Harbor Freight

[digi]

Parking Lot sale this weekend, for car tools like wrenches, sockets, torque wrench, breaker bar, they have some awesome deals. Especially for tools that you wouldn't use every day.

I wouldn't buy their cheap power tools (unless it's an odd tool for a project) but they also have a drill press for $54 which is something I could've used a few times.

Time to go smell the cheap paint and lead boys..daddy is breaking out the credit card.

[tp4tissue]

I haz their drill press.. it's fine for shallow holes..  but the tolerance is not tight enough for "deep" drilling..

So you gotta keep that in mind..

Get their lathe if its on sale..  fun tool so you can make round things.

[digi]

I haz their drill press.. it's fine for shallow holes..  but the tolerance is not tight enough for "deep" drilling..

So you gotta keep that in mind..

Get their lathe if its on sale..  fun tool so you can make round things.

Right on, this one?

https://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-x-12-inch-bench-top-wood-lathe-95607.html

[tp4tissue]

wood lathe is good,  check if they got the metal one on sale though.. metal one has more precision.

[digi]

All the precision lathes are hella $$$

[tp4tissue]

All the precision lathes are hella $$$

well yea.. hahaha.. but if it's on sale.. w/ coupon .. hahahaha

[Leslieann]

Steer clear of the wrenches.
A wrench is a wrench until you put a bit of pressure on it and the jaw opens up and rounds off the bolt. Cheap wrenches are not worth it.

[digi]

Steer clear of the wrenches.
A wrench is a wrench until you put a bit of pressure on it and the jaw opens up and rounds off the bolt. Cheap wrenches are not worth it.

That was the word years ago. The new Pittsburg wrenches are 4 walled, best design. It would break before rounding a bolt.

[kurplop]

Harbor freight has the best prices on high quality tool chests.

[digi]

I went a little goofy at the store. Bought a number of tools. Their ratcheting wrenches and torque wrenches are made in Taiwan and decent quality. Got the torque wrenches for $11.99 ea after coupons haha

[Leslieann]

Steer clear of the wrenches.
A wrench is a wrench until you put a bit of pressure on it and the jaw opens up and rounds off the bolt. Cheap wrenches are not worth it.

That was the word years ago. The new Pittsburg wrenches are 4 walled, best design. It would break before rounding a bolt.

I'll believe it when I see it, wrenches are one place you can really screw yourself on.
Last Pittsburg I used was still garbage compared to my 20+ year old Craftsman. Which is the problem, the quality of "good" tools has come down while cheap stuff came up, they met in the middle. Snap On, Mac, Old Craftsman, etc... are all still far, far better.

I'm not against cheap tools, most people are not pushing tools to their limits, but invest in them wisely, buy the Hazard Frought tool chest, or the grinder, or the (small) lathe, but for important stuff that will really bite you in the butt later (wrenches, taps, big lathe, tig welder), spend the money on good stuff. It will last longer, save you time and effort and leave you with fewer busted knuckles and busted parts.

[digi]

Yea I only use the wrenches for brake jobs and oil changes they're seldomly used. To buy a $250+ Snap On set would just be stupid. For tools i use frequently like drills and saws I go DeWalt, etc.

And the warranty on HF is lifetime, walk in and they exchange it no questions asked. I USED to be a Craftsman guy until they offshored to China in 2010. Like you said hard to find inexpensive American made tools unless you go used and hunt Craigslist etc.

[tp4tissue]

Dat clipbord guy on utube says the earthquake xt from harbor is pretty good..

Buhhhh my compressor sux0rz, so I'm not even going to bother..

Just use my eletric dewal.. 

[Leslieann]

Dat clipbord guy on utube says the earthquake xt from harbor is pretty good..

Buhhhh my compressor sux0rz, so I'm not even going to bother..

Just use my eletric dewal..

Earthquake XT is pneumatic (good for the money) or electric which was surprisingly good (because it was a white label model designed by someone else).
Either is just fine for home use, they don't directly interface with whatever you are working with. Dewalt is great for the money, they have a good return on investment. Home users will also do well with some of the Bosch stuff, so long as you aren't driving 4in screws.


Also, I should clarify on the wrenches, box ends are fine, it's the open ends you need to watch out for, and like others, I don't really have an answer for anyone in the market for some. Beware Youtube reviews, many are shills and are not disclosing it (which is illegal BTW). I got mine years ago back when Craftsman was still good and have never had to go look for good ones as a result. I do have some cheap ones as well since you can beat on them and not care.

[kishy]

Impact sockets, flare nut wrenches, windshield removal tools, floor jack and air line hardware have all been winners for me. I beat the crap out of the flare nut wrenches trying to prove/disprove the reviews saying they break easily and they didn't. I've been meaning to pick up one of their Diablo air hoses as well.

Oh, and I have a 1/2"-drive extendable ratchet (becomes almost as long as a breaker bar) that I've been extremely rough on and it's still going strong.

My only HFT power tool is the dual action polisher, which is used very infrequently but I'd call it a reasonable quality tool (and expect on that basis that their angle grinders are as well). Even came with replacement brushes in the box, which is a nice touch.

Folks I know have had their oilless compressors eat up piston rings and stop compressing, but I think that's inevitable with all oilless ones after enough runtime (I may be wrong though). The oil lubed ones are apparently pretty decent.

[kurplop]

Folks I know have had their oilless compressors eat up piston rings and stop compressing, but I think that's inevitable with all oilless ones after enough runtime (I may be wrong though). The oil lubed ones are apparently pretty decent.

I buy cheap oilless portable compressors without regret. I replace them every few years but the fact that they weight half as much as their counterpart makes it worth it. They are also cleaner and don't leak on the customers carpet.

[kishy]

Folks I know have had their oilless compressors eat up piston rings and stop compressing, but I think that's inevitable with all oilless ones after enough runtime (I may be wrong though). The oil lubed ones are apparently pretty decent.

I buy cheap oilless portable compressors without regret. I replace them every few years but the fact that they weight half as much as their counterpart makes it worth it. They are also cleaner and don't leak on the customers carpet.

Right...that's going to depend on what you're using it for. To provide "shop air" for working on your car in your garage, a mostly stationary oil-lubed compressor makes a lot of sense. Portable work, especially in conditions like you described, and even more especially if it's an income source and the compressor wearing itself out is earning money at the same time, then oil-less makes sense.

I bought a 20-gallon oilless for my garage (not from HFT, it's the Canadian Tire store brand) because I didn't properly understand the benefits of one versus the other at the time. If I were doing it over I'd shoot for the same size and CFM specs as what I've got, but with an oiled pump.