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There are some great tools at Harbor Freight&#; if you know where to look! To help Harbor Freight shoppers get the most for the money we assembled this HUMONGOUS list of those Chinese gems and stinkers from the tool store we all love to hate! To find these tools I looked in forums where metal workers, woodworkers, farmers, gardeners and mechanics discussed the quality of items that they&#;ve bought from Harbor Freight. I read well over individual forum posts to harvest out the good enough, the bad and the abysmal tools and materials from Harbor Freight.
Update: additions to the list from June, .
Do you have a favorite tool from Harbor Freight? Is there a tool or product you think STINKS? Tell everyone in the comments!
Even though there are more than 150 tools in the &#;good enough&#; section below you have to remember &#; BUYER BEWARE! You always get what you pay for, especially at Harbor Freight.
Hey&#; Got Harbor Freight Buying Guide?
Sections of this article:
1) Developing Your Harbor Freight Shopper Philosophy
2) Top Ten Things NOT to Buy at Harbor Freight (Humor)
3) Derogatory yet Slightly Loving Harbor Freight Nicknames
4) My Harbor Freight Prediction: Prices Way Up Soon&#; End of the HF?
5) The List: Good Enough, the Bad, and the Abysmal
6) Harbor Freight Tips and Tidbits
7) Harbor Freight Resources Used in this Article
1) Developing Your Harbor Freight Shopper Philosophy
I did an article on woodworking with pallets. Salvaging pallet wood takes patience and diligence and yields small slats best suited for small projects. You have to have the &#;pallet mentality&#;. Shopping at Harbor Freight requires a certain mentality too. It definitely helps if you&#;re the type who enjoys fixing/tinkering with your tools. Also, familiarize yourself with The Harbor Freight Return Policy.
To best capture the spirit of shopping at Harbor Freight I thought I&#;d offer some quotes I found while scrounging around through over individual forum posts (not threads&#;). If you&#;ve never shopped at Harbor Freight these will prepare you with the proper philosophy. If you have, you&#;ll probably start nodding your head. As always, I&#;m quoting the collected opinions of others so your mileage may vary.
&#;&#;if your life or income depends on it, don&#;t buy it ay harbor freight&#;.&#;
I read these sentiments over and over. That said, there are lots of pros who buy stuff at Harbor Freight, especially consumables like gloves and blades&#; and for cheap tools they can lend out at jobsites with no expectation of return.
&#;if I use the tool enough to wear it out or break it, I use it enough to buy a better brand as a replacement.&#;
Some people use HF purchases to help them decide whether it makes sense to invest more money in a higher quality tool. If they use it enough to break it, then go for it. If not, then they saved the cost of the more expensive name brand. This can be pricey, but&#; if you buy TOO MUCH tool then you&#;ve wasted money also.
&#;tools require the usual harbor freight break in&#;
You will find yourself having to repair/replace/rebuild Harbor Freight tools right out of the box. For regular HF customers this is standard operating procedure. HF has an excellent return policy though, with very few to no questions asked. Also they have a life time trade in policy on hand tools.
&#;Overall, I try and stick to things without moving parts&#;
For folks who concentrate on the consumables this was a common sentiment.
&#;If you need a CHEAP tool that you will only use once or twice then go to Harbor Freight.&#;
Why pay for more tool than you really need?
And for every guy who swears against buying anything from Harbor Freight with a battery there&#;s at least one of these: &#;I really like their 14 volt series of cordless tools. It seems like the best price/performance ratio. Anytime I buy one I buy at least one extra battery. They&#;re cheap enough that I keep one drill with a drill bit in a keyed chuck and another with a screwdriver bit in a keyless chuck. That really speeds up assembly.&#;
2) Top Ten Things NOT to Buy at Harbor Freight (Humor)
I can&#;t resist things lists like this. This one comes from DetroitTom in Tractorbynet forum&#;
10 Things I Wouldn&#;t Buy from Harbor Freight:
1) Parachutes
2) Fire Extinguishers
3) Pacemakers
4) Vaccines
5) Birth control devices
6) Elevators
7) Bullet proof vests
8) Trigger locks
9) Pitons (I didn&#;t know what this was either&#;)
10) Scuba Gear
3) Derogatory yet Slightly Loving Harbor Freight Nicknames
Unfortunately I can only remember/find one: &#;horror freight.&#; I know there was another one I saw out there&#; I think it was &#;hardly freight&#;&#; Update&#; here are some nicknames from the comments on this article and in recent forum threads:
Harbor Fright Bottom of the Harbor Freight Harbor Hate The Chinese Cheesecake Factory For their inexpensive, thrice-yearly-use Chinese air tools, we call them, &#;INGERSOLL-CHAN.&#; I thought that I would tell you what my wife calls HF; we speak Russian at home, and she calls it vonuchka, or &#;little stinker.&#; She hates that HF smell of uncured rubber. &#;Harbor Sheight&#; (&#;Shite) China Fright
4) My Harbor Freight Prediction: Prices Way Up Soon&#; End of the HF?
I know Grizzly&#;s prices are going up due to the price of iron and, I assume, shipping. Grizzly&#;s made overseas, as are most (all?) of the tools sold at Harbor Freight. Because of rising material and shipping costs, HF may have to raise it&#;s prices, or even shut its doors. They may have been a little to aggressive with building their business model around unsustainable advantages! I&#;d love to hear input or insight into my armchair economist opinions ;)
Containership Preparing Harbor Freight for Your Next Shopping Spree&#;
5) The List: Good Enough, the Bad, and the Abysmal
Here goes, the feature attraction. I went through and identified all the good, bad and abysmal tools as described by woodworkers, metal workers, mechanics, farmers, DIYers, gardeners and even pond tenders. Keep in mind that an abysmal band saw for a woodworker may just be a good band saw for a farmer. When possible I included the item number. When I couldn&#;t find it or there were multiple variations of a tool I just left the tool as described in the forum I found it.
Good (Enough) Tools From Harbor Freight
These are tools and other items that got at least one favorable mention. I broke the multiple mention tools out for you and put them on top &#; I&#;m assuming these will give you the most &#;miles per gallon.&#; Also, before you dig in, a quote regarding &#;consumables,&#; from someone who I believe works with metal: &#;All of their consumables such as cotter pins, grease fittings, roll pins, O-rings, Internal and External lock clips, 12&#; sanding disks, 12&#; cutting wheels, 3&#;, 4&#;, 4-1/2&#; grinding wheels are OK too.&#;
The guys at WoodworersZone compiled a list from WoodNet called &#;Harbor Freight Gems.&#; I not only copied their list for this post (in addition to many other sources of course), but borrowed their format of #item number followed by the name of the tool. I put any relevant quotes in parenthesis.
HF Clamps (on most of my HF clamps I&#;ve got more than my money&#;s worth.): 26
# 16 Piece 1/2&#; SAE Deep Wall Impact Socket Set: 10
# Pack of 100 X-Large Nitrile Gloves: 8
# 4-1/2&#; ANGLE GRINDER (i buy from harbor freight a angle grinder for $17.00 works great): 6
# Harbor Freight 6&#; Digital Caliper: 6
# 18 Volt 3/8&#; Drill with Keyless Chuck: 5
# Harbor Freight VARIABLE SPEED RECIPROCATING SAW: 4
# ADJUSTABLE SHADE AUTO-DARKENING WELDING HELMET: 4
the welding magnets : 4 (mentioned several times, did not specify type&#;)
# 28° FRAMING NAILER: 4
Every compressor I&#;ve purchased from HF has worked like a champ.: 4
# Heavy Duty 16 Speed Bench Drill Press: 4
# Oscillating Spindle Sander: 4
# 14&#; 4 Speed Woodworking Bandsaw: 4
# 3-in-1, 1&#; SDS Rotary Hammer: 3
# 90 Amp Flux Wire Welder: 3
# 4&#;x6&#; horizontal/vertical metal-cutting Band Saw: 3 (Harbor Freight metal bandsaw review &#; great review, will help you get started if you decide on the band saw)
# 50 Ft. Auto Rewind Hose Reel with 3/8&#; Hose: 3
# 1/2&#; Crown Air Stapler: 3
# 2 HP INDUSTRIAL 5 MICRON DUST COLLECTOR (A true bargin): 3
# FEATHER BOARD WITH ANGLE FINDER: 3
# 1LB. Dead Blow Hammer: 3
# 1&#; Travel Machinist&#;s Dial Indicator: 3
# Digital Clamp Meter: 3
# 1/2&#; TITANIUM IMPACT WRENCH: 3
# 18 Gauge 3/8&#; to 2&#; Air Brad Nailer: 3
-18 ga nailer. People really rip on this one. It was jamming on me for a while. I kept trying to oil up the hammer, but it would jam again. I finally removed the entire piston assembly (allen bolts through the exhaust vent cap) and oiled it up well and it&#;s worked great ever since. $15 nailer!!!
# Lb. Capacity Lightweight Aluminum Racing Jack: 3
# 36&#; Bolt Cutters (their huge cheap bolt cutter worked fine): 2
# 14&#; x 40&#; Lathe with 6&#; Sander (I bought the HF wood lathe. It&#;s definately nothing like what &#;Norm&#; has, but I have no plans to replace it in the near future.): 2
# PORTABLE TIRE CHANGER: 2
# 10/2/55 BATTERY CHARGER/ENGINE STARTER: 2
# 20 TON SHOP PRESS: 2
#621 SPRING LOADED CENTER PUNCH: 2
# Benchtop Bar and Rod Bender: 2
# PORTABLE VARIABLE SPEED BANDSAW: 2
# 6&#; Industrial Rabbeting Jointer (I took a chance on a 6&#; jointer (Not the base model) and so far it has worked like a champ.): 2
# 4-1/2&#; GRINDING AND CUTTING WHEEL ASSORTMENT FOR METAL AND MASONRY, 10 PACK: 2
# 7 Piece Forstner Bit Set (Good starter set): 2
# 1/2&#; TO 1&#;, 23 GAUGE AIR PIN NAILER: 2
# 9&#; HEAVY DUTY ANGLE GRINDER: 2
# Multipositional Magnetic Base with Fine Adjustment: 2
# DIAL GAUGE ANGLE FINDER: 2
# Stacked Dado Set: 2 (A good first set)
# 29 Piece Brad Point Wood Drill Bit Set: 2
# 9&#; Drill Press Locking Clamp: 2
# 10 Piece T-Handle Hex Key Set: 2
# 3 Piece SAE Ratcheting Wrench Set: 2
# 3 Piece Metric Ratcheting Wrench Set: 2
# 9 Piece Metric Wrench Set: 2
# Magnetic Parts Holder: 2
# Magnetic Pick-Up Tool: 2
# HORIZONTAL/VERTICAL METAL CUTTING BANDSAW: 2
# 2-1/2 HP Plunge Router: 2
Other &#;Good&#; Tools (Note some of these are on the Bad list too&#;)
# 7&#;x10&#; metal-cutting mini-lathe
# Harbor Freight 500 AMP CARBON PILE LOAD TESTER (This battery tester got a decent recommendation in the Rigid Forum.)
# Garden Wagon (nice wire mesh garden wagon at Harbor Freight for a really good price. I&#;ve been happy with it.)
# 12V ROTARY TOOL SET WITH 30 ACCESSORIES (for the accessories, found for $7)
# 6&#; STAINLESS STEEL NEEDLE NOSE PLIERS
# 2&#; x 20 Ft. Heavy Duty Tow and Recovery Strap (used my HF tow strap to tow a UPS truck out of a ditch by my house, no problems)
# 10&#; Straight Jaw Locking Pliers
Harbor Freight 2.5 HP, 8 GALLON, 120 PSI AIR COMPRESSOR (&#;I bought one like that last year on sale for $99 and it was the best $99 I ever spent. It is used almost daily to air up tires and works great with my nailer and sprayer.&#;)
REAR AXLE BEARING PULLER SET (Threads on slide approximately 50+% depth of attaching axle/ bearing accessories and stripped after moderate usage. Recommend rethreading and using graded nut.)
# Harbor Freight INDUSTRIAL POCKET BLOW GUN
# Harbor Freight WALL-MOUNT HANG-ALL
# Harbor Freight 12&#; Direct Drive Bench Top Disc Sander
# 2.5 Horsepower 10&#; Industrial Tile/Brick Saw
# 4 Lb. Sledge Hammer with Hickory Handle
# MAGNESIUM COIL ROOFING NAILER
# 2 TON PALLET JACK
# HEAVY DUTY UTILITY KNIFE
# 3&#; Composite Air Cut-Off Tool
-paint brushes
# 1-1/4 CUBIC FT. MINI CEMENT MIXER
With competitive price and timely delivery, Eastloong sincerely hope to be your supplier and partner.
# 16 Oz. Claw Hammer with Fiberglass Handle
#219 AIR GREASE GUN
# 3/16&#; AIR HYDRAULIC RIVETER
# 2 HP, 8 GALLON, 125 PSI OILLESS AIR COMPRESSOR
# VARIABLE SPEED RECIPROCATING SAW
# PIPE/TUBING NOTCHER
# 21 Piece SAE 3/4&#; Heavy Duty Socket Set
# 50 Amp 6V/12V Battery Load Tester
# T-Post Lifter
# Two Piece Foldable Saw Horse Set
# 7 Function Digital Multitester
# NON-CONTACT POCKET THERMOMETER
# 1/2&#; EARTHQUAKE IMPACT WRENCH
# 6&#; Digital Caliper (A true bargin)
# 9 Piece SAE Wrench Set
# High Volume Low Pressure Gravity Feed Spray Gun
# HVLP Detail Spray Gun
# TOUCH-UP AIR SPRAY GUN
# HEAVY DUTY AIR PAINT SPRAY GUN
# 1/2&#; Air Drill
# HIGH SPEED AIR BODY SAW (cut up a whole pickup with this little gem)
# PISTOL GRIP AIR SHEARS
# MORTISING MACHINE (Put XY vise on it and its just a piece of cake to use)
# 3-1/4&#; ELECTRIC PLANER (used it for several doors now, works fine)
# 1/4&#; Trim Router (Base isn&#;t much but works fine. similar to Ryobi, lots cheaper)
# 3/4&#; INDUSTRIAL ROTARY HAMMER (These things are cool!! lots better than a hammer and chisle)
# 1.5 WATT SOLAR BATTERY CHARGER (use them to keep the batteries in the lawn mowers up, over the winter)
# 2&#; Mini Lathe Chuck with MT-2 Shank
# 28 Piece Transfer Punch Set
# 45 PC. THREADED INSERT RIVETER KIT (last seen for $13.99)
# 29 Piece Titanium Nitride Drill Bit Set (I think their twist drills are a great deal when they&#;re on sale for $10 for a full set of fractional sizes)
# &#; 3/8&#; Close Quarter Drill
# &#; 2&#; Industrial Grade Chip Brushes
# SPLIT LEATHER WORK GLOVES
# ABRASIVE HOPPER KIT
# 230 Volt Spot Welder (you gotta be FAST on the trigger, or you&#;ll blow a hole)
# Compact Air Needle Scaler
# MINI ANGLE DIE GRINDER
# 3/8&#; to 2&#; Ratcheting Pipe Threader Set
# Harbor Freight 18 Gauge Sheet Metal Shears (&#;I found these metal shears to work good. I only needed them for one project.&#;)
# 1/4&#; Air Hose Swivel Connector with Regulator
# Tire Inflator/Gauge
# 10 Piece Color Coded T-Handle Metric Hex Key Set
# 7 Piece, 3/8&#; Shank, 1/4&#; to 1&#; Titanium Nitride Coated Forstner Bit Set
# Push Stick
# 36 Piece 1/2&#; Horsehair Bristle Acid Shop Brushes
# Industrial Ear Muffs
# Adjustable Roller Stand
# Pack of 10 Medium Grade Aluminum Oxide Sanding Sponges
# 3/8&#; x 25 Ft. PVC Air Hose
# 4 Piece Solid Brass Quick Coupler Set
# 1/4&#; Socket Rail (all sizes of rails)
# 2.5 Horsepower Industrial Breaker Hammer Kit
# 10&#; Compound Miter Saw
# Leather Work Gloves
# Utility Blades, 10 Pack
# 20 Ton Air/Hydraulic Shop Press with Oil Filter Crusher
# Non-Contact Pocket Thermometer
# Sta-Lube Air Tool Oil
# Fluid Siphon Pump
# 12 Ton Jack Stands
# 7&#; Variable Speed Polisher/Sander
# Wheel Hub/Stud Resurfacing Kit
# Watt Heavy Duty Dual Temperature Heat Gun
# 12&#; Direct Drive Bench Top Disc Sander
I bought some ratcheting wrenches a few years ago that I&#;ll put up against anything out there.
US General tool boxes and chests
# Lb. Capacity 48&#; x 96&#; Heavy Duty Foldable Utility Trailer
# 5.5 HP, Watts Max/ Watts Rated Generator Set
# 2&#; 235 GPM Dirty Water Pump
# Abrasive Blast Cabinet (with mods and fixes)
# 600 Lb. Capacity Appliance Hand Truck
# 2 Ton Air One-End Frame Lift
# 8 Piece Heavy Duty Screwdriver Set
# Blind Hole Bearing Puller
# 2 Piece Valve Lapper Tool
# Automatic Battery Float Charger
# 1/2&#; Variable Speed Reversible Hammer Drill
# 3 Pocket Cotton Apron
Bad Tools That Don&#;t Suck Bad Enough to Not Get Them
These are the tools that suck but still work well enough to justify the purchase (there will be some people who&#;d suggest that all the tools in the &#;Good&#; category would actually fit here). They are bad tools, but if you know what to expect then they&#;re ok. One guy called this category &#;tolerable.&#;
-long locking welding pliers
-chainsaw sharpener
-bar clamps and c-clamps
-HF log splitter
-Drill Bits are pretty bad.
-12 speed 10&#; bench top drill press for $89
-8 Piece Silver and Deming Drill Bit Set
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=527
-The cheap (especially on sale) HF blades do not last as long as &#;BRAND&#; blades but are the best price/performance ratio by quite a margin. Changing blades is trivial and quick so if I use 5 HF blades instead of 2-3 DeWalt blades I am way ahead on $.
-the Harbor freight roller stands
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=
8&#; 3/4hp (yeah right) grinder
3 piece &#;large&#; locking C-clamp set
8 ton comealong
-If you want a cheep 18 gauge nail gun for a weekend woodworker, buy HF and tweak it to work well &#;
-Pittsburgh wrenches: Wouldnt recommend. Just junk wrenches you dont mind abusing. Chrome on your arms if you wrench too hard. Good warranty though.
-Hand operated well pump
-HF biscuit joiner
-stationary power tools
Abysmal/Broken-In-The-Box/Don&#;t Bother
Steer clear of these&#; though it became clear to me that one man&#;s broken is another man&#;s good. To give you a sense of abysmal, read this: Harbor Freight 18-Gauge Brad Nailer/Stapler. It&#;s a review by Tom Hintz. I&#;ve read lots of his reviews &#; they have great pictures and he works hard to be fair and scientific. To my knowledge this is the only tool he destroyed with a 10 pound sledge hammer after completing his review.
-260fp impact wrench
-3&#; red vice
-My small drill press broke the top gear spindle. I used liquid steel to fix it.
-Some of the small sanders don&#;t hold the sand paper.
-The sand paper does not have the grit glued on at all. (+1)
-3 ton hydraulic floor jack &#; leaks, sucks (&#;also on do-buy list)
-thumb ratchets
-battery charger
-Do NOT however buy the bi-metal hole saw bits
-Garden Tractor Cart/Trailer
-don&#;t recommend the cement hammer bits
-One was the flatbar (16&#; prybar) that bent
anything with an integrated blade
anything with rechargeable batteries
any of their 2% duty cycle welders
any of their pot-metal vises
-I&#;ve had bought for me a lot of items in the hand tool category like end wrenches, ratchets and such. Those all fall in the total failure group.
-But I will only give my Worst HF purchase&#;. that 50$ CRAP chop saw! It&#;s like trying to cut a knife with butter. (&#;with a good blade this saw gets high marks)
-the mini die grinder (also showed up in the &#;Good&#; list above&#;)
-carving knives
-Chicago Electric close quarters drill #
-the plastic wire ties.
-NEVER buy the bunjee (tie-down) cords!!
-The 4? jointer (-1VGA) is useless, mainly because of the poor quality fence.
-Nitrile Gloves: NOT &#;I&#;m not a chemist but sodium hydroxide,(paint remover) ate through HF Blue Nitrile gloves.&#;
-bench drill press (&#;often recommended)
-3/8? Corded drill.
-I got a small benchtop blasting cabinet. I HATE IT!!
-black bar w/ orange grip bar clamps. (clamps are #1 recommended item at HF&#; beware though :)
6) Harbor Freight Tips and Tidbits
These little bits and pieces needed to get out there, but they didn&#;t have theme that suggested a solid category. So they&#;re here.
In-store no-hassle replacement policy:
&#;One tip is that Harbor Freight offers an in-store no-hassle replacement policy for a few bucks. I use it when I know I&#;m going to be using a product hard. For example, I bought a clear water pump (less than $40) and even with the proper pre-filter, the motor seized after three months. I walked in with the pump and the guarantee, showed the melted motor fan, picked up a replacement and walked out. It was that simple. The new one has worked fine.&#;
Company Reviews for Harbor Freight Tools from Employees Here&#;s a peek at what the managers have to deal with.
Harbor Freight at Wikipedia:
&#;Harbor Freight Tools is a retail tool and hardware company that started in , primarily selling through its mail order catalog, which still exists today. The Camarillo, California-based company offers more than 7,000 varieties of tools on its web site, mail order catalog, and retail stores. Harbor Freight Tools has over 314 retail store locations nationwide.&#;
7) Harbor Freight Resources Used in this Article
Here are my sources.
Harbor Freight Tools that don&#;t suck (Best overall thread on finding good values at HF&#; this is from a Farmers&#; forum.)
Sunday trials and tribulations at Harbor Freight.
Mark the time please, I am done with single use cheap tools
Harbor Freight
Anyone shop at Harbor Freight Tools?
Harbor Freight roller stand
HF Drill Press Table
Harbor Freight Tools&#;good or bad?
Harbor Freight Sewing Machine Any Good?
Harbor Freight: Good Prices, POOR Inventory Control, Ok Products (a really good epinions review)
The scoop on &#;Harbor Freight (HarborFreight.com)&#; (a review of the harbor freight green house from Dave&#;s Garden)
Harbor Freight vs. Beverly for a throatless shear
Harbor Freight Angle Grinders
HF tools that don&#;t suck
HF tools that suck
Review: Harbor Freight Folding Shop Crane
Harbor Freight Digital Caliper Review
Harbor Freight 7×10 Mini Lathe
Band Saw Review &#; Harbor Freight/Central Machinery
Harbor Freight Portable Air Compressor Review
Harbor Freight 1/2&#; Bandfile Belt Sander
Harbor Freight Log Splitter Review
Harbor Freight vs Costco Portable 12v Air Compressor &#; In Depth Review w/ Pictures
Harbor Freight 3×21&#; belt sander (short review)
Harbor Freight Plate Joiner
More Harbor Freight Sucks&#;. (fish pond enthusiasts having problems with Harbor Freight)
06/05/09 Resource Update:
And Yet Another HF Gem
Another Harbor Freight Gem?
HF Oscillating Spindle Sander & Biscuit Joiner&#;.GemS??
Your favorite Harbor Freight (HF) Bargain?
Cordless Tools
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