Harbour Freight

[Rebel]

Well, I'm impressed. Been hearing about HF for years and have looked at few of their catalogs but had a chance while working in Pensacola to go by one of their stores during lunch today. Susan would love it.
I only had a few minutes but plan to go back soon. Guess you guys can tell I don't get out much.
Did pick up a regulator,filter, oiler combo for my compressor for 21 bucks. Been using a pair of vicegrips to adjust for years.

[9dawgs]

I love Harbor Freight! I have one about 5 miles from my house. It's great Just bought a tap & die set from there for around $15.00

[Smiliesafari]

You gotta' be careful. Some of that stuff is Chinese junk.

[Rebel]

Skip's right,,watch what you buy and where it's mfg.

[chesehd]

As long as you don't walk in expecting to get the top of the line material/equipment, you'll not be disappointed.

But the old saying holds true there as anywhere else, You get what you pay for.

I've had good luck there, so far. But I've heard/seen plenty of horror stories of short-lived tools as well.

JMO

[mdmead]

Yeah, if you use certain tools in your trade, Harbor Freight probably isn't where you will buy them. But for shade-tree mechanics who just need a certain tool on occassion, they are a great source.

I WISH we had one here in Yakima. The nearest is in the Tri-Cities, a bit over an hour away, so the cost of the trip eats up any savings. They have some cool stuff though.

[kings-x59]

If it's a well run store, you could probably beat me in a race even with the hour drive. The HF in Houston is an all afternoon afair. only 20 minute drive, but to get stock from the back room and check out, I"ve spent 2 freaking hours there. I avoid it if I can. I also found recently that the website has more tools than the retail stores. The guy at the store told me they stock about 60% of whats shown on the website.

[9dawgs]

You gotta' be careful. Some of that stuff is Chinese junk.

Haha! What do you mean "some of that stuff"?? It's all pretty much Chinese made. But as Mdmead said, if you just need a tool for certain occassions you can't beat it. I wouldn't use much of it for professional use though.

[BLAZER]

Have my dad's tools are from there anymore. He's getting old and pinches pennies so he gets his tools from there. I get a few now and then. Occassionally you can get decent quality stuff there, not just hand tools, ...small winches, chains, etc. Great price on tarps.

[SoCalli V8]

Yes buyer be Very Aware, normally I only buy tools from HF that I will use very rarely.

However I will recommend my Central Machinery heavy duty metal chopsaw, $130 (the bright orange one) that has been working perfectly for two years now, just use the quality Norton 14inch cutting discs.

[Hotroder383]

My dad used to get the HF catalogs all the time. He would buy the special tool that wouldnt get used but once in a blue moon but is needed to do the job right. I personally got a few tools from them and got all my dads tools when he passed away. Only tools I wont use is a set of chisel's he bought there, very soft metal, might be for wood though as I dont have org package LOL.