Harbor Freight Tools

[Turbo-Triumph]

So ive been a pretty loyal customer for some years now, and generally, im pretty happy with what i buy. Usually just hand tools. But latley ive noticed a SEVERE decrease in quality. I know Harbor' isnt exactly known for the quality of the items they sell, but more the price they sell them at, but what gives?

:examples:

(backround info: im a mechanic at a foundry, so i use my tools daily)

I bought a set of multi-colored sockets about a year and a half ago, and they all worked phenominal. all fit good, never broke any of them. Well, i lost 1 or 2, and the colors wore off (lol), so i bought an exact duplicate set a month ago. Since then, 1 actually "stripped out", and 1 cracked/broke.

The company i work for bought a chopsaw 2 years ago, and we use is almost daily, and it was all gravy.. well it burned out, and we got a brand new one a week ago. That one burned up THAT DAY, so today, i go and get a replacment (warrantee) and i noticed some pretty fucked up issues with it:

1: the blade had AT LEAST (no joke) a 1/4" warp (wobble) in it. (i broke it in 1/2, and put a diff one on)
2: the washer they give you for the handle was too big for the screw. (it fell right thru)
3: the machine screw itself had NO FUCKING WAY OF DRIVING IT IN. NONE. you could see there was supposed to be a phillips head, but there wasnt.
4: ((they come pre-assembled, ~handle)) Out of the 4 bolts that hold the saw arm to the base, 1 was tight, 1 was tighter than finger tight, but not tight, 2 were loose as a goose. (which this is very dangerous, b/c that could easily cause a broken blade, which could fux someone/thing up)

Screwdrivers? forget about it... use your keys, or a penny.

//rant//

reason for posting:
Have i just gotten ahold of a bunch of defects in a row? or did i just get lucky in the begining? Anyone else experience roughly the same thing? (they were 'decent' now they 'arent') im on the fence about purchasing anything from them at the moment, and wanted input.


Disclaimer: im not trying to slander the company, and everything stated is "in my opinion." I dont need to be sued, so you can fill the void in your pocket left behind by producing shitty garbage.

[Car Guy]

I think your place of employment won the lottery with the chop saw lasting two years. A friend of mine sold cheap China made power tools (same as Harbor Freight) years ago and 'ate' so many returns he was loosing money. Needless to say he does not sell them anymore and now works for Strap-on.....

The only hand tool(s) I have from Harbor Freight are impact sockets and a 1/2" pneumatic impact. I beat the snot out of them for years and they still work great.....

[WickedSix]

quality is exactly what u've experience very much hit and miss....

[jbiscuit]

Harbor freight is hit or miss. There is a huge pass - fail tread on the garage journal forums. I would look at it this way, since most tool makers are sendin their manufacturig overseas you can either pay huge prices for Chinese junk or reduced harbor freight pricing for Chinese junk. I would start to look NOW for quality American tools on craigslist and a swap meets. You can find decent deals if you look

[lordairgtar]

Yeah, I think you got lucky with your initial purchase. Save some money and buy better quality tools from a more reliable source. Cost up front might be more, but in the long run, those tools will last longer.

[Doc Brown]

Dan, given your profession your tools can see pretty regular use on some tough jobs. You really need to invest in some decent tools that can go the distance for you.

[BR3W CITY]

im only an evening/weekend user of tools, but probably 40+% of my tools are from hf. My smaller hand tools like wrenches ect have been plenty fine, but I have some better ratchets since those are often pretty weak. Other stuff like my sander, a few pnuematics have been fine, although nowhere near as good as milwaukee/snapon etc

[Prince Valiant]

Meh, tools I use all the time, I'll buy the good decent, but not quite top flight stuff...if I need a tool I'll only use very infrequently...say pulley puller (8 bucks!), air hammer (whole kit was ridiculously cheap...10 bucks?!?), stuff that I've probably used once or twice in 10 years, harbor freight is fine by me...because the one time the stuff worked it usually paid for itself.

I've used the air hammer probably 3 times...invaluable.

[Rocket Power]

Meh, tools I use all the time, I'll buy the good decent, but not quite top flight stuff...if I need a tool I'll only use very infrequently...say pulley puller (8 bucks!), air hammer (whole kit was ridiculously cheap...10 bucks?!?), stuff that I've probably used once or twice in 10 years, harbor freight is fine by me...because the one time the stuff worked it usually paid for itself.

I've used the air hammer probably 3 times...invaluable.

X2 if its something I only need a couple/few times, HF is where I go. If I was making my living or at least using it all the time, get better stuff. We tried HF tools once at my last job. We only did that once and went back to sears or menards for stuff that might get lost

[jbiscuit]

^ exactly. Something you might need once HF is fine. Ratchets, sockets, screwdrivers, pry bars etc buy USA tools

[Cryptic]

I just bought a aluminum jack from harbor freight because it can be worse than the piece of shit "professional series" Craftsman jack from Sears I have.

[GTSLOW]

My grandparents bought our MP 1/2 air ratchets while I was in Korea. Never had an issue with any of them and dam were they handy for tights spaces on HEMTTs. Used the hell out of them too.

[pOrk]

I damn near lost an eye using one of their grinders and burned the fuck out of my hand with a heat gun from there, I will not buy from there.