Harbor Freight! (Page 5): I had bought one of their angle grinders about 20 years ago and I gave it hell till it burned.went about 5 years ago to get another one at HF.after a week of...

Lucasdv123

I had bought one of their angle grinders about 20 years ago and I gave it hell till it burned.went about 5 years ago to get another one at HF.after a week of use I plugged it in and placed it down on the metal plate I was about to cut and as I placed it down it turned on and took off on me.i took it back and decided to get my first and only porter cable tool.to my amazement this porter cable grinder is amazing. It has 13,000 rpms and it goes through metal like butter.

Smudgey Loc: Ohio, Calif, Now Arizona

Thear higher end units which are still less expensive than most, are pretty good. I have a Harbor Freight generator that is great, no problems at all and a couple of wrench sets, also no problem.

campyboy1 Loc: vancouver Washington

deberry wrote:

Beware everything from china. Good cheap prices, cheap made junk. Stick to American made in Lowes when you can. China sells us CRAP!

If you're talking about Craftsman tools they are all made over sea if you take a look at the label you'll see what I am talking about.

BebuLamar

campyboy1 wrote:

If you're talking about Craftsman tools they are all made over sea if you take a look at the label you'll see what I am talking about.

Yes! I checked at Lowe's yesterday. Most of them are made in Taiwan but some are made in China, India and Vietnam. None of the Craftman tools are made in the USA except the tool boxes.

SteveFranz Loc: Durham, NC

deberry wrote:

Beware everything from china. Good cheap prices, cheap made junk. Stick to American made in Lowes when you can. China sells us CRAP!

When you go to Lowes you will be hard pressed to find many American made products amongst all the Lowes made in china products.

SteveFranz Loc: Durham, NC

jerryc41 wrote:

While I was in town yesterday, I saw a new sign, "HARBOR FREIGHT." It's in the building that used to be Office Depot, so it's huge. I'll have to get a good night's sleep and fortify my sales resistance before I visit for the first time.

Get on their email list.

Right now they have coupons for for 30% off any one purchase under $20. (also coupons for smaller amounts on larger purchases)

mtbear

I've had good results with hand tools, it's where I bought my Torx drivers and other specialty tools for my IT work. Power tools have been about a 50/50 break though, it's the reason I switched to all DeWalt power tools.

OwlHarbor Loc: Pacific North West USA

Its like any store you have to know how to compare and know your prices. The old saying is that you get what you pay for is not always right. Sometimes I've paid more for something than I should. I have bought some great tools over the years from HF that have done great and ranked right up with name-brand tools. One year I was looking at a small 120-volt wire feed welder and HF had a great deal but looking at the duty cycle it would not work for what I needed and I ended up spending a couple hundred more on a name brand from a mail-order. The local one that I have visited over the years seems to have got filled with cheaper items and they used to send out 20% coupons when buying something at a really decent price but they don't do that anymore. I still watch their sales just like grocery shopping. Dollar stores used to be a great place to shop and that has changed here, they charge $1.25 per item and everthing for the most part now is sample size so it not a great deal. (it depends on store and location).

campyboy1 Loc: vancouver Washington

Where do you think they get their steel from the good old U.S.A? I had a friend that worked at a metal recycling plant in California who told me how they would load up storage containers of scrap steel to ship overseas for recycling.

NDMarks Loc: Dublin, Ca

I have used Harbor Freight for many years. If you are using the tool daily and as a contractoe, buy better, but for things you only use occasionally, they are ok. They are trying to upgrade their tools. The top grades are quite good but you get what you pay for.

BebuLamar

NDMarks wrote:

I have used Harbor Freight for many years. If you are using the tool daily and as a contractoe, buy better, but for things you only use occasionally, they are ok. They are trying to upgrade their tools. The top grades are quite good but you get what you pay for.

I noticed that. HF tools are getting better but the prices are getting higher too.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

BebuLamar wrote:

I noticed that. HF tools are getting better but the prices are getting higher too.

There are few things these days for which the prices are stable or getting lower.

BebuLamar

DirtFarmer wrote:

There are few things these days for which the prices are stable or getting lower.

What I meant is that some of the stuff from HB are getting better but the prices are getting closer to other stores like Homedepot or Lowe's.

campyboy1 Loc: vancouver Washington

If you go to Lowes or Home Depot websites and look up their tools you will find that they are made in Asia somewhere and like DeWalt, their parts are made there and assembled here into their tools. Also, DeWalt owns
Sears Craftsmen, Skill, Stanley, and one or two other tool companies that I can't think of right now.

BebuLamar

campyboy1 wrote:

If you go to Lowes or Home Depot websites and look up their tools you will find that they are made in Asia somewhere and like DeWalt, their parts are made there and assembled here into their tools. Also, DeWalt owns
Sears Craftsmen, Skill, Stanley, and one or two other tool companies that I can't think of right now.

DeWalt doesn't own those brands. DeWalt is one of the brands owned by Stanley Black&Deckers.