowest setting.

Even some power tools are just fine from harbor freight. For the price, it just cant be beat. I just bought an electric die grinder for $30, for example. That thing HAULS ASS.

Their drill presses aren't very good however. There is a pretty good amount of play in the quill of the HF drill press my father owns, which kinda defeats the purpose.

>>1143034
Oh, i almost forgot. I did buy a set of forstner bits from HF, but they were so shitty that they wouldn't cut when put in a hand drill.

1/2" forstner bit with a max RPM of 450? pretty shitty. The only thing holding them back was that they were dull and would burn the wood (and themselves, blueing the metal) before they started to cut.

>>1142964
they sell the cheapest of the cheap tools and accessories, everything from china

some people like to whine and complain because muh 'merican tools and muh X brand tool, despite the fact that plenty of the things HF sells work perfectly well, especially for the price

people might get one bad item and then consider everything they sell to be junk, which isn't a fair assumption

>>1143038
>forstner bits from HF
I've used my set for quite a while, and they've only dulled after a lot of use

I've used one of the harbor freight vacuum pumps for about 4 years now... replace the oil periodically... I only do sealed system work on residential refrigerators... so it's more than adequate for pumping one down... might be a bit small on a split system aircon though...

>>1143011

>were the idiots

>>1143048
>they sell the cheapest of the cheap tools and accessories, everything from china
well, we already import everything from china, so meh

i guess it's all about what you do with your tools. Like, if i'm a handyman for living, yea i'll invest in good quality tools, but if i'm fucking around with arduinos in my free time, a 50$ chinese multimeter instead of a 300$ Fluke is my preferable choice

>tfw all the good shit comes from taiwan now.

Many people like their digital calipers because they don't have to worry about them. I have Mitutoyo and Tesa for my home machine shop but Pittsburgh are acceptably accurate and the fractional conversion is something every digital caliper integrated circuit should have.

I use them when working on vehicles or elsewhere I don't want to bring my expensive calipers. Will buy more.

>>1143084
>50$ chinese multimeter
I got my HF multimeter free with a coupon

it works excellent for checking batteries, and the limited times I've used it for random projects

>>1143034
I'm ordering that die grinder too. -- I dgaf what folks say, I have some Chicago Electric tools that are beasts. I've beat the shit out of my oscillating tool for years and it just keeps on ticking.

>parking lot sale
>grinder for $10
Why not, I'll buy the disks elsewhere and will only need it 1-2 times a year.
>reciprocating saw $20
Perfect, I can buy a pruning blade and use it for my tree limbs as well as random dirty cuts

Don't know why all the hate. Buy 4-5 of the tools and store them. When one break pull out the next one. Just buy decent blades, disk, or drill bits and the first one will last the average diyer for years.

>>1142867
I bought 2 - 4.5 inch grinders for $9 ea 3 years ago. They are still going strong, at that price even if they break I can by 5 more and still not spend as much as a Makita, or 9 more before I spend as much as a dewalt.

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>>1143162
Put a knotted wire wheel on it and clean up some rusted steel then. You'll need 9 HF grinders within 1 hour.

>Get three of their grinders on sale for 8.00 each

One has a wire wheel, one a flap wheel, and the other a zip disc. My Fein handles grinding and heavy duty jobs, and it's nice to not have to change out a wheel every time I'm working on something. Also, it's a good alternative for the "Do I really NEED this tool?" conundrum; For a fraction of a comparable tool, I can either A) Use it once and leave it in my box or B) If I use it a lot I can upgrade to a quality version.

Pretty much all of their consumables (rotary tool bits and MIG wire especially) are fucking terrible, though.

>>1143165
Your retarded
I bought my 4.5 grinder full price 2 years ago. Use it almost every day. Flapping, grinding, wire wheel, w.e.

Not as strong as the larger grinders obviously, buy my shop has gone through 8+ other grinders since i got mine. For the money, id call that worth it.

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German guy here. I've grown fond the store, not everything needs to be top of the line (along with the price that accompanies it).
>>1143011
Pretty much this. But even on a non-sale day, their prices for a tool that will likely only see action once or twice, it's incredibly convenient. There are things that are nearly impossible to mess up, like a rag, a wire brush, locking pliers, most hand tools, hose clamps, magnetic parts trays, small files, picks, and other random tat.
>tfw bought an $88 700W generator to get me by a two day long power outage.
The ammo cans are also great, and strange as it may sound, I've found greater variety of metric stuff there than in home depot/lowes. Just the fact that they have pic related at a brick and mortar for practically nothing makes me love them.

>>1143174
>not everything needs to be top of the line
this is the KEY to HF. you can experiment with the cheap stuff for next to no money. if it lasts, great! if not, and you end up needing to use that type of tool a lot then you know you need to invest in a better brand tool. if its something you use a couple times a week, couple times a month, couple times a year then why waste your money on fancy brand? sure, if your last name is Rockefeller then by all means go ahead a buy top of the line everything and let most of it collect dust on the shelf most of the time. most of us regular folks have to pick and choose more carefully where our money goes.

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>>1143173
>Your retarded

Ok then

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>>1143189
>I noticed you made a grammatical mistake, therefore your argument is invalid.
Good talk, man.
>>1143181
I wish we had something similar like this back home. Even a meager set of small screwdrivers is limited to the two extremes: Maximum chinesium that is even below the "home improvement" aisle at a supermarket, or top of the line €25 for a single flat head screwdriver.

>>1143203
"chinesium"
that's an AvE element right?

>>1143071
I could use a new dreidel. Last week i used a stack of washers on a string.

>>1143230
Not really. I hate how most joke terms now everyone thinks are from le funny machine man.

Some of their shit is ridiculously durable. I abused one of their $10 angle grinders to the point where it was fuck hot and smoking. It finished the job and still works.

Some stuff is shit, notably things the require precision.

Look at the reviews online.

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I just bought a thread tap set from Harbor Freight today actually. I've never needed a set before today, and I used it to repair the threads on a computer chair I received in the mail. Will I ever use the set again? Probably not. That's why I bought a cheap set from Harbor Freight. Pic related, $32 after coupon. (Protip: same set on ebay is $60+)

>>1142867
Honestly I find myself buying harbor freight tools on occasion. I used to have a pretty wide array of harbor freight tools and they are really good at getting that one thing done once and throwing the tool away, but you have to respect that that's what a lot of people need them for. Ive been finding myself performing more and more automotive services when im not at work where tools are provided. I used a central pneumatic 1/2" impact for years with no major issues, but its definately getting pretty tired so i bought an ingersoll rand and that thing is a champion but thats irrelevant to the conversation.

TL;DR Harbor Freight tools are to buy and use once. Expensive truck tools and brand name tools are to buy once and use.

>>1143259
Hope you like removing broken taps from inside whatever you're working on - that is really a pain in the ass.

>>1143258
>I abused one of their $10 angle grinders to the point where it was fuck hot and smoking.
i used one till the brushes were so worn it was having trouble switching on ( commutator was still ok ). since i lost the extra brushes they put in the box $0.99(free shipping) later on ebay i'll have 10 extra pairs of the correct size lol.

>>1143259
i had the exact same set and it couldnt even tap or die home depot mild steel it just mushed the threads

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>>1143027
>>If its anything that requires precision (ie torque wrench)

I work for a calibration lab. The torque wrenches are accurate. Micrometer style torque wrenches are not accurate as digital ones. There is a digital torque adapter for 40 dollars that is more accurate than a snapon or cdi analog micrometer torque wrench.

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>>1142867
Lel

>>1143064
I would like to think this was just to further prove his point

>>1143203
>>I noticed you made a grammatical mistake, therefore your argument is invalid.
>Good talk, man.
No, but it means you consider getting the details right irrelevant and a waste of your time. 2/10, would not hire to fry burgers.

>>1143089
>>1143089
Depending on the model of digital caliper you have the harbor freight ones are just as accurate. They are accurate to .0001" which is where most digital calipers are accurate to. Just keep it clean and wipe it down with denatured alcohol and lightly with white mineral oil. Change the battery every 6 months just to make sure it is working correctly.

>>1143099
The chinese multimeters are great to carry in your tool box or keep in your house tool kit in the junk drawer.

>>1143396

Yeah, try carrying that chink meter around in a tool box. It will come apart pretty much instantly.

>>1143265
I like a challenge.
>>1143272
It's a good thing I don't plan on tapping mild steel.

>>1143369
>>>/pol/
read the sticky

>>1142867
my shitbox greenhouse from harbor freight is still standing after 7 years.

>>1143165
done that, it works fine.

>>1143203
I have that screwdriver set, they're trash. Tiny handles and no way to get a decent grip on them without using pliers.

>>1142867
key thing looks cool, everything else is shit. dunno why people shill it

>>1143230

chinesium has been around for a while. so has unobtainium.

>>1143669
They're a good throwaway pair if you need a tiny bent screwdriver to get into a screw hole somewhere hard to reach. The steel is unhardened so it works without shattering them. They're remarkable easy to bend actually. Got my set from Jaycar at about $8.

I like them for shitty consumables such as wire brushes that I want to throw away after use.

Get 6 brushes for $2

>>1143369
You ona no how i kno your a fagit?

harbor freight is a great place to get a 20 ton press.

the problem with most HF power tools isn't that they break, its that they are horribly underpowered. the nameplate rating is a crock of shit.

also, dont get the jack stands if you value your life.

I bought a cheap $70 welder from them not bad not good either just learning how to weld and to fix my sons gocart. So he broke one of the welds on the gocart hitting a tree. I welded it in 15 minutes and it's been a year and still no problems. It great for little jobs around the house and garage but no more then that.

>>1143762
as long as you don't mind how shitty the weld looks, it does a fair enough job. you really don't realize how useful a welder is till you get one.

>>1143259
I read a review of one of those kits on there, the guy was bitching because one went dull on the 4th hole he was tapping in his trailer tongue. I laughed, because I'd have been stoked if it successfully tapped 1 hole in a fucking trailer tongue.

HF main downside is factory quality control. I always check out the reviews before I go buy from there, and most of the negative reviews simply say it was broken out of the box, and either exchanged for new and no problems, or they couldn't return it because they let it sit for months before using it. So i wouldn't get anything from there unless i was going to need it immediately. All the junk I've got there has been fine.

>>1142867
Tarkelp hand cleaner smells like ass but works great for $2 a tub. Jumper wires with alligator clips are a good deal. Wire brushes, hammers, clamps. The toolboxes are a great deal, too. I'd buy one on them no question if i hadn't already bought one.

I bought a 60 gallon air stationary air compressor. One time it got obnoxiously loud so I turned around and saw it vibrating across the fucking floor.

>>1143691
I posted the picture. I got mine from the dollar store and have since lost/broken all of them. They're almost ubiquitous.

>>1143034
>all 3 came with a certificate of calibration.
>Hung-Lo Charlie printed them off so it must be true

>>1143034
>I just bought 3 torque wrenches from harbor freight for $10 each. all 3 came with a certificate of calibration.

>came with calibration cert

For anyone who doesn't already know, this doesn't mean jack shit unless it's traceable and/or from a reputable source. You might actually get one that's legit, but the vast majority are just printed/stamped en-masse and thrown into the box without actually checking the part/tool.

>>1143757
Their pneumatic tools are great.

Especially the earthquake line

>>1143295
Really has nothing to do with it being a harbor freight lathe

MT 2 is just hard to take out, normally you need a wedge to push it out

>>1143272
Did you not use lube?

I use the harbor freight taps in everything from gummy aluminum to 316SS but they ALWAYS need lube, even in plastics

I trust them way more than the lowes irwin taps

Btw I use the $10 sets they have, not the expensive ones

Also i work in an industrial setting.

>>1143165
Every grinder I've ever owned:

>A makita 7"
I've used this monster more times than I'd like. When i pull out this bad boy something is going to be ripped to shreds by the ends of the day and my muscles are gonna feel it all. But despite this I have gone through a whopping 6 sets of brushes, it's still going strong
>A makita 4.5"
My personal 4.5" go to, lasted me quite a while, and looks like it will last a decade or two more
>A Hitachi 4.5"
Bought it for my company, lasted a month and a half before one of the commutation bars broke off. Was cheap and did well until it broke
>A dewalt 4.5"
Fuck this thing, it would smoke from slight hard use from day one. Coworkers all used dewalt so i figured it was ok, so when the Hitachi died i got one (again purchased for and by my company). It took 5 months to die but it only lasted that long because I was so afraid of breaking I never got to use it well. Despite the smoking, the thing that killed it was the gear box, the gears got stripped
>A metabo 4.5"
It was nice, really handled and felt strong. It was way too fucking expensive though. Got it for the company thinking "if I get something nice it may last longer". And it did but I was afraid of running it too hard because it was so expensive. And despite treating it like my own baby it died on me after 2 years when the brush holder melted. At its price it definitely wasn't worth it.
>A harbor freight "professional series" 4.5" heavy duty
After the metabo died i decided to go to the other end of the spectrum, because fuck it, if I'll always have to replace them I might as well buy them at disposable prices. And I'm still running this one. I have never run a grinder as hard as this one. Given it sometimes feels a bit weak compared to my personal makitas but it always gets the job done. It's been almost 2.5 years and it's still going strong.
>A makita wireless brushless 4.5"
Wife got me this one for our anniversary as part of a set. Bit power hungry

>>1143089

>be me
>buy a hazard fraught digital caliper
>grindy as fuck when I try to use it
>metal powder comes out of it
>return it
>get an igaging caliper for like $25
>it's really fucking awesome

>>1143874
>>buy a hazard fraught digital caliper
>>grindy as fuck when I try to use it
>>metal powder comes out of it

why not take 10 minutes to take it apart and shoot it with carb cleaner?

i think of HF tools as just a step above identical ebay chinese tools. they're just a bit cleaner than direct off ebay.

>>1143011
Were........ fuck's sake anon

>>1143634
Do you have it assembled in doors?

>>1143203
I have that same set with the broken mystery alarm one.

Only cost a pound or two from amazon.

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>hate thread

Ok anyways, anyone have good luck with drill presses?

I was thinking of getting 8 inch 5 speed for personla use, but question is what does the 8 inch mean? It can only "dig" 8 inches?

>>1144345
It's pretty okay

>>1144345
They are great for drilling oblong holes with a slight angle to them. Not so great if you want round holes that are straight.

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>>1144345
>what does the 8 inch mean?
It means that it can drill a hole in the center of an 8" circle. That is, the center of the chuck's rotation is 4" from the edge of the column. 8" is relatively small for a drill press, but it's adequate for most dimensioned lumber. For the depth it can drill, look for spindle travel (the spindle is the rotating telescoping part that the chuck attaches to).

Regarding cheap drill presses, my opinion is that you generally get what you pay for. Small size, weak motor, loose tolerances, light (flexible) construction. Probably adequate for woodworking, though precision would take skill with dealing with the machine shortcomings. I got pic related for metalworking. It's over 140lbs of heavy castings and motor, and chews through stainless with no trouble. It's probably overkill and overly expensive for your uses, but you might consider a lower-end name brand with good reviews.

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Their 100 piece security bit set isn't bad for $8 if you want to loosen the bathroom stalls to the point of failure or something.

>>1143801
This they are probably the only major company that let negative reviews just hangout indefinitely. Its good bc everything at homedepot or Lowes is 4 out of 5 start average. If you see something asst harbor freight with an abnormal average it's either very popular or sucks

>>1144417

Well I will be doing drilling into billiard ball, plastics, wood. Billiard ball is probably the concern if it can drill hole in that.

>>1143980
This too. Plus no shipping time.

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I stopped by a local HF that opened a year or so ago to see what was up, and I was very much underwhelmed by what I saw in there. 100% Chink junk. While I was looking at the compressors, there was this one guy who bought a sand blasting outfit there earlier, and the ceramic tip broke while he was using it. He went back and tried to see about getting a replacement tip only to find that HF had no replacement parts of any kind. He was not a satisfied customer.

>>1143871
Isn't the makita 7" like 20 pounds? Fuck I don't think i could do that for 8 hours

>>1143757
What's wrong with the jack stands? I have a 3-ton pair and a 6-ton pair, neither have ever given me trouble or looked like they could fail.

On that note, I have one of their older 2-ton red jacks, and I've picked up my '86 K30 with it. It dug holes into the asphalt but held.

>>1144664
i got 3 9" bosches and 1 9" dewalt at an auction 'broken'. they actually work fine but theres some scary power in them

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>>1144528
>hf reviews

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>>1144687

>>1144686
The makita 7" has a bit more power and weight than the Bosch 9" grinders.

Much rather use the Bosch for long work, though I've never had a bosch tool that hasn't crapped out on me.

If you're a lazy ass and have a giant collection of unused tools in your garage, then yes screw harbor freight it's cheap chinese shit. But if you're a hard working man who is always breaking and losing stuff, harbor freight is the way to go.
>>1142867
SO Fuck your thread! I work as a roofer and my tools and shit break or get lost all the time, I can go to home depot and get cutters that are 35$ and will break or get lost in a month or goto harbor freight and get them for $5 and get the same results.

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>>1144688

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drill. these work fine.

>>1144807
are those drills only or can it use like a screwdriver attachment?

>>1142875
>Harbor Freight has it's place. It also has places where it should never tread. Which is which is up to you.

How am I supposed to rage after reading that bit of critical thinking?

>>1144827
No it only takes dildos

>>1144854
I find a heavy dose of methamphetamine usually does the trick.

>>1143838

Used to work at the Irwin tools factory that made taps and dies. They also make the tap and die sets for mac and snap on

>>1144885
Fuck I hate irwin taps so fucking much. I wanted to get a project done at work and i went through 6 irwin taps (with lube, turning 720 then back 360)

Had to go back and forth to lowes 4 times that day getting new taps (the lowes is only 6 minutes from work) then I went to harbor freight the next day, came back and finished the second one (i was making 4 of the burners) with a single harbor freight tap (same amount of lube, same 2 turns one back)

>>1144827
whatever you want to put in the chuck: drill bits, nut drivers, screw driving bits (flat, philips, whatever), wire brush, cutting wheels, sanding discs... get the idea?

>>1144441
yup I got this one too. never know when you will run across some funky fastener, and now ya have the right bit for it. for $8 (less if you bring the 20% off coupon) why not?

>>1143990
Outdoors, with appropriate windblocks staggered on all 4 sides so it doesnt get the shit beat out of it by the wind.

>>1145115
Glass walls or plastic?

>>1144715
>I don't take care of my things, so I buy things that break on their own
Why are all roofers morons?

>>1143089
>fractional conversion is something every digital caliper integrated circuit should have.
As a professional machinist it's really not that useful. You should know what the fractions are in decimal to begin with.

>>1145072
awesome

>>1144528
This. I've found that with the amount of bad reviews, you can actually gauge whether or not something is worth buying. 3 stars or less? Throw it out. 3.5 to 4.5? Meh, worth a shot. 5, usually great (then again, that's usually limited to shit you can't get wrong, like c-clamps and hammers.)

>>1144854
>Harbor Freight has it's place. It also has places where it should never tread. Which is which is up to you.
>How am I supposed to rage after reading that bit of critical thinking?

Protip: Don't

I have a HF saw mill. Built it on a trailer, works great. It had a few, small issues but those were readily dealt with during assembly.

>tfw seriously considering getting the mini milling machine

>>1145507
dont.

that thing won't even hold a 20 thou tolerance.

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>>1145507
>>1145508
Only do that if you want to treat it as most of the kit you need to build a decent bench mill.

>>1145517
well, ok, like half the kit. Hrm, maybe a bit less.

Anybody ever try out there miter saws? I don't need to put one through hell so Im thinking about picking one up just cause there pretty cheap and figured they might be fine for light use.

>>1143756
Said nobody whở knew what they are doing ever

>>1144715
Junkie detected. Maybe if you treated shit better you could get a real job.

HF tools are generally more good than bad. Best pro is the cost factor of course. I have a socket set I keep on my work truck that has been working fine for more than 2 years. I'm a service electrician so don't have to use it every day, mostly ground rod clamps, 3/4 lag screws for RK1 knobs, and clamps for 2in Rigid service masts. I half expected by now one of the sockets would have broken by now, especially using them with my impact driver.

Their digital meter you can get for free is crap and so is their french fry maker. Tape measure, tarps, flashlights are all nice free things to get.

For the money you can't quite go wrong-especially if it isn't something you use everyday.

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>>1145517
>putting a DRO on that abomination

find me a place with cheaper welding blankets

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plastic "ammo" box... these are pretty good for general storage. got one for my son for all his Nerf darts. he loves it bcuz it looks "army"... the one I got did not have the name printed on the side. just plain grey. it did have a sticker that easily peeled right off.

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FREE!
these work fine. and did I mention they are FREE! I have several bcuz, FREE.

>>1145915

I had the sliding compound. The base bends very easy. First time I let someone use the one I had it was no longer sitting flat on a a surface. Out of the box the fence needed realignment badly and tightening the angle lock would throw it out two or so degrees.

I ended up trading it away. It lasted about 4 days riding in the a truck bed. The casting broke two inches above the slides.

>>1145322

Normally I would not give a (you) but I've met many roofers. You earned it.

>>1142972
>the little predator engines

Aren't they just Honda clones?

>>1146639
Yes, and they're amazing.

>>1146672
for?

>>1146704
pretty much anything

$300+ for a genuine honda, $99 for predator

>>1146192
i like the '$6.99' value kek

i've got a couple scattered around the house, same with their multimeters

>>1145424
For average garage chores it's very handy. Keep in mind most don't have sets of numbered drills lying around.

>>1142868
my dad has about 25 of these

>>1146757

I keep them in random drawers around the house, its extremely useful. The same goes with the flashlights and multimeters

>>1143807
>furloughed canadian mining engineer says all taiwanese tools suck and everybody should go buy a 1980's brushed torque wrench.

Unless your building a fighter jet or rocket a harbor freight torque wrench is built to a higher standard than whatever you are working on.

There is a class action on harbor freight. Can get a giftcard even if you dont have any reciepts anymore.

>>1146931
>even if you dont have any reciepts
>THIS WEEKS SPECIAL!

>FILL OUT THIS MAIL IN COUPON, WE SEND YOU BACK A FREE! $10! GIFT VOUCHER! OR, A FREE! 5 YEARS! IN JAIL! FOR PERJURY! A FELONY OFFENSE! UNDER CA LAW!

Goddamn, Muricans & those ambulance chasing scumbag toerags, suing HF for dishonest advertising? shame, none whatsoever.

>>1146931
Class Members covered by the settlement include U.S. customers who between April 8, 2011 and Dec. 15, 2016 purchased any product from Harbor Freight Tools that was advertised with a higher reference price adjacent to a lower current offering price, but which was not sold by Harbor Freight Tools at the higher reference price for at least 28 of the last 90 days prior to purchase.

Qualifying Class Members have three possible recovery options, depending on how they can document their qualifying purchases:

- A refund of either 20 percent in cash or 30 percent on a Harbor Freight Tools gift card of the “you saved” amount shown on a Harbor Freight Tools purchase receipt

- A refund of either 10 percent in cash or 12 percent on a Harbor Freight Tools gift card of the total amount of qualifying Harbor Freight Tools purchases shown on a credit or debit card
- A $10 Harbor Freight Tools gift card

>>1146192
Found the jew...

Harbor freight:
-When you know you'll only need a tool for one job
>when you know there's no way theu can fuck it up
>when you're an amateur.

Good example is a hammer. A hammer is comprised of three pieces; the head, haft/handle, and the wedge.

These have to be at least okay quality to be sellable.

So, if you're a Hank Hill type (weekend craftsman), go for it.

I bought a crosspein hammer from harbor freight when I started blacksmithing. The haft was crooked and is wiggly now, but it worked until I was good enough to forge my own hammer/ buy a new one.

A buddy of mine bought himself a heat gun to take the wallpaper off of his wall. Nine heat guns later, he was done. He said that he kept taking them back and explaining that they were dying after a few hours, and they'd exchange it.

Harbor freight has it's place. Would I buy an impact driver from there as a carpenter? Fuck no. But would I buy an eyeglass screwdriver or a tarp from there? Sure.

>>1143071
manual chainsaw got me

>>1143071
I'd buy that chainsaw.

>>1145915
My neighbor has one. He does mouldings, he likes it. He got the collapsible bench for it too. I wish I'd known how well it worked before i got a craftsman one and built a bench for it..

>>1147114
so now break it down barney style, because i have a box of harbor freight receipts from over the years... what do i do now?

>>1147126
There are many stories of people getting hammers from HF and having pieces break off the heads or the heads just shattering.

The rule with HF is do not buy it if:
It is placed under tension/compression (clamps, jacks, etc)
You hit it (chisels, punches, etc)
You hit with it (hammers, sledges, etc)
It has to hold an edge (drill bits, planes, etc)
You could seriously injure yourself it if failed (engine hoist, safety harness, jack stands, etc)

And finally, if has fewer than 4 stars on the website.

I do by name brand stuff there a fair amount. My local one carries household cleaners, lubricants, oils, etc. Always use the 20% off coupon. Otherwise you can often get the name brand stuff cheaper elsewhere.

>>1147251
Bullshit.

I have never had a problem with any of the things in your list.

Their electronics can be shit though.

>>1143071
That multi tool
>Gaydar
>Paternity tester
For $10 I'd buy it just for giggles

>>1143481
You won't like it after the first time it happens. I hope you aren't tapping anything harder than plastic with those.

>>1147641
This is true. I was only successful at tapping aluminum rod. Steel destroyed it.

>>1147641
>>1147719
Wtf is wrong with you guys?

Do you not lube the taps?

See my story:
>>1143838
>>1144939
I swear by hf taps

Just don't fucking use them without lube

>>1145072

Not sure if this is what he meant, but drills that are intended for use as drivers have some kind of torque-limiting mechanism for both ease of use and preventing you from accidentally chowdering the head of the screw.

Obviously, you can pretty easily use any variable-speed drill as a driver, it's just slightly less convenient.

>>1143027
>>1143034
The torque wrenches have been tested to be quite accurate. And they're cheap enough you just buy a new one instead of recalibrating them.

>>1147771
>Implying they were ever calibrated in the first place

Hate to break it to ya bud, but they're cheap because they're shit, not because you're getting a bargain.

If you think they an manufacture torque wrenches even to chinkshit standard, buy the super expensive calibration equipment and pay someone to stand there all day checking them, signing the off etc. You're sadly mistaken.

>>1147777
>implying its impossible for a machine to automatically test the spring rate of the springs that go into the wrenches, before they are built
>implying other manufacturers dont do the same thing

>>1147837
Haha yeah, no that's not how calibration works.

>>1147838
>implying that method wouldnt get you within the +/- 4% torque TOLERANCE

buy calibrated tools if your working on super expensive shit. otherwise, its not necessary.

>>1147859
You're ignoring the point, being they're cheap enough to replace rather than recalibrate. They'd have to be calibrated in the first instance.

Within a range of tolerance isn't good enough. It might be for those who can pose the idea that cheap HF crap will do the job and in that instance there's no argument. For those who require a torque wrench to act as a torque wrench should, accurately, this isn't suitable.

>>1147862
torques dont need to be 100% EXACT every time. for 99.9% of applications, a fastener that needs to be torqued to 100 ft-lbs will be just fine torqued to 95-105 ft-lbs. not everything is a fucking space ship.

just keep an electronic torque checker nearby in the building if you can afford one. that will be more accurate than any snap on torque wrench.

>>1147868
It's obvious you don't work in engineering. Swapping tyres isn't the same buddy.

>>1147873
thats where your wrong kiddo.

i do work in engineering.

your just a pretentious prick who thinks the name makes you better than everyone who isnt.

>>1147862

>Within a range of tolerance isn't good enough.

Literally everything in the world that is manufactured is manufactured to a range of tolerance.

>>1143393
No, calipers are good for +/- .005. I've never seen digital calipers with a resolution less than .0005. As a rule in every shop I've worked, anything closer than .005 requires micrometers. I've been a machinist for 25 years, the last 12 as a babbitt bearing machinist in the power generation industry. It's quite common to get tolerances of+.0003/-0. It's impossible to measure that with calipers, even vernier calipers.

>>1147889
I'm not sure what your point is when it's obvious everything is to a tolerance. It's the degree of error that is important.

>>1147881
Nothing to do with being pretentious and if you were to hold yourself to the same degree of competence anyone else in engineering would, you'd know that.

>>1147905
+/- 4% really isnt that bad.

hell, the electronic torque wrenches that snap on makes are +/- 1%.

the only reason that you should need such an accurate torque is if the application demands it. things like rockets or military equipment.

but 99% of things are not rockets and military equipment, so +/- 4% torque isnt going to hurt anything in those applications.

>>1147905
>oh look the intern is pretending everything he does is perfect again.
Buddy, the guy is right. Tolerances are there to allow for variation without compromising function. Hell, even +-10% is good enough for most applications. Other factors will play more of a role than minor variations in the wrench.

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95KB, 784x1000px

>>1147905
you don't know shit about engineering. there are a gorillion fudge factors thrown into a design and material properties have variances of up to 25% even in "quality" materials. its why FOS are usually greater than 2.

read a book.

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612KB, 1600x1200px

>>1147215
Nothing really. Even if you've spent $1k+, 30% of the "You've saved" amounts to about $100 USD. Factor in the time you'll spend both going through the receipts and at the store, and it's not really worth it if you're the busy type. Otherwise, go for it, you may even get more if it's some of the really old (2008ish) stuff with outrageous faux discounts.

>>1148020
Great book. Worked through it even though It wasn't my uni's assigned book on recommendation from my teacher.

>>1148024
>get more if it's some of the really old (2008ish) stuff
nope -
>between April 8, 2011 and Dec. 15, 2016

>>1148038
Still, pick out a random receipt, and work out what 30% from that purchases "You've saved" ammount is, use that to see how much you'd potentially get if you have any idea how much you've spent at the store.

>>1148018
>+-10%


Are you joking?

>>1148024
what >turbo is that

>>1148117
It's an alternator/

>>1148112
not who you are replying to but see>>1148020


+-%10 isn't even that large of a deviation for many engineering applications.

>>1148112

No, he isn't.

Off the top of my head, about the only thing I can think of that even the more (typical) hardcore diyfag would come across where that might be a problem is the head bolts on an engine. For everything else, a trained hand probably won't even bother getting out a torque wrench. Most non-critical thread lengths aren't even calculated; they're just eyeballed by an engineer to a spec of "yeah, that looks about right", then possibly given an automated sanity check to make sure someone wasn't asleep at the drafting table.

Might be a different story if you were working professionally on something particularly exacting (aerospace in general comes to mind and has already been mentioned), but nobody's arguing you should be using HF-tier tools for that kind of work, anyway.

>>1143871
makita grinders are top tier

>>1148162
>>1148158
Posts 5 minutes apart in different threads
GTFO makita shill

>>1147995
>>1148018
>implying 4% is close to 1%
Not even. 4% is literally 4 times 1%.
If you have an instance where 1% is 10, then 4% is 40.

>10% is good enough
at 150ft-lbs that's 15 ft-lbs.
At 1" that's .010".
You're talking hotdog in a hallway numbers here.

I'd agree with +/- 5% in the hobby range, but 10% is pretty fucking wide.

>>1148142
>Most non-critical thread lengths aren't even calculated; they're just eyeballed by an engineer to a spec of "yeah, that looks about right"
Close but far.
Non-critical is a vague term in engineering, but I'll roll with it.
Thread lengths that don't matter are typically picked by the depth of the hole, plus the space for the object being fastened (i.e. the actual wheel rim, oil pan, or gear width), plus a little safety margin, which depending on the safety margin can be anywhere from +/-0 to 10%. Usually this margin is actually determined by rounding up to the closest larger standard size, or smaller size for tight spaces/blind holes.

This also has nothing to do with torque, which is actually determined by the thread length, pitch, bolt/screw material, and the material and properties of the part being fastened.

This is why grade 4 10mm Toyota transmission pan bolts that are 15mm long are torqued to ~6.2 ft-lbs rather than the full 15 ft-lbs they can take. More thread is engaged in the transmission pan than elsewhere on the car, and more than 7 ft-lbs will actually warp the pan and cause a leak. On top of that, torque and clamping force vary in vastly different ways, and change with the condition.
These same bolts are torqued to 12ft-lbs on the throttle body, as it is thick aluminum that is unlikely to be oiled.

Cleanliness of a bolt makes a huge difference. A brand new dry grade 4 bolt isn't breaking a sweat at 6.2 ft-lbs. But a new oiled bolt (or bolt with loctite) of the same variety may snap at only 4 ft-lbs in the same hole.
Why? The oil allows more clamping force to be applied for less perceived torque.

>>1148192
4% is close enough that it doesnt matter for most applications. for things like you listed, that require special torques, yeah you may want to use a more accurate wrench.

Not sure what all the other facts have to do with the quality of a wrench, the wrench doesnt care about cleanliness or oil or loctite. You aren't dealing with retards here.

>>1147251
Yeah, I'm calling bullshit here. Don't buy plastic handled bar clamps. Buying bigass cheap all iron and steel C-Clamps? Not a problem.

Hammer heads shatter if you hit the wrong thing with them. It never astounds me to see guys wailing the piss out of a chisel with a regular claw hammer when they and then complaining when shit breaks, instead of using a rubber mallet or deadblow like they should.

The 4-star rule is good though. Since they know crap is crap, they don't scrub their reviews so you can trust them to be accurate. Anything less than 4 stars should be avoded

>>1143295
fuck phoneposters

>>1148294
>transmission pan bolts and throttle body mounting bolts being specialty applications.

lol ok.
My point is, comparing a 4% wrench to a 1% wrench is like comparing apples to oranges. One tolerance is four times the other, and that tolerance gets bigger the larger the measured number is.
I didn't say you need a +/- 0.05% tolerance for anything I was talking about.
Also, 10% is a big fucking deal.

The second half of my reply was correcting inaccuracies as well as pointing out what you just said.

I was stating that thread-length being sloppily chosen was not the same as torque being sloppily chosen.
Lrn2coprehend pleb.

>>1147251
>You could seriously injure yourself it if failed
>engine hoist
I got my 1 ton hoist on sale to pull my engine.
It held that engine in the air for a full week before I got it on an engine stand. I also used it to pick up a riding lawn mower out of the bed of my dads truck.
Love that fucking thing.

>>1148318
I didn't compare the two. I simply said that even snap on torque wrenches are not perfect. Also, the difference in the torque, at higher torques, doesn't mean jack shit if all we are talking about is fasteners.

Maybe YOU should learn to comprehend.

>>1148329
>implying I'm not replying to multiple people

>+/- 4% really isnt that bad.
>hell, the electronic torque wrenches that snap on makes are +/- 1%.
Your post implies that 1% is pretty close to 4%, which is not true. They are different leagues of accuracy.

>Also, the difference in the torque, at higher torques, doesn't mean jack shit if all we are talking about is fasteners.

8ft-lbs (4% of 150) can be the difference between properly torquing and snapping the head off of a fastener at higher torques in many applications.

>>1148348
I did not mean to imply they were close. that is how YOU interpreted it.

4% off torque will NEVER snap a fastener. if it does, it was engineered incorectly to begin with. One should NEVER design something to constantly be so close to its breaking point.

>>1148363
You've obviously never worked with a fastener at such high torque ratings outside of wheel lugs.

4% is a pretty big difference at 150 ft-lbs.

>>1148377
You don't even know who your talking to. I've done design work and have worked on multi million dollar machines for the big three. I've done fixture work for the big three. I've done design work for vehicles on the road.

I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about. You, on the other hand, have never seen anything outside your little cubicle. Why don't you take a step outside and take a look at the REAL world?

>>1148377
and yeah, 4% is going to feel like a lot when your just a human pulling on a wrench. its really not though, the material doesn't care.

>>1148383
>The big three
of which industry?
>I've done design work for vehicles on the road.
Obviously you haven't if you think a throttle body mounting bolt or a transmission pan are specialty situations.

>I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about.
And yet here you are, posting in /diy/ delusionally thinking that what you claim to be actually matters. Especially when the point being made is that percentages add up, and 4% is a big deal for more than you think.

I've worked on far more critical and menial tasks than you can imagine. 4% is a pretty big deal when compared to 1%.

Does it matter when you are working in the range of 5-80ft-lbs? No, unless you're working INSIDE a transmission or engine. That's not what we're discussing however, and I would think someone of your claimed design caliber would already know that.

At 100, 200, and even 400 ft-lbs, however, 4% is a pretty big deal. Just because scale of the total torque is large, that doesn't mean that the little things don't matter. That 4% adds up the higher you go, and depending on your application, the clamping force will almost always rise exponentially.

>>1148391
the big three of the automotive industry of north america, who else?

and as said by >>1148192
transmission pans can be specialty. personally, I consider anything that needs to be torqued that isn't really a fastener to be specialty. and any fastener that doesn't have standard design.

>i've worked on far more critical and menial tasks than you can imagine
>doesn't even attempt to explain


Your projecting really hard. yeah, some applications may require more accurate torque at that scale, but to a SIMPLE GRADE 8 2" THREAD DIAMETER SCREW, not a HARMONIC BALANCER PULLEY or CRANKSHAFT NUT, torque doesn't matter so much. YES, WHEN IT REALLY MATTERS TORQUE IS IMPORTANT. I'm not arguing against that.

>>1148406
>the big three of the automotive industry of north america, who else?
The big three could be:
Fuji, Nikon and Olympus, in optics.
Lincoln, miller, and Hobart in welding
CAT, Komatsu, and (now) Volvo in heavy industry
etc.
>doesn't even attempt to explain
Why would I?
Short of doxing ourselves nothing we can do or say on this website really means anything. For all I know you could be a flailing 12 y/o autist covered in his own shit, or a monkey trained by the government to have arguments about accuracy on 4chan.
>Your projecting really hard
*You're.
I'm not projecting. First rule in communications, especially in engineering and business: You are responsible for how your words are interpreted. Blaming the receiving side for misinterpretation makes you look like the dumb-ass even if you aren't. The best course of action is to clarify and move on.
Pay attention to my previous posts. I may have started by calling you a pleb, pleb, but I also literally DIRECTLY STATED that we are pretty close in agreement.
I didn't blame you for misunderstanding, I accused you of not paying attention and missing the points of my post entirely. You acted like the whole post was talking about the need for a +/-1% torque wrench, when I never mentioned it.
There is nothing in my posts to clarify except that 4% is a pretty big deal in most design applications which require more than 100ft-lbs of torque. That was my main point. It. All. Adds. Up.
>I'd agree with +/- 5% in the hobby range, but 10% is pretty fucking wide.
I never said +/-1% was a must have for everyone, just that 4% is a big deal.

>yeah, some applications may require more accurate torque at that scale, but to a SIMPLE GRADE 8 2" THREAD DIAMETER SCREW, not a HARMONIC BALANCER PULLEY or CRANKSHAFT NUT, torque doesn't matter so much. YES, WHEN IT REALLY MATTERS TORQUE IS IMPORTANT. I'm not arguing against that.
Then why are you so rustled?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygr5AHufBN4

>>1144417
I was thinking of getting this exact model but seems a little too heavy though for a mini drill press. I want to be able to move it around my garage.

>>1148653
They aren't too heavy to move by hand. I had a Wilton the same size and it was easy.

If you get a very large drill press like the great old cast iron Deltas etc you can make a wheeled base with jack screws to take the load off the wheels when placed. That keeps the wheels from making it tippy.

>>1148421
Real life mechanic here. Most of the monkeys i work with don't undetstand torque or tensile strength, and cannot use even a click-type torque wrench with an explanation, MULTIPLE times. It drives me nuts hearing it click 4 times on one nut or bolt, or seeing it go 1/4 turn after the click. Or hearing after seeing looking up a spec, "74 sounds low I'm gonna go 80" then seeing the extra 1/4 anyway. But i just tell myself "it's closer than it would be with no torque wrench..." So whoever is right, the point is moot. Where torque is actually critical, accuracy will most likely be paid attention to... whether the 4% matters or not (none of you "engineers" are using a HF torque wrench at your jobs).

> t. A guy that foolishly repaired a stripped aluminum oil pan for a coworker once, and has had the pleasure of repairing hundreds since as "the guy" that has to fix them now

Seriously, if you see a pan with a "no monkeys" symbol sctatched into it, i repaired it.

>>1144441

Yup, that set kicks ass for eight bucks. Dickhead security screws? Fuck you, I gots me the bits.

>>1146192

Yeah, but they're measured in Yugoslavian Kreplachs. 13.5 Kreplachs to the septinch.

>>1144441

What the hell is that Y-shaped thing in the top left of the upper panel?

Also:
>Buying a shitton of bit because they're cheap then they rust out before you use 90% of them.

>>1146191
I get the same ones from walmart, brand is plano though. they're nice for random shit, but I still get metal ammo cans when I carry ammo around.

>>1144441

I have one of these sets.

The bits are absolute garbage, but having that one odd bit for just a handful of screws has saved my ass enough times that it's still plenty worth it.

>>1148968
>What the hell is that Y-shaped thing in the top left of the upper panel?

I've had it in the box for 4 years. I still haven't figured out what it does.

>>1142867
It's useful if you need throw away tools.

>>1148968
>buy kit
>slather all the bits in grease
>stash it away until you need it
Problem solved

>>1149299
>Get grease everywhere when you need to use it and the bits suck ass anyway so they strip all of the screw heads
Problem created

>>1148968
The Y shaped thing is for setting eye hooks and S hooks.

I have used several slotted bits on my grinder to bring them exactly to fit odd sized screws for guns that aren't really available for less than 50 or 100$ for a screwdriver set.

Philips bits wear out all the time and should be trashed whenever the mood strikes you.

Torx is never something you need often but when you want to take a hard drive or phone apart, there you are... But I usually end up needing a t5 or smaller anyway so don't use the ones in the set.

Throw out the hex bits, they are only food for rounding bolts