Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[94BULLITT]

Got a Milwaukee 12v fuel impact and drill combo. The are crazy strong!

I have that set too.

 

[IslandTractor]

I have that set too.

I suspect that all the good companies make equivalent 12v sets. Fantastic for jobs around the house but not so much for serious construction work. I love my Bosch set.

 

[dragoneggs]

I own the Swag version 4 table which I think fits only my specific Milwaukee Portaband. I haven't tried the other more generic versions of the Swag table but I can 1) vouch for Swag generally as I have other products of theirs which are all excellent quality and value and 2) unless you are a skilled metalworker with access to pro tools I don't think you could do better than Swag does. They use highly automated precision manufacturing methods and are all made in the USA. 3) I'd say that the cheap vise model would provide maybe 75% of the functionality of the more expensive versions so long as you are cutting freehand and don't need a miter gauge (ie are not cutting angles). The stability would depend mostly on how stable your vise and table are.

I think they specify in their webpage which models fit the HF portabands. I think version 3 is probably the one.

If you are using the table/portaband for "serious" work, it is worthwhile getting the INCRA miter gauge (better than anything I could find at HF or box store). The pedal switch they offer for $30 is very useful too but it is literally sourced from HF and as I recall I bought mine at HF with a coupon and saved about $10-15.

I have the Milwaukee Portaband, the SWAG table, foot pedal, and Incra miter gauge... love them all! My go to metal cutting for much.

I don't scam HF because I research their products and don't buy stuff that is unsupported. I buy electric stuff only on sale and only if I think it will be justified financially if it just works for one project. However, I don't pontificate if someone else plays the game to counter their crappy customer service, poor quality control and most importantly the utter unavailability of spare parts or technical support when something goes wrong. Those are business decisions that HF makes that are clearly not treating their customers well so why not simply play their own game back at them? They could and should stock or at least make replacement parts available by mail order. They don't. They treat their own products as throw away but that is not how they advertise them. They are deceptive and actually publish product guides/manuals that show replacement parts that are simply not available to order. Their "extended warranty" is simply a one time replacement program. If you use the one or two year "warranty" it becomes invalid and you need to repurchase another extended warranty. HF plays all sorts of deceptive games to dupe their customers so do I feel bad when someone "cheats" them? No.

I guess I don't see it the same way as you. I have never seen them advertise 'customer service' and whether parts are available or not. The folks in my store have always been super nice and upfront about warranty returns, extended warranty/replacement etc. I buy HF tools and such pretty much assuming they are disposable. Otherwise I fix them myself or find replacement parts online somewhere.

 

[94BULLITT]

Which one would you recommend? I do a lot of field work so dont wanna spend the cash on the portable and a 'real' band saw, so the SWAG tables seem like a nice alternative..

I do kinda like the portable aspect of the vise clamped one, but worry about stability.

Get a piece of 1/4'' plate the same size as the swag table or bigger. Then get a peice of thin cardboard or poster board and trace where it need to fit your saw. You can get a metal cutting blade for you jig saw and cut the 1/4 plate, yes a jig saw with cut 1/4'' plate. Then get a 1/4 thumb screw. Drill and tap the table were it needs to be to be secured to the saw. Then figure out how you want to mount it. If you want to clamp it in the vise make it so you can clamp it in the vise. (I think clamping it in the vise is a bad idea because you may need the vise while you are working on the project that requires the portaband.) If you want it so you can set it on the table get some 1'' sq tube and weld legs on it or get some 1/8 plate and make some legs like the swag table.

Scooby074 talked me into making my table and I am glad I did. I sawed money. I also have the satisfaction of making it myself. Then every time I use it on a project I have the satisfaction of using a tool I made to complete the project. I have a peice of 2'' sq tube welded to mine so I can slide it in piece of 2 1/2'' sq tube (like found on a trailer hitch) on my work bench. I also have my chain grinder on the same setup.

Don't worry about a miter gauge. If you use the PB to make a contour cut you will dull the teeth on one side. The even with a straight edge it will still pull. So a miter gauge it not that useful. If you think you need a straight edge you can clamp a piece of angle to the table. At one point Swag had some odd ball t-slot on their tables and the incra mitre gauge would not fit them. As far as I know they never did anything for the customers.

I'm not finding pics of my PB table but here if the mount and grinder.

 

[Oaktree]

And of course HF is a highly ethical company that provides top notch customer service, spare parts, uses it's own designs, never knocks off competitors etc etc so they are deserving of similar ethical treatment. Do unto others etc. Ever tried to buy a spare part from HF for one of it's products????

I guess I don't see it the same way as you. I have never seen them advertise 'customer service' and whether parts are available or not. The folks in my store have always been super nice and upfront about warranty returns, extended warranty/replacement etc. I buy HF tools and such pretty much assuming they are disposable. Otherwise I fix them myself or find replacement parts online somewhere.

I'm with you. Dishonesty is dishonesty.
You get what you pay for. If you want a quality tool that you can pass along to your kids, and for which repair parts will always be available HF is not where you should be shopping. Fact is, even name brand tools are pretty much disposable these days...the big difference is they last longer than HF ones do.

Does HF advertise their tools as throwaways? No, of course not. That would be stupid, but anyone with a grain of common sense should know that bargain-priced tools aren't going to last like a good one.

 

[DFB]

Any one have an opinion on 18 Volt 3/8 in. Cordless Drill/Driver And Flashlight Kit

My old cordless is dead as the batteries are fried. I don't use it all that much.....

Definitely worth all of $19.99

Reviews seem to point out issues with charger. I sold one to a guy last summer from under my tool tent he was glad to have though

Geez even WalMart has similar
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hyper-Tough-18V-Ni-Cd-Cordless-Drill/45467646

 

[IslandTractor]

I'm with you. Dishonesty is dishonesty.
You get what you pay for. If you want a quality tool that you can pass along to your kids, and for which repair parts will always be available HF is not where you should be shopping. Fact is, even name brand tools are pretty much disposable these days...the big difference is they last longer than HF ones do.

Does HF advertise their tools as throwaways? No, of course not. That would be stupid, but anyone with a grain of common sense should know that bargain-priced tools aren't going to last like a good one.

If HF had a public policy, clearly stated in their literature and webpages, that they did not offer any repair services or access to spare parts then perhaps you would have a point. However, if instead they just plan on replacing things that break within 30 days of use, then they shouldn't be surprised if customers abuse them back when a tool breaks the first time you use it 32 days later. I agree that buying a pressure washer, using it and returning it is wrong. However if you buy a pressure washer, use it for the first time 32 days later and find it is inoperable and you then go purchase another new one so you can return the bad one for credit, that is smack in the middle of the HF gray zone as far as I'm concerned. (I'm either too smart or too cynical to buy such an implement from HF by the way).

HF is all about scamming the public with their phony baloney "branded" tools. "Chicago Electric", "Pittsburgh" etc etc etc. They make utterly bogus claims of quality as a business practice and that fact goes a long way to justifying equally phoney claims by customers to get their money back.

 

[John_Mc]

HF is all about scamming the public with their phony baloney "branded" tools. "Chicago Electric", "Pittsburgh" etc etc etc. They make utterly bogus claims of quality as a business practice and that fact goes a long way to justifying equally phoney claims by customers to get their money back.

I find HF far less deceptive in that regard than Northern Tool. NT has been known on multiple occasions to clone a tool made by an established company, cheapen up the design to the point where it is just about useless, slap a logo sticker on it that looks almost identical to the original manufacturer, copy sections of the original manufacturer's descriptions word-for-word, and even use the original's marketing photos in NT advertisements of the cloned product. The look and description so closely match, that the original manufacturer sometimes gets complaints and returns for failures of equipment that is actually the NT clone. NT does sell some good stuff, but they also sell some real junk as well. If you want to sell junk, so be it, but don;t pass it off as something made by a reputable manufacturer.

 

[IslandTractor]

I find HF far less deceptive in that regard than Northern Tool. NT has been known on multiple occasions to clone a tool made by an established company, cheapen up the design to the point where it is just about useless, slap a logo sticker on it that looks almost identical to the original manufacturer, copy sections of the original manufacturer's descriptions word-for-word, and even use the original's marketing photos in NT advertisements of the cloned product. The look and description so closely match, that the original manufacturer sometimes gets complaints and returns for failures of equipment that is actually the NT clone. NT does sell some good stuff, but they also sell some real junk as well. If you want to sell junk, so be it, but don;t pass it off as something made by a reputable manufacturer.

I've only purchased a few items over the years from NT but have always considered them a bit above HF for quality. I don't doubt their cloning practices at all. HF obviously does this too with the Predator/Honda engine clones being the most obvious example. To be fair to both companies, even the big boys "clone" each others tools. Fein came out with the brilliant oscillating saw/sander about 20 years ago and the second the patent expired virtually every big tool maker including Bosch, DeWalt etc had their versions on the market. "Cloning" is a perfectly human practice with regard to good ideas. I don't remember exactly which company invented the wheel but lots have copied the idea and I'm pretty sure the patent has run out. Stealing some other companies marketing materials and the exact design is not what an ethical competitor would do however. I rather doubt that either HF or NT have their own design or production engineering staff so my guess is that they simply identify "clone" manufacturers in Asia and then market the tools (or give those manufacturers specifications and a price point to work on). My experiences with HF suggest that they almost always specify cheap over quality when ordering electric power tools so with a few exceptions I stay away. It is mind boggling that they are still specifying NiCad batteries. There are a few examples where HF has done a nice job bringing a clone type tool to market (the Earthquake XT air impact wrench for example and the Predator motors) and perhaps we will see more quality tools from them in the future.

 

[PJSprog]

That's a pretty good assessment of the overall situation, IT.