HF tool pass/fail

Pittsburgh dremel: works even after falling into a bucket of ATF. Has around 60 hours on it. Pass, but feels cheap. 

Warrior accessories kit: 

All the bits seem decent quality. 

Pass. 

Had some time to kill a few years ago so we wandered through a Harbor freight looking at cheap stuff. I'm not a fan of cheap tools, but I'd just bought a bike with a lot of Torx fasteners so when I saw a set of Torx sockets on sale, I thought it wouldn't hurt to have an extra set. It's a Torx socket, how bad could it be?

I have now used them 3 times and broken one each time. The latest took so little force to break, I can't believe they're even made of steel.

Major league fail.

The electric pole saw gets a large pass, have had it two years and has been involved with four major tree projects.  The tool came through with flying colors. Keep the chain oil in range and adjust the chain as needed. 

Paul B

micro usb charger flashlight. Big pass last a long time, charges fast, will take multiple 30ft falls.

Hammer/pipe wrench. it works as it should, seems to be holding up fine . 

pass

In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :

Does it hold up to a 5' cheater pipe on the end?

Can't speak for Professor_Brap but mine held up fine to a jack handle slid over the end.

Also, as mentioned, works great as a hammer.

In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :

3' has held up fine. 

This sandblasting thing:



Massive FAIL. 

Bought this to blast some wheels and large stuff that doesn't fit in a cabinet. It barely did anything. I used Black Diamond coal slag as media, and it would basically toss a few grains at it at a time, which effectively did nothing. An air gun did more to remove rust than the blasting gun! Speaking of the blasting gun, the gun started leaking air where the nozzle meets the body, and later, the trigger got stuck on. I took the gun apart a number of times to try and fix it, and eventually added a spring to the trigger mechanism which fixed it from getting stuck, but that didn't help the thing work any better. This thing is a steaming pile. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

I and a friend separately had the same result with their portable sand blaster 

it worked for no more than 5 seconds at a time with 5-10 minutes of cleaning and futzing between successful blasts. I have no idea how they have anything other than 0 stars. My friend's was on the curb in front of his house the day he bought it.  He didn't even want to go back to the store he was so disgusted by it. 
 

In reply to jfryjfry (Forum Supporter) :

Yep, that's basically where I'm at. Once I dump the media back into a bucket, this POS is getting tossed.

jfryjfry (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Tony Sestito :

I and a friend separately had the same result with their portable sand blaster 

it worked for no more than 5 seconds at a time with 5-10 minutes of cleaning and futzing between successful blasts. I have no idea how they have anything other than 0 stars. My friend's was on the curb in front of his house the day he bought it.  He didn't even want to go back to the store he was so disgusted by it. 
 

 

I have this one....  It works if you ignore the directions.  I forget EXACTLY what it was I had to do, I think I had to adjust media flow with the ball valve on the tank like they say not to do.  Otherwise it would hose all the media out in a non-blasty way and then turn into a blowgun.

I did blast two extremely rusty RX-3 wheels with it with great success.  The biggest PITA once I learned how to make it work, was recollecting and straining the sand media for re-use.  A cabinet would be the way to go, but I did buy it with the ultimate goal of blasting the underhood of the RX-3.

id be curious as to what all you did if you recall that there were other steps.   That being said, the handle of the ball valve to which you refered broke off on mine. That was the last straw for me.   But I'm cheaper than my friend and stuck it in the corner of the garage instead of on the curb. So there is a chance it could live again.  But I just bought a cheap hopper blast gun to for outside stuff figuring it would be the simplest solution.

Tony Sestito said:

This sandblasting thing:



Massive FAIL. 

Bought this to blast some wheels and large stuff that doesn't fit in a cabinet. It barely did anything. I used Black Diamond coal slag as media, and it would basically toss a few grains at it at a time, which effectively did nothing. An air gun did more to remove rust than the blasting gun! Speaking of the blasting gun, the gun started leaking air where the nozzle meets the body, and later, the trigger got stuck on. I took the gun apart a number of times to try and fix it, and eventually added a spring to the trigger mechanism which fixed it from getting stuck, but that didn't help the thing work any better. This thing is a steaming pile. 

 

I came here explicitly to see what GRM said about this blaster.  I need to walnut blast my intake valves and am in need.

rolling stool - fail.

I had the stool less than a year (got it last year at Christmas)

Used it a few times and eventually two of the welds popped and it sloped downward on one side.

I thought, no big deal, I'll get some locktite epoxy and fix it up. Put a thin layer on. Dried. More. Dried. More. More. More.

Broke again. Damn.

Will I buy another? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe get a rectangular one. I like the round for the ability to spin/rotate when working, but dont need/want something that'll fail

Shame.

https://www.harborfreight.com/front-wheel-drive-bearing-remover-and-installer-kit-21-pc-63728.html

Anyone have experience with those as a ~20% cheaper alternative to the OTC Hub Grappler? 

Flat lander
 

I bought this a few months ago. It worked as intended but I only used it that one time so I can't speak for longevity. I researched it online before I bought it. The only recommendation I saw was to keep the threads lubricated or it will strip.

Donebrokeit said:

The electric pole saw gets a large pass, have had it two years and has been involved with four major tree projects.  The tool came through with flying colors. Keep the chain oil in range and adjust the chain as needed. 

 

Paul B

Thanks for the tip, I needed one of these and they had it on sale Black Friday for $59.00. (Plug in version)   Used it Saturday and it performed well.   Perfect for the 3 or 4 times a year I’ll use it.  

wae said:

Chicago Electric finger sander (bandfile belt sander):  Pass

I got one of these after watching a lot of Binky in a row while working on a new front motor mount bracket for the Neon.  It worked a treat for that project and I've used it when cutting stripper poles, cleaning up welds, woodworking, and even used it to take a half inch or so out of a joist so I could install a pole upper-mount bracket.  My brother and my dad have both come across it in the shop and used it for various things and afterwards have raved about it. 

A couple complaints:  The little lever that sets the tension is about 1mm too long and it interferes with the body of the tool such that it's extremely hard to set it to full tension without pushing it past that point to fully unlocked.  Replacing the belt requires an allen wrench to remove the cover, which is annoying.  I cannot figure out how to set the adjuster just right so that it doesn't throw the belt off all the time.  After a while, I can find the sweet spot and it'll be fine, but if it gets knocked out of adjustment I'm forever trying to get it back where it needs to be.  The belts that it comes with and that HF sells are total crap.  Get the 3M ones from Amazon and now you have yourself a very functional grinder.

The tool is so useful that it's worth dealing with those minor problems.

Anyone know if the air version of this is any good?

hybridmomentspass said:

rolling stool - fail.

 

I had the stool less than a year (got it last year at Christmas)

Used it a few times and eventually two of the welds popped and it sloped downward on one side.

I thought, no big deal, I'll get some locktite epoxy and fix it up. Put a thin layer on. Dried. More. Dried. More. More. More.

Broke again. Damn.

Will I buy another? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe get a rectangular one. I like the round for the ability to spin/rotate when working, but dont need/want something that'll fail

 

Shame.

You mean this one?

I"ve heard other people have issues too.  I think they must be hit or miss.  I've had mine a few years now.  I'm 220lb's and it's still going strong through lot's of use.  For $27 less whatever discounts you can put together (you know there's always at least a 20% off, if not more around) I'd say it's worth another go.  I really like mine.

Toyman01 said:

Baxter 1/2 x 18 finger sander. Enthusiastic Pass.

It's a good bit more expensive than the CP version. Works flawlessly. I should have bought one of these years ago. 

@AWSX1686 from page 15

I have a non-HF version of that air powered finger sander, uses 3/8x13 belts.  AMAZING DEVICE.

I picked up a bunch of belts from McMaster-Carr for like 60 cents a belt when bought in a certain quantity.  Could not find them locally.

adam525i (Forum Supporter) said:

Toyman01 said:

Baxter 1/2 x 18 finger sander. Enthusiastic Pass.

It's a good bit more expensive than the CP version. Works flawlessly. I should have bought one of these years ago. 

@AWSX1686 from page 15

Thanks! I finally have a good air compressor, so I think I might opt for that vs the HF electric version. 

In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :

yes, that one.

Maybe I will get another one like it. ONE more try before going with one of the rectangular style

FAIL FAIL FAIL Out of the box FAIL

Pittsburgh 40 pc. Carbon Steel Tap and Die Set

Thank goodness I discovered this immediately.  Still wasted 1.5 hours of drive time to buy then return.

If you're wondering why it's so difficult to see the threads it's because there are no threads.

I will return it and buy somewhere else.  Sheesh.