Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[5030]

Is the Bauer cordless angle grinder powerful enough?

I have the similar cordless Ryobi and its not as strong as even the HF $9.95 corded equivalent. Most Ryobi 18v tools are adequate but I wish I hadn't bought it.

In contrast HF's Hercules 11 amp corded angle grinder is a beast, its now my favorite.

Strong enough is a relative term actually. I had purchased the original brushed 4.5" angle grinder and it was pretty weak so I gave it away and bought the brushless one which is better but it's certainly not as powerful as the Chief 4.5" angle grinder I also bought. It works for light duty stuff but then I use the Chief 4.5" for most everything anyway. The Bauer 20 volt brushless has a cut off wheel on it 99% of the time and it works well for that task. Would I grind heavy welds with it. NO. I use the Chief for that or my big corded DeWalt 11" grinder for that task.

On the Chief pneumatic 4.5" angle grinder, interestingly, I also own the Ingersoll-Rand 4.5" pneumatic grinder (remember most all the hard used tools in the shop are air powered). Anyway, if you put the IR 4.5 and the Chief 4.5 side by side, they are identical right down to the recessed grease fitting on the gearbox, mirror image of each other. Even the polished aluminum gearbox is identical.

What is really interesting is, the IR retails for 270 bucks on MSC while the Chief sells for just a tad over 100 bucks everyday at HF.

Finally, when I got the Chief, I took it apart (gearbox), something I do with angle grinders and did with the Bauer 20 volt brushless as well. The Chinese have a bad habit of putting very little 'questionable' grease in the gearboxes but in the case of the Chief as well as the Bauer, the gearboxes were filled with (what I observed as) high quality grease, unlike the crap they usually come with and like I said, the Chief has an external recessed grease fitting in the gearbox for adding grease as well.

The Chief is a very smooth running and quiet pneumatic grinder and the Bauer is as well, within it's limitations. I've never considered any cordless angle grinder to be 'heavy duty' like a corded or air powered one.

 

[LouNY]

I have the brushless 20 volt Bauer grinder and I'm not overly impressed so far. The first two times it was used it was almost worthless, any load and it stopped and had to be restarted. Tried it one more time and it worked much better with a different battery. I guess I should get a scrap piece of steel and all my 20 volt batteries and try them and see which one it works with and which it doesn't and go from there.

 

[5030]

Keep in mind that Amazon is positively 'loaded' with Chinese welders and plasma cutters and various other 'made in China and elsewhere, IGBT inverter powered stuff.

My issue with all of it simply is, if it fails, is there any sort of guarantee on it and if there is, how do you even go about getting it repaired or replaced... Bottom line is, you don't so whatever you buy from Amazon or from Vevor or from Alibaba or whatever becomes a boat anchor.

99% of welding machines or plasma cutters today are IGBT inverter powered and that includes the HF machines. The big difference for me is the guarantee. The TIG Pro I bought as well as the plasma cutter are guaranteed for 3 years (actually 4 because HF has a one year guarantee on them) no matter what and it's a 'replacement guarantee' not a we will fix it guarantee because no Harbor Freight retail outlet can fix them anyway. If they crap the bed, HF will replace them with a NEW machine. I don't have an issue with that at all.

If they 'poop' out, I actually prefer a new machine not having my 'pooped out one' repaired. I use them 'Pro-Tig and plasma cutter hard anyway. I do a ton of welding and the Pro-Tig also comes with a stick stinger and can run low hydrogen electrodes, I must have 50 pounds of that rod.

The only thing I don't like about the Pro-Tig is the gas regulator. It's a 2 gage affair and not very accurate and I replaced it immediately with a ball level gas regulator bit then I prefer them over analog gages anyway. Only my OA has analog gages, everything else is ball level gages.

If anyone wants a good quality welder, stick or multi process or TIG only machine, I suggest getting the HF editions. You won't be sorry.

 

[5030]

I have the brushless 20 volt Bauer grinder and I'm not overly impressed so far. The first two times it was used it was almost worthless, any load and it stopped and had to be restarted. Tried it one more time and it worked much better with a different battery. I guess I should get a scrap piece of steel and all my 20 volt batteries and try them and see which one it works with and which it doesn't and go from there.

I run the biggest Bauer Li-Ion batteries on the angle grinder and the circular saw I can. The little batteries IMO, ain't worth beans. I see HF is now offering a large Li-Ion pack and FYI, they use Samsung cells in their packs, much like Milwaukee and DeWalt use.

I've never considered ANY cordless tool to be equal to a corded one or an air powered too and never have. The cordless stuff is more about convenience that anything else. I even have an old (and discontinued) Warrior small diameter circular saw I use for mundane tasks.

 

[scootr]

Keep in mind that Amazon is positively 'loaded' with Chinese welders and plasma cutters and various other 'made in China and elsewhere, IGBT inverter powered stuff.

My issue with all of it simply is, if it fails, is there any sort of guarantee on it and if there is, how do you even go about getting it repaired or replaced... Bottom line is, you don't so whatever you buy from Amazon or from Vevor or from Alibaba or whatever becomes a boat anchor.

99% of welding machines or plasma cutters today are IGBT inverter powered and that includes the HF machines. The big difference for me is the guarantee. The TIG Pro I bought as well as the plasma cutter are guaranteed for 3 years (actually 4 because HF has a one year guarantee on them) no matter what and it's a 'replacement guarantee' not a we will fix it guarantee because no Harbor Freight retail outlet can fix them anyway. If they crap the bed, HF will replace them with a NEW machine. I don't have an issue with that at all.

If they 'poop' out, I actually prefer a new machine not having my 'pooped out one' repaired. I use them 'Pro-Tig and plasma cutter hard anyway. I do a ton of welding and the Pro-Tig also comes with a stick stinger and can run low hydrogen electrodes, I must have 50 pounds of that rod.

The only thing I don't like about the Pro-Tig is the gas regulator. It's a 2 gage affair and not very accurate and I replaced it immediately with a ball level gas regulator bit then I prefer them over analog gages anyway. Only my OA has analog gages, everything else is ball level gages.

If anyone wants a good quality welder, stick or multi process or TIG only machine, I suggest getting the HF editions. You won't be sorry.

I bought a Lincoln 175 MIG from HF 15 yrs ago. Still going strong. Use it 2 or 3 times a week building or fixing stuff. Buddy wants to buy it. That got me to thinking about upgrading but the selection and options are staggering - I have paralysis by analysis.

 

[2manyrocks]

I have a couple of corded 3/8" Milwaukee drills with a slight gear reduction in them that have outlasted numerous cordless drills regardless of brand.

Angle grinders use a lot of power. I have a cordless one that came as part of a metabo kit that I use when there is no 110v outlet nearby and not much grinding or cutting is needed, but batteries only put out so much power for so long.

 

[5030]

The old ones are mostly all transformer machines. Easy to tell just by lifting them. Transformer machines are all heavy. I own a pair of Hobart 210 MIG welders I bought many years ago and they both run flawlessly and I'll never part with them unless they poop out that is. Both of my Hobart's must weigh 75 pounds each. New MIG machines all come with a dead wire feed switch now. That is a nice addition. Only drawback with the Hobart MIG's is they won't take a 40 pound spool of wire. 10 pound is as big as they will accept, that and they are both continuous fan on whereas the new machines are all fan on demand. Problem with a fan on always machine is, they tend to get filled inside with crud and need to be blown out regularly. That and they have physical copper contacts inside that can get oxidized. The new IGBT machines are all electronic switched so on copper contacts inside. All solid state switching. I'm about to modify both my Hobart's to 'fan on demand'. Gonna add an adjustable snap action thermostat to the top of the transformer laminations so when the transformer heats up, the thermostat will kick on the cooling fan and when it cools down, the fan will shut off. I bought a pair of adjustable snap action thermostats that are adjustable from 80- 120 degrees (f) and I've added external filters to the fan intakes. One thing I don't like doing is taking them apart and cleaning them out.

I actually added external filters to the Pro-Tig and the plasma cutter even though both are fan on demand. My shop is always dirty...lol

 

[5030]

I have a couple of corded 3/8" Milwaukee drills with a slight gear reduction in them that have outlasted numerous cordless drills regardless of brand.

Angle grinders use a lot of power. I have a cordless one that came as part of a metabo kit that I use when there is no 110v outlet nearby and not much grinding or cutting is needed, but batteries only put out so much power for so long.

One thing to keep in mind is that Li-Ion battery packs will make maximum wattage output almost up to the time where they have no charge left in them, consequently, the larger the Ah capacity of the pack, the longer they last.

 

[5030]

Not and never have been a Milwaukee fan simply because the Milwaukee cordless tools are made in the same factories (China) that the supposedly lesser brands are made in. In fact, I'd bet the same assembly line, just a different color case.

Must be a town in China named 'Milwaukee'....lol

 

[caver]

I have a couple of corded 3/8" Milwaukee drills with a slight gear reduction in them that have outlasted numerous cordless drills regardless of brand.

Angle grinders use a lot of power. I have a cordless one that came as part of a metabo kit that I use when there is no 110v outlet nearby and not much grinding or cutting is needed, but batteries only put out so much power for so long.

Back in the day (late 80's) it was hard to kill a corded Milwaukee drill. I worked for an electrical contractor and that's all we had on the service trucks.

 

[5030]

Back in the day, they were actually made here. Not the case today.... But then so was Black & Decker and some others now defunct.

 

[rgr33]

Agree with what a couple of other guys posted here. I bought a Milwaukee angle grinder that came with a 2ah battery, it was really disappointing.
Slapped a 6ah battery on it and the thing was like a different machine.
Only use the smaller batteries for flashlights now.

 

[California]

HF's Hercules 11 amp corded angle grinder is a near identical twin to a DeWalt model. They likely are made on the same line.

 

[5030]

HF's Hercules 11 amp corded angle grinder is a near identical twin to a DeWalt model. They likely are made on the same line.

More than likely I'd say.

 

[daugen]

My Massey 4707 was built in China in a brand new top spec robot equipped factory built
by AGCO. It had outstanding quality and features at a price 30-40% less than comparable JD.
China is fully capable of building outstanding quality products, but even with their cheap labor rates, the good stuff
costs more money to build, to QC, to service.

And since so much of the top line name brand US tools are actually built in China,
this whole topic gets really foggy.

I'm surprised the South Koreans didn't get into tools.
Instead they copied Japan and are incredibly successful.

we have such a dysfunctional love/hate affair with Chinese goods.

Would I like to buy a Black & Decker drill built in Texas?
you bet I would. And I'd pay more for it.
but ONLY if it outperformed the cheaper stuff or had some other benefit, service, parts, anything, to justify
the extra cost.
Otherwise seems a waste of money.

Ten years ago there wasn't much of quality in Harbor Freight.
Now there is. I see that as a good trend. And I do like their stores.
It's a candy store for most of us.
just try going in there for just one thing...

 

[KubotainNH]

And I do like their stores.
It's a candy store for most of us.
just try going in there for just one thing...

I think most folks like them, there are things there I never knew existed. I could do without the smell of cheap rubber though.

 

[daugen]

I think most folks like them, there are things there I never knew existed. I could do without the smell of cheap rubber though.

have to wonder what some of this stuff is offgassing
go back to area with the tires and smells like a Dupont chemical plant
they need to put some wintergreen or peppermint in their tires....

I wonder what kind of OSHA China and Malaysia have. Those tire plants must smell awful.
for years there were jokes about China getting rid of their nuclear waste by putting them in these tires, or
their chemical waste, or their something....

I wonder how many "forever chemicals" those Chinese workers have in them. Safety equipment is pretty sketchy there.
Safety costs money.

 

[Cycledude]

I wish Harbor Freight had a much larger selection of individual wrenches . They have plenty of complete sets but very few individual wrenches

 

[scootr]

I bought some Pittsburg wrenches at HF that didn't suck. In fact they fit my hand pretty good. I like a wrench that is somewhat sleek, not clunkier than needed.

 

[MattB4]

Don't buy much from HF anymore. With me not having a nearby HF store their online sales have a pretty high cost of shipping to deal with. They also do not always have the best prices. One other drawback is they ship slow and the last time I did try to buy something (Sept 2022) it was placed in Backorder status and never was completed.