harbor freight flier

So I got this weeks flier in the mail and a couple things stood out to me.

They can sell their jack stands for $11.99. I am not sure if that is each or pair but non the less it makes you wonder what kind of quality you can get for 12 bucks.

http://www.usa.com/usa/common/displayCoupon.do?week=1710&campaign=A_Multi&page=1710A_multi.html&cust=78063194045&keycode=0000

I love the Harbor Freight flyer I get in the mail, it's easy to chew up an hour or more just walking around the store looking at stuff. The cheap big HF stands I have bought in the past have all been pretty damn strong & beefy. And the $25 digital angle finder I got there has been amazingly accurate so far.

Drills (both cord & cordless) are about the only thing I have bought from there that just don't seem to have any kind of decent life span & crap-out or burn up real quick.

i have one of there die grinders the $9.99 deal mine has the same part# on it i have had it over 15years still works great but the bearing in the end of it where the chuck is is beginning to get alittle loose in it.last year i bought one of there battery chargers the one with the 55amp starter for $39.99 it ant worth a flipthe battery charger is about the only thing i have got a complant with that i have bought from the over the years that was not worth what i paid for.

I've got 2 sets of their jack stands, held up well for about 10 years. Also have bought many engine stands, a hoist, and lots of hand tools. I prefer Craftsman , but saving some $$ on my tools let me spend more on my big block.... No doubt they do one heck of alot of business out here, you can hardly ever get a place to park in front of their store here.

I made my own w/scrap box tubing and channel iron

I have both their large jack stands and the ones in the ad. It just blew me away how cheap they were.

Who needs jack stands????

I can see the benefits of having both nice big-name tools & cheap crap tools at the same time.

I have both Craftsman socket/ratchet & wrench sets, and also cheap Chinese HF wrench sets. The Craftsman stuff usually doesn't get used until clean/final assembly of something. The cheap HF wrenches get all the abuse of the dirty crap jobs like tear-down, get used as pry bars, get hammered on, get a long piece of pipe slipped over them to break bolts loose, etc, etc, etc. Basically the cheap HF wrenches are 100% perfect for what they are meant for, being abused & thrown away if they fail.

But on the other hand choosing a high dollar 4-1/2" electric disk grinder vs a dirt cheap HF $10 4-1/2" grinder is another story depending on how your going to be using it. If all it will ever see is a grinding wheel then the top-end grinder might be the way to go. But if you need to constantly swap from the grinding wheel disk, to the sanding flapper wheel disk, then to the wire wheel disk, then back to the grinding wheel, your going to save a lot of time buying 3 of the cheap grinders & keeping a different wheel on each vs having one pricey grinder & wasting tons of time swapping disks out all the time.

we had a HF air grinder break at the hose end and slap my buddy in the face. didn't break anything on his face but sure did leave a mark

DILLIGASDAVE wrote:I can see the benefits of having both nice big-name tools & cheap crap tools at the same time.

I have both Craftsman socket/ratchet & wrench sets, and also cheap Chinese HF wrench sets. The Craftsman stuff usually doesn't get used until clean/final assembly of something. The cheap HF wrenches get all the abuse of the dirty crap jobs like tear-down, get used as pry bars, get hammered on, get a long piece of pipe slipped over them to break bolts loose, etc, etc, etc. Basically the cheap HF wrenches are 100% perfect for what they are meant for, being abused & thrown away if they fail.

But on the other hand choosing a high dollar 4-1/2" electric disk grinder vs a dirt cheap HF $10 4-1/2" grinder is another story depending on how your going to be using it. If all it will ever see is a grinding wheel then the top-end grinder might be the way to go. But if you need to constantly swap from the grinding wheel disk, to the sanding flapper wheel disk, then to the wire wheel disk, then back to the grinding wheel, your going to save a lot of time buying 3 of the cheap grinders & keeping a different wheel on each vs having one pricey grinder & wasting tons of time swapping disks out all the time.

Dave makes a good point here, you have to look at the quality, use, and cost. When I am on the road, I carry Craftsman, Snap-on and others... at home, close to my toolbox, I use the HF tools a lot. Are some of them broken... yes, are some of my Craftsman tools broken... yes. They were all abused when they failed. I have several of the HF jackstands, and they have served me very well for several years, and honestly, they compare well to the Craftsman ones that Sears sells today. I typically grab the smaller set I have from HF before the Craftsman set of the same size... simply due to the burr on the release handle that I have been too lazy to remove with a file on the Craftsman set. I still watch for a sale on the larger ones, as they come in real handy often.

nothing elec. from harbor freight PERIOD...milwaukee and dewalt for angle grinders x3, sawzall, chop saw,
cordless drills, elec impact


Harbor/Off brand tools:

got the jack stands
cheap aluminum jack for a second helper
tool chests are awesome
clamps
dead blows
1/2" Impact sockets
air grinders
vise
engine stands
6" digital caliber
10gal. sand blaster
other low torque/light duty odds and ends...


good quality tools:

gear pullers
sockets, and ratchets breaker bars 3/8" impact sockets etc...
torque wrenches
Impact air tools
jack
screw drivers
brake tools, pluming tools tube cutters/benders etc...
c-clamps
pliers/cutters
welders,helmets and accs.
hoist
parts cleaner
drill bits/taps
micrometers
pipe cutters
blaa, blaa....

I've got primarily Craftsmen tools and used to look down on HF as just worthless junk. I've changed my mind now and have bought some of their stuff for tools that I don't use very often. I purchased a cutoff disk air tool ($7.99), air body saw($9.99) and several other specialized tools using coupons from out of magazines at near giveaway prices! I'm quite satisfied with their quality for tools that aren't used every day. Sometimes I don't use a tool enough to justify the higher cost of the Craftsmen tool. Some of their stuff still is junk, so it's sort of buyer beware. I bought a small sandblast cabinet for $79 and found it was just about worthless, but after reworking the hoses it now works fine.
Gary