HF tool pass/fail

In reply to Adrian_Thompson :

I had Northern Tools version of it and everything failed. It went to scrap with the last trailer load.

In reply to Toyman01 :

As feared, not worth it at any price then.  I was searching for one and noticed it's on special at $19.99 at hammer fright.

thx

Harbor Freight Central Machinery Belt/Disk Sander

Initial impression: Pass. (Will update after further use.)

I am currently borrowing dad's one of these for my dresser handle project. I was the first person to use it, so it was still in the box. Assembly was minimal and easy, though you do have to watch your clearances. The first time I tried to turn it on something was dragging too much for the motor to overcome. Tweaked some adjustments and it seems to work great now. It is a bit noisy, and rattles around a bit. I may try to clamp it to the workbench somehow for further use, but it's not bad. I will say, this is the only one I have used so far, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but for $75 plus 20% off, it seems like a good deal. I'll likely be picking one up for myself at some point. 

In reply to Adrian_Thompson :

I’ve got the harbor freight one and have had many years of good service out of it. Use lock tite on the caster stems as otherwise they loosen up over time. Otherwise good for the price. 

freetors said:

In reply to Rodan :

Did any of the "universal" adapters (the flat rubber faced disks) fit? I've had to use those ones quite often on older cars.

Nope.  

Adrian_Thompson said:

Any feedback on hammer mart pneumatic adjustable rolling stools like this one?

Are they any good or do the casters fail, they get wobbly and do the pneumatic height bit fails?  

Mine has held up very well... around 2 years now.

Ram50Ron said:

Vulcan ProTIG 200 is a pass in my book.

I've been using it for over 8 months now no real issues and it is a lot more capable than the Miller Diversion 165 that I used to use.  It's a lot of welder for the money.

Thanks for reminding me about another recent HF purchase! 

Chicago Electric Welding Cart: PASS

Picked one of these up about a month ago for my new welder. I put it together and, you know what? It holds a welder and rolls around! Wow!

The fun part was getting into an argument with the lady at the register while trying to use a 20% off coupon on it. She kept saying "It's a welder, no discount" over and over. I had to explain a number of times that it's NOT a welder and that it's a rolling cart. After spending 5 minutes convincing her that despite the picture on the box that there was not a welder inside the flat-pack box somehow, I picked it up for about $33 with the coupon. 

+1 on the welding cart. The only thing I noticed was that the hardware was a little sketchy on mine, and a few bolts stripped under relatively light pressure. It's holding OK at the moment, but I feel I may need to weld it together at some point in the future.

I have this one:

Chicago Electric Welding Cabinet: PASS

It is very solid. It holds my welder, holds my gas, and the hooks on the side hold the leads pretty well. Personally I haven't used the drawers for much, but I like how solid this feels overall compared to the other smaller one that I've seen in stores. Definitely not as cost effective though...

In reply to AWSX1686 :

+1  I use one for my TIG and it's great.  Just wish it had something for holding welding rod.

I've been looking at the big Vulcan cart to consolidate my mess, but I keep telling myself I'm going to build a new welding bench that will hold it all... 

In reply to Rodan :

I currently have just a MIG, if I got another machine for TIG I'd probably make my own cart to hold both. I like the look of the big Harbor Freight one, it seems solid, but in my small garage I don't think it'd fit very well. I might try to get a multiprocess machine in place of my current MIG and then I could keep my current cart/cabinet. 

dculberson said:

In reply to Adrian_Thompson :

I’ve got the harbor freight one and have had many years of good service out of it. Use lock tite on the caster stems as otherwise they loosen up over time. Otherwise good for the price. 

Actually for $20 I grabbed one on my way home.  Opened the box and I just can't believe that it was only $20 including all the shipping, freight and handling charges between China and here.  Just amazing.

Anyone try the Warrior 18v lithium tools yet? Drill with battery is $30 with a coupon, the light is $10, and batteries are $20. Batteries are 1.3AH. The drill felt ok, the light was flimsy and the battery is almost interchangeable with the Drill Master 18v Ni-Cad. If there were a few more tools for the system I would have picked it up last night. 

The new free blue LED work light seems brighter than the previous 27 led, although I haven’t tested them side by side yet. The rest of the construction is identical. 

Brian said:

The new free blue LED work light seems brighter than the previous 27 led, although I haven’t tested them side by side yet. The rest of the construction is identical. 

The new work lights with the strip of chip on board LEDs is definitely brighter, though it's more of a flood light than a spot light like the old 27 LED model.  I tried to take some side by side pictures back when they first came out but my phone camera couldn't really capture the difference.

I stocked up on the old style once I realized the new ones were floods.  I have a good collection of both now.

In reply to Brian :

I've been loving my Baur cordless stuff. Little pricier than warrior, but to me it feels better

There is a third welder line being added this week call Titanium.  Looks like they are being compared to Hobart/Esab. There is a 140A mig, 170A mig, and 200A multiprocess machine.  It appears like a lot of the power tools will have a "good, better, best" setup with 3 brands, this brand is going to be the "better" welder line.  The 200A MP machine is 699, and there is a coupon for 649 that came out in email earlier today.

In reply to RevRico :

There are several Bauer super coupons in the current flyer that have me looking to buy in. $65 each for the drill and impact driver and the 1/2” impact for $85(?). If only they had a recip saw. 

Brian said:

In reply to RevRico :

There are several Bauer super coupons in the current flyer that have me looking to buy in. $65 each for the drill and impact driver and the 1/2” impact for $85(?). If only they had a recip saw. 

If you buy a kit with the battery/charger included, pony up for the service plan.  It will cover the battery as well as the tool, and you can exchange the kit before it expires even if it isn't defective and get a fresh battery for the price of the plan.

AWSX1686 said:

Harbor Freight Central Machinery Belt/Disk Sander

Initial impression: Pass. (Will update after further use.)

I am currently borrowing dad's one of these for my dresser handle project. I was the first person to use it, so it was still in the box. Assembly was minimal and easy, though you do have to watch your clearances. The first time I tried to turn it on something was dragging too much for the motor to overcome. Tweaked some adjustments and it seems to work great now. It is a bit noisy, and rattles around a bit. I may try to clamp it to the workbench somehow for further use, but it's not bad. I will say, this is the only one I have used so far, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but for $75 plus 20% off, it seems like a good deal. I'll likely be picking one up for myself at some point. 

I've had this one for a couple years. I've had to constantly adjust it because every time I pull it out to use I have the same dragging problem and the motor isn't all that strong. And yeah, it's damn noisy. I had an old cheap Black&Decker one for years that probably cost around the same and was overall better and more powerful.

I'll add one: I got the HF pneumatic brake bleeder kit (well, I bought it off ebay for even less, but it IS the same one they sell at HF). It works very well, as advertised. So it gets a PASS, especially for how cheap it was. 

I have one of those combination belt/disk sanders.  I use it all the time.  Practically daily for grinding stainless steel.  Works great for me.  Also handy as a pencil sharpener.

Digging this back up for an addition. The TV wall mount is an absolute thumbs up:

https://www.harborfreight.com/37-in-to-80-in-Full-Motion-TV-Wall-Mount-63155.html

Picked it up for $39 with a coupon. Install was easy and it comes with several mounting options. I hung a 65" TV from it with zero worry about it falling off the wall. The dual parallel arm setup made me feel much better about hanging such a big TV from the wall. I used the included hardware. Using a cordless impact was the way to go for driving home the main mounting bolts.

Oh yeah, this thread! I have a couple additions...

Quinn 12pt 3/8" Socket Set W/Ratchet: PASS

I realized halfway into a job that I didn't have a 12pt socket set, and I needed one. Went to HF to get a set, and this set was a dollar or two more than just the sockets, so I grabbed one. The ratchet is the star here. It has a button release and the gear mechanism is way better than expected with some fine tooth gears. It's on par with any of the mid-grade stuff I have from Kobalt, Husky, and Craftsman, but still not as nice as my favorite SK ratchets. The sockets themselves feel nicer than the last Craftsman set I bought (which isn't saying much, but still...). I was not expecting this kind of quality for under $20 with a coupon. 

Viking Battery Charger: PASS

I saw a pile of these for about $25 each in the clearance bin, and they were remanufactured. My trusty Schumacher charger that I've had for 10+ years has been on the fritz lately, and they said if it didn't work I could return it no questions asked, so one came home with me. Works great! Also, there are a bunch of re-brands of this charger that you can get from just about anywhere. There's a Stanley one, an Ampeak one, and a ton more. Usually goes for $50-70.

Big Vulcan cart:  PASS.

Fits my MIG, TIG and Plasma, and tons of storage underneath.  Consolidated a lot of stuff for me, and it tucks nicely into the corner of the garage.  Solid as a rock.

I removed the straight axle and added swiveling casters so it can be pushed in any direction.  This honestly made it a little harder to herd around at times, but easier to put anywhere I want it.  I still need to get some PVC pipe to clean up the rod storage.

Mine has never broken, but that's about the best I can say for it. It's like my HF angle grinder - a tool version of a Pinto - just poorly executed, and its very presence casts a cloud over the shop. Now my dad's Vulcan TIG machine is first rate. In general, I'm MUCH more likely to find decent tools at HF than I used to. They're finally upping their game.