Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[bcp]

My wife just shakes her head.

I get that reaction when I hand her one, then ask "How long till dinner?"

Bruce

 

[dragoneggs]

I get that reaction when I hand her one, then ask "How long till dinner?"

Bruce

Ha ha... I actually tried that... once!

 

[Rock Crawler]

Dang it, Rock! Now I think I have to add another toolbox to my arsenal. :smiley_aafz:

Let me warn you... Of the 48 or so bolts you'll install, the 16 for the wheels will go right in, and maybe 1 or 2 more will go right on in.

Your going to need a punch, an awl, a small hammer, a second person and very helpful will be a ratchet strap.

You'll understand why... When you set the actual box down in, you have to squeeze the vertical members so that the folded seem around the perimeter of the box grabs and wraps/holds over the 4 legs.

You'll also want a 13mm ratchet wrench, and a 13mm sticker on a 3/8" wobble extension attached to your air ratchet. But, be forewarned... Don't over tighten! The china bolts snap if you run your air ratchet until it stops.

 

[lostcreekranch]

The Franklin 17 foot multi task ladder. Any opinions? They of course compare it to the little giant. Would be for home use on occasion.

Mine works fine, I use it all the time. Good value.

 

[dragoneggs]

Let me warn you... If the 48 or do bolts you'll install, the 16 for the wheels will go right in, and maybe 1 or 2 more will go right on in. Your going to need a punch, an awl, a small hammer, a second person and very helpful will be a ratchet strap. You'll understand why... When you set the actual box down in, you have to squeeze the vertical members so that the folded seem around the perimeter of the box grand and holds over the 4 legs.

You'll also want a 13mm ratchet wrench, and a 13mm sticker on a 3/8" wobble extension attached to your air ratchet. But, be forewarned... Don't over tighten! The china bolts snap if you run your air ratchet until it stops.

Oh I get it! I assembled a HF floor standing blast cabinet. Now it is heavily modded to make it first class but the amount of fussing and fasteners including tightening sequences was testing my patience. My second person (wife) was called upon a couple times when I just couldn't do it myself!

 

[Rock Crawler]

Oh I get it! I assembled a HF floor standing blast cabinet. Now it is heavily modded to make it first class but the amount of fussing and fasteners including tightening sequences was testing my patience. My second person (wife) was called upon a couple times when I just couldn't do it myself!

I can do all but set the box by myself, you have to lift the box that weighs around 60 lbs over the legs and drop it down the center. If I really had to do alone, I could... But the paint would end up taking some serious unneeded abuse. With 2 folks it's no big deal.

 

[dragoneggs]

I can do all but set the box by myself, you have to lift the box that weighs around 60 lbs over the legs and drop it down the center. If I really had to do alone, I could... But the paint would end up taking some serious unneeded abuse. With 2 folks it's no big deal.

I am guessing the blast cabinet is more of a challenge. If you do venture down the path of one of those, be sure to view the youtube vids for mods. I believe they are necessary for a machine you will not be cussing at. Be prepared to spend more on the mods than you did for the cabinet. Fair warning.

 

[California]

Let me warn you... Of the 48 or so bolts you'll install, the 16 for the wheels will go right in, and maybe 1 or 2 more will go right on in.

Your going to need a punch, an awl, a small hammer, a second person and very helpful will be a ratchet strap.

Clearly the same designer worked on the little $59 belt/disc combo bench sander. After adjusting several mismatched bolt holes I got it assembled. Then the guard around the disc couldn't be adjusted or bent to prevent it sticking out beyond the face of the disc. So you couldn't slide longer material across the face of the disc.

I returned it and bought the similar Ryobi. Double the weight, double the price, double the quality.

 

[sixdogs]

Free stuff is great. Years ago when I was building my house I did the same thing but with Stanley 25' tape measures from Lowes. The Stanley tape measures for awhile had a coupon on the back of the package. If you spent $60 at Lowes you could get another tape measure for free. Since I was always stopping in to pick up a few things in the evenings I always had a coupon in my truck so I get a free tape measures. I must have at least 20 of them and gave away another 10. I have them in my junk drawer, in my basement, in both levels of my garage, both vehicles, and the shop. My wife just shakes her head.

Ask her how many pairs of shoes she has. Then see who has the problem.

 

[LouNY]

Has anyone tried the Earthquake 20volt 1/2" impact wrench yet?

 

[4570Man]

Has anyone tried the Earthquake 20volt 1/2" impact wrench yet?

I’ve got one. I’d buy another one if it got stolen. It’s not as good as my buddies 20 volt max ( he’s got the bigger one as well if you saw my other post about the 1/4 drive one) but it’s pretty close.

 

[PJSprog]

Got the new mailer yesterday, and they have a super coupon for the 26" 16-drawer tool cabinet combo marked down to $299. Guess I'll finally go get one.

 

[California]

Could that cabinet be on closeout?

 

[dragoneggs]

Got the new mailer yesterday, and they have a super coupon for the 26" 16-drawer tool cabinet combo marked down to $299. Guess I'll finally go get one.

I bought that one for my son last Xmas. He really likes it. Good value. Many have complained about opening up dented ones so you might want to check it before you drive off. In fact my son's was dented a bit on the lower side but didn't affect performance so he did bother to return it.

Could that cabinet be on closeout?

The $299 price goes on at least a couple times a year.

 

[TheMan419]

Mine works fine, I use it all the time. Good value.

Thanks

 

[PJSprog]

Could that cabinet be on closeout?

It's not listed under Closeouts on their website, but I also noticed that it's not listed in the current regular stock either. I'm guessing with the advent of the Series 2 cabinets, they are probably ridding themselves of the older stock.

Drove the F-150 to work today so I can stop by on my way home this evening.

 

[crazyal]

Ask her how many pairs of shoes she has. Then see who has the problem.

We have a rule, one pair for each day of the month (so 28 except for leap years). Any more than that they need to be hidden (so I don't know about them). The rule came about when she asked about why my tool box drawers were too full and couldn't be closed all the way. My reply was that she could buy me another box, her reply was that I didn't need all of them. That's when the shoe rule came into effect. Since she doesn't enforce the reduction of tools I don't push the shoe rule. It works.

 

[sixdogs]

We have a rule, one pair for each day of the month (so 28 except for leap years). Any more than that they need to be hidden (so I don't know about them). The rule came about when she asked about why my tool box drawers were too full and couldn't be closed all the way. My reply was that she could buy me another box, her reply was that I didn't need all of them. That's when the shoe rule came into effect. Since she doesn't enforce the reduction of tools I don't push the shoe rule. It works.

I understand. My wife has shoes all over the place and her huge walk-in closet has them in boxes. I give up.

 

[wassup8687]

I recently bought 2 tool chests and a rolling 2 shelf cart. I wasn't missing any nuts or bolts and everything lined up perfectly.

What I did was to put the bolts and nuts on but only finger tight. There were a couple bolts that needed to be tightened before the top part of the chest was put in place so I did tighten those but left all the others loose till everything was lined up and in place.

 

[PJSprog]

Drove the F-150 to work today so I can stop by on my way home this evening.

The store in Fairview Heights IL was out of the 16-drawer cabinets. Guy there said they had two of them about two months ago, but haven't seen any since they sold the display unit. They have another shipment coming in two weeks, so maybe then. I'm going to call around to a couple other area stores to see if they have any in stock. Apparently, there's quite a demand for these. He also told me it wasn't being discontinued, only upgraded to the Series 2.

I asked if I could order one from the website and have it delivered to the store, but he told me HF won't do that. If I order online, it has to be delivered to my home with the accompanying freight cost. Going to look into that. If the freight isn't awful, it may be worth it, as opposed to hoping they get some soon and I can get there before they are all sold.