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What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
So I have squat for tools and need to get stuff to perform my build.
As a start, I need crimpers for 4ga and 8ga, and some sort of a multimeter for continuity checking. Would I be doing myself a disservice by getting these tools (and others) at Harbor Freight?
Thanks.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
Nope. I love their cutter/crimper that goes on sale for $3.99 all the time. Plus they have large crimpers that come in handy for the 4ga and 8ga lugs. Plus the cutters they have for larger gauge wire are worth the $8 or so.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
If your looking for basic hand tools HF is a good place to go. Most of the tools I use at the local pick and pull come from there (lost one too many good tools there) and I have two multimeter's (and a really nice one from the shack of radio) from there as well. They cost me about $8 apiece and they work fine for simple checks. Most of their stuff could be called use and chuck but a lot of the hand tools are really good considering the price.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I like to judge my tools on potential harm, or risk reduction.
If I'm likely to bust my hand open if my wrench snaps/strips/cracks, then I don't want the bargain.
If it's something like crimpers, almost any quality plier is going to compress copper, so sure...
but a 3/4" open end wrench, in a cramped engine bay- I'm going for a name brand if I can.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I feel like an idiot for not understanding what the fg rods are for.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
n_olympios
I feel like an idiot for not understanding what the fg rods are for.
home electrical duty, fishing/feeding wires through walls and such
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I buy a lot of air line connectors there and shit like that.. OCCASIONALLY a power tool that I know that I will use VERY seldom, like my rotozip/dust generator. I buy my trickle chargers there.
I WILL NEVER buy things like cutoff wheels, grinder wheels, etc that rotates at more than, like, 33 1/3 RPM and could explode at high speeds thus leaving me with a third eyelid.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
n_olympios
I feel like an idiot for not understanding what the fg rods are for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
astrochex
home electrical duty, fishing/feeding wires through walls and such
This^^^
They are really handy when running wires across rafters when there's not enough room to get in there personally. One of them also works out pretty well for pushing wires under auto carpet, down behind a radio, or thru a firewall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsbT8qOuYtY
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I thought it'd be something like that. We have similar stuff here but I had not seen one made of fibreglass.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
A wood lathe or anything without moveable parts.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I bought a 20 ton press there. Use it for forming metal grills. But thats about it, everything else seems.... well... crappy...
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I bough some cheap sockets to take to the pick and pull so I don't have to worry about loosing my good sockets anymore. Also the nylon upholstery and panel removal tools are pretty nice for 6 bucks.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I get some small stuff. I picked up a heat gun recently for $7 that works great for heat shrink. Beats a lighter. Also got a rivnut tool which works well enough for the price.
There are some threads on other automotive/metal shaping sites where the take HF stuff and mod them. Things like bead rollers, english wheels, etc.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
Harbor freight is great for limited use/limited life tools that you need on the cheap and in a pinch. However, some of their stuff is actually not bad quality. I picked up an HVLP gun to use with my compressor for a speaker project a couple years ago and it worked great.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I picked up some cable cutters from them. So far they've worked well and haven't broken on me.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
Picked up a security bit set yesterday for $5.99. Perfect for those star head screws in the Ram.
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2 Attachment(s)
Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I just bought there $10 plasitc headlight "restoration" kit.
Before:
Attachment 2700
After:
Attachment 2701
The pics don't really show how yellowed they were before but the difference was night and day. Definitely worth the ten buck.
I also snagged a set of impact (made for air tool) 3/8 extenders and a supprisingly solid 3/8 ratchet for about $15.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
To add to my previous post, clamps, clamps are cheap there and work decently
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I've bought quite a bit of stuff from them, some works well with decent longevity some not so much. One of the best deals is this (especially with coupon 20% off), but you have to get the swivel elbow with built in regulator. http://www.harborfreight.com/air-ang...der-93629.html
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I bought a bit of stuff from them and some of it is good and some not so much, but ive had just as much luck with black and decker as with harbor freight.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I bought some open end/box end wrenches there the other day. And a couple bags of zipties. Couldn't pass up the price on the zipties and the wrenches were on sale too. Trying to decide whether or not I want to use my 20% off coupon on a big rolling toolbox from them.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I have one of the 4 drawer rolling tool carts. Not too bad honestly. It isn't high end tool box quality but it is convenient. Better casters would make it much better. That is nitpicking for the cost however.
I also have bought some power and hand tools there.
The sawzall I bought was utter crap and I couldn't safely recommend one. Parts literally fell out/off of it. I have since replaced that with a Makita.
The 4 inch angle grinder is perfectly fine for the price. No variable speed or anything but I only have about $10.00 in it( tent sale ). It has been perfectly reliable as well.
I also have a much nicer Dewalt grinder. Having 2 allows me to load different types of disk/wheels onto each and just switch grinders during a job.
I also have bought some impact sockets. They seem to hold up fine.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
Is that the Tool Cart they have the $99 coupon for sometimes? I've looked at it a few times, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Looked really nice though, even had screwdriver slots right up top there next to the lid.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
That is the one.
Again, the drawers are not Matco smooth, and the casters are a little cheap but a comparable Snap On cart( if they make one ) would be unreasonably high for home/hobby use...for me anyway.
Oh, and I don't mean the drawers are bad. They have never hung up or jammed on mine. Just I have seen friends professional boxes, and they are smoother.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I have a lot of tools period, but I buy stuff there all the time and yes some is great and some not so much lol but you pretty much know if its any good before you even buy it ha ha ! They have a hydraulic crimper that works great and is cheap too, under 50 bucks and with coupon its only about 39.99 and as mentioned the cable cutters are like 6 or 7 bucks and they are great and edge stays sharp for a surprisingly long time. spray guns for primer and glue are cheap and work good.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I have a grinder I got from them that works well.
My most recent purchase was this hammer drill http://www.harborfreight.com/power-t...ill-62383.html
with the 20% off coupon it was $29.95 OTD tax included.
It made my life so much easier putting up various storage boxes into concrete block walls.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I buy zip ties and gloves there + some small misc category items. I do have 2 of their tool chests and I'm pretty satisfied considering the price I paid for these.
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2 Attachment(s)
Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
i've got many free LED lights. I must be a collector lol...
Attachment 9663
This right angle screwdriver is actually very useful. It's so compact and fits in all the tight places...
Attachment 9667
I usually get sandpaper from them (various shapes/sizes for different power tools... very cheap and very disposable)... and then i get another free LED light!!!
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I have one of their nicer 44” toolboxes that is awesome. My dad has snap on and it seems just as good. Metal thickness, bearings, slide, etc are all about the same. Ive has it now for about 8 years and have moved it to a new house without issues.
https://www.harborfreight.com/44-in-...net-64281.html
I also have one of their chain saw chain sharpeners and it works great.
https://www.harborfreight.com/electr...+saw+sharpener
I’ve got one of their hydraulic car jacks and it is great and has been for a few years now.
https://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-...ack-64264.html
I’ve got other various hand tools too. They have a lifetime warranty and do the job.
Most of the stuff I buy there has been good. The rest seems to last about the right amount of time for the cost of the item.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
diy.phil
i've got many free LED lights. I must be a collector lol...
Attachment 9663
This right angle screwdriver is actually very useful. It's so compact and fits in all the tight places...
Attachment 9667
I usually get sandpaper from them (various shapes/sizes for different power tools... very cheap and very disposable)... and then i get another free LED light!!!
I got one of those little screwdrivers, too! It comes in handy for tweaking the gains. I also got an aluminum floor jack that works very well, but don't let the "aluminum" part fool you, it still weighs over 70 pounds.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I like HF's clamps... For the money, they are hard to beat.
Specifically these ones in various sizes:
https://www.harborfreight.com/18-in-...der-64151.html
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I forgot to mention, they sell some water proof/resistant hard cases that are perfect for storing measurement gear, pull apart foam inside to fit whatever items you want.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DavidRam
I really like their clamps as well. Great for the price!
I've had great luck with most of their products. I don't expect them to be the best and are usually good for diy workers around the home. I do usually find myself buying a higher end product of something that I tried from Harbor Freight that I use frequently.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
Yeah I have several clamps from them too. Nylon cable/zip ties too. Some attachments/parts for the air compressor too.
(Other than free LED lights, I've got free blue tarps and black moving blankets to line the trunks too lol)
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I am pretty rough on my tools, so the nice thing about HF tools and prices is that it doesn't bother me when I break them! But I don't really buy much there, just basic, cheap stuff.
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
I have quite a bit of stuff from HF, but I judge everything on a case by case basis. Some of their stuff is awesome, some not so much.
some "gems"
crimping tool https://www.harborfreight.com/9-1-2-...ool-36411.html
cable cutter https://www.harborfreight.com/10-inc...ter-40507.html
jack stands https://www.harborfreight.com/6-ton-..._q=jack+stands
Also have 2.25 ton floor jack (~15 y/o)
4.5" angle grinder ($10 on sale, use, abuse throw away and get another)
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Re: What would you buy from Harbor Freight?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SublimeZ
Shit man, for the money, that crimper and cutter look great! I think I'll go grab those tomorrow... Thanks for the links!
I already have the jack stands...