HARBOR FREIGHT QUALITY

Bill Daniels wrote:
I generally agree but I have bought unusable tools from HF. An example is a
tap and die set which contained taps and dies that didn't match any known
thread, metric or SAE. As it happened, the one size I needed when I bought
the set (M8 x 1.25) was useable. I discovered the bad ones when I had long
since lost the receipt. Anyway, the set cost little more than a single tap
from a machine supply company so I didn't lose more than the trip to HF.

I decided that taps and dies need to be sufficiently accurate that they
should be sourced from known reliable vendors even if at a higher price.

Then there was the electric metal shear that disintegrated upon its first
contact with sheet metal. The motorcycle was still warm from the trip to HF
when that happened - they happily replaced the unit. I just lost two hours
work.

There is no HF anywhere near me so I order online. I will not order
anything that might require customer service based on personal
experience. I bought a small Central Machinery lathe from them. It's a
good machine, but any support I needed from HF was like pulling teeth.
They sent me the wrong size key with a chuck. I contacted them via
e-mail. Long story short: they only replied after I sent at least 3
e-mails per reply. Four months after initial request they finally sent
me a new chuck key, wrong size again and never did respond to my
complaint. When I attempted to get technical questions answered about
the lathe I was asked for information about my shipping address and
order number. That was the last actual response I received. The others
were "we are working on it." They never did answer and seemed perturbed
when I reminded them it had been over 30 days since I had last enquired.

Littlemachineshop.com provides excellent support for the lathe and
has better communications skills. They also ship faster than HF.

The only things I will buy from HF are those I will not expect to ask
for customer service on. I also don't ever recommend them as a source
for anything more complex than screwdrivers.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

wrote:
Someone wrote: 'YOUR OUT OF YOUR F**KING MIND' ...with regard to
suggesting people buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight.

I disagree.
By the time you're ready to put
the tool to work you know it will do a good job.

-R.S.Hoover

My daughter is an illustrator and designer.
She got all the stuff to complete a "Futuristic(Philip K Dick-esque)-heavy-
industrial-full-toolbelt-steel-toe-boot-leathersuspender-goggle-wearing-
wrench-wielding (big-BIG wrench) crusader-superchick" costume for a client
that cost her a fraction of what it would have cost even at Wal-Mart.

And I got a roll of duct tape real cheap.

--
Message posted via AviationKB.com
http://www.aviationkb.com/Uwe/Forums...built/200808/1

On Aug 15, 10:09*am, "Kloudy via AviationKB.com" u33403@uwe wrote:

My daughter is an illustrator and designer.
She got all the stuff to complete a "Futuristic(Philip K Dick-esque)-heavy-
industrial-full-toolbelt-steel-toe-boot-leathersuspender-goggle-wearing-
wrench-wielding (big-BIG wrench) crusader-superchick" costume for a client
that cost her a fraction of what it would have cost even at Wal-Mart.

And I got a roll of duct tape real cheap.

What, no electric sheep?

Bob Kuykendall wrote:

What, no electric sheep?

nice

--
Message posted via http://www.aviationkb.com

I've generally been satisfied with the items purchased from HF - and
don't recall returning anything. My angle grinder is probably almost
10 years old - and has held up well. Not bad for twenty bucks! I would
only buy from a store - and have been fortunate to have one reasonably
close since they first opened up (and now have one almost on my way
home from work). I now also have a Northern Tool in town - and my
subjective opinion is that their stuff is a bit higher quality than
HF. No doubt competition benefits the consumer.

Not long ago my trusty 12 Volt compressor blew out its intake check
valve (to parts unknown) while filling an airplane tire. Probably
could have been put back together - but the missing part could not be
found - and the company is out of business. I bought HFs price leader
as a replacement - and have been pleased with it's overall quality and
performance. The only thing I didn't like was the coil-spring style
hose, as I am accustomed to using a long neck angled chuck on the end
of a rubber hose (need it to deal with my plane's user-unfriendly
wheel pants). Alas the compressor comes with a snap lock air connector
that is apparently unique in the world. HF couldn't supply one for my
hose - and neither can anyone else. As others have noted, HFs customer
service is of little help. I did devise a work around that joins the
coiled hose and mine - but don't like it (though it does work).

Dave

"Kloudy" == Kloudy via AviationKB com Kloudy writes:
Kloudy My daughter is an illustrator and designer. She got all
Kloudy the stuff to complete a "Futuristic(Philip K
Kloudy Dick-esque)-heavy-
Kloudy industrial-full-toolbelt-steel-toe-boot-leathersuspender-goggle-wearing-
Kloudy wrench-wielding (big-BIG wrench) crusader-superchick"
Kloudy costume for a client that cost her a fraction of what it
Kloudy would have cost even at Wal-Mart.

Dude, post the pix.
--
Give to every other human being every right you claim for yourself.
~ Robert G. Ingersoll

Kloudy via AviationKB.com wrote:
wrote:
Someone wrote: 'YOUR OUT OF YOUR F**KING MIND' ...with regard to
suggesting people buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight.

I disagree.
By the time you're ready to put
the tool to work you know it will do a good job.

-R.S.Hoover

My daughter is an illustrator and designer.
She got all the stuff to complete a "Futuristic(Philip K Dick-esque)-heavy-
industrial-full-toolbelt-steel-toe-boot-leathersuspender-goggle-wearing-
wrench-wielding (big-BIG wrench) crusader-superchick" costume for a client
that cost her a fraction of what it would have cost even at Wal-Mart.

And I got a roll of duct tape real cheap.



A few years ago I proved engineers are not known for their sense of
humour. I made my father, a retired engineer, an electric tack hammer. I
drilled a hole in the bottom of the handle, cut the end off a new
extension cord and epoxied the end into the handle. My father actually
plugged it in to see if the magnetic end of the head was affected. He
had some friends, several of whom had been engineers, over a few days
later and they couldn't figure it out either. My father is a guardian ad
litem and was goin to take the hammer to the courthouse to get x-rayed
to see if I had been flimflammed. Good thing I called before he did. To
this day he doesn't understand the joke behind electric hammers.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

You are BAD! Really, really BAD! And that is the funniest thing I
have read in a long time. BFG

Dan wrote:
Kloudy via AviationKB.com wrote:
wrote:
Someone wrote: 'YOUR OUT OF YOUR F**KING MIND' ...with regard to
suggesting people buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight.

I disagree.
By the time you're ready to put
the tool to work you know it will do a good job.

-R.S.Hoover

My daughter is an illustrator and designer.
She got all the stuff to complete a "Futuristic(Philip K Dick-esque)-heavy-
industrial-full-toolbelt-steel-toe-boot-leathersuspender-goggle-wearing-
wrench-wielding (big-BIG wrench) crusader-superchick" costume for a client
that cost her a fraction of what it would have cost even at Wal-Mart.

And I got a roll of duct tape real cheap.



A few years ago I proved engineers are not known for their sense of
humour. I made my father, a retired engineer, an electric tack hammer. I
drilled a hole in the bottom of the handle, cut the end off a new
extension cord and epoxied the end into the handle. My father actually
plugged it in to see if the magnetic end of the head was affected. He
had some friends, several of whom had been engineers, over a few days
later and they couldn't figure it out either. My father is a guardian ad
litem and was goin to take the hammer to the courthouse to get x-rayed
to see if I had been flimflammed. Good thing I called before he did. To
this day he doesn't understand the joke behind electric hammers.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

BobR wrote:
You are BAD! Really, really BAD! And that is the funniest thing I
have read in a long time. BFG

Dan wrote:
Kloudy via AviationKB.com wrote:
wrote:
Someone wrote: 'YOUR OUT OF YOUR F**KING MIND' ...with regard to
suggesting people buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight.

I disagree.
By the time you're ready to put
the tool to work you know it will do a good job.

-R.S.Hoover
My daughter is an illustrator and designer.
She got all the stuff to complete a "Futuristic(Philip K Dick-esque)-heavy-
industrial-full-toolbelt-steel-toe-boot-leathersuspender-goggle-wearing-
wrench-wielding (big-BIG wrench) crusader-superchick" costume for a client
that cost her a fraction of what it would have cost even at Wal-Mart.

And I got a roll of duct tape real cheap.


A few years ago I proved engineers are not known for their sense of
humour. I made my father, a retired engineer, an electric tack hammer. I
drilled a hole in the bottom of the handle, cut the end off a new
extension cord and epoxied the end into the handle. My father actually
plugged it in to see if the magnetic end of the head was affected. He
had some friends, several of whom had been engineers, over a few days
later and they couldn't figure it out either. My father is a guardian ad
litem and was goin to take the hammer to the courthouse to get x-rayed
to see if I had been flimflammed. Good thing I called before he did. To
this day he doesn't understand the joke behind electric hammers.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired


Please note I expressed no repentance

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Dan wrote:
Kloudy via AviationKB.com wrote:
wrote:
Someone wrote: 'YOUR OUT OF YOUR F**KING MIND' ...with regard to
suggesting people buy ANYTHING from Harbor Freight.

I disagree.
By the time you're ready to put
the tool to work you know it will do a good job.

-R.S.Hoover

My daughter is an illustrator and designer. She got all the stuff to
complete a "Futuristic(Philip K Dick-esque)-heavy-
industrial-full-toolbelt-steel-toe-boot-leathersuspender-goggle-wearing-
wrench-wielding (big-BIG wrench) crusader-superchick" costume for a
client
that cost her a fraction of what it would have cost even at Wal-Mart.

And I got a roll of duct tape real cheap.



A few years ago I proved engineers are not known for their sense of
humour. I made my father, a retired engineer, an electric tack hammer. I
drilled a hole in the bottom of the handle, cut the end off a new
extension cord and epoxied the end into the handle. My father actually
plugged it in to see if the magnetic end of the head was affected. He
had some friends, several of whom had been engineers, over a few days
later and they couldn't figure it out either. My father is a guardian ad
litem and was goin to take the hammer to the courthouse to get x-rayed
to see if I had been flimflammed. Good thing I called before he did. To
this day he doesn't understand the joke behind electric hammers.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Was you father a retired sanitation engineer. :-)