Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[5030]

I have a refrigerated drier but I still have a cannister dryer on the back of my Hyper Therm. I use the one with the throw away element that looks like a roll of toilet paper. Reason why I do that is because post dryer, the feed hose will still condense a tad bit of moisture when in use. Moisture and plasma cutters no matter what make they are spells trouble. Same with a paint spray gun. If I'm using mine, I always have a desiccant cartridge on the inlet.

When my bottles are empty, I'll take them to the Airgas compressor plant laying down and pick them up and bring them back laying down as well. Just with dissolved acetylene, I'll stand the bottle up and let it sit for a couple days unused to allow it to reabsorb. No biggie. I own all my shielding gas bottles, the rest are exchange.

The bottles I own outright I never exchange, They are all labeled with the company name and are pristine. Usually exchange bottles lead a rough life. I have mine filled and pick them up a few days later.

No HF welders or plasma here but I'd not be at all hesitant to buy them if I needed a replacement.

A while ago I purchased the 'Doyle' Rivnut set. It's a quality nut setter but it comes with a very limited selection of rivnuts. I bought a large set of them on Amazon because HF for some reason don't sell them separately. I use a lot of Rivnuts. I find them to be much easier to deal with versus welding for lighter gauge sheet metal. BTW, Rivnuts and nutserts are the same thing.

My empty bottles (and refilled ones) usually wind up in the back of my wife's van for transport.

 

[flyerdan]

I'm heading there later today for one of the flashlights and their hedge trimmer for $30 with the coupon.

 

[Diggin It]

Slow to the thread, but looking at the ad, most everything is back to the pre-mess pricing. They've changed their ad tactics a bit is all. The hot dog and pancake compressor are the new Hercules version and style, but the same price as the CP ones.

Not interested in the puck flashlights. The ones I have aren't all that great.

If I wasn't committed to so many other things, I'd be interested in the 12" sliding miter saw, but I just can't do it right now.

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[California]

A lot of things remain higher. The click torque wrench that was often $10 is now $16 with coupon, $25 without.

Mine is surprisingly accurate. It matches two beam-style ones every time I check it.

 

[Hoodoo]

I just got back from HF, went to buy a new set of Metric sockets and a Crescent Wrench for my new tractor. I think their basic tools are solid and a good deal......

 

[Oaktree]

Not interested in the puck flashlights. The ones I have aren't all that great.

The magnets are kinda weak, but otherwise they're OK. Free is good, but I already have enough to last me 10 years.

 

[crazyal]

When I was building my house Lowes had a deal with Stanley. On the Stanley tape measure package was a coupon for a free tape measure (the silver 25' one) if you spent either $50 or $60 at Lowes. Having a store open until 10 while building a house meant I could work all day and then swing in and get what I needed for the next day. I was always dropping $60 bucks. I bet I have a dozen of them now.

HF should think about doing the same with one of their nicer tape measures. Not the Pittsburgh one but maybe the Bauer. Seeing tradesmen on a jobsite with Bauer tape measures would help make the brand feel more like a competitor to some of the other well known brands. If they are selling for $8 they must cost about $5 (or less) so a simple spend $60 and get a free tape measure (no other coupons combined) would be less than 10% off at HF cost. It's nothing to see people spending $100 plus when I walk into a HF store so the out of pocket cost for HF wouldn't be much.

No coupon needed, just have a bucket full of them at the register and a bell go off if they reach the minimum amount. Plus have a bunch of $1, $2, and $3 items so the person running the register can say "If you spend a couple dollars more you can get a free tape measure. It's a really nice tape measure." If they are good tape measures people will accept the brand name who otherwise see them as Chinese junk.

 

[neverfailyou]

My HF multi-tool died yesterday. It was the single speed model, rattled/vibrated like it was going to fall apart in use, and would really heat up your hand if you used it for any length of time. I’ve had it for 4-5 years and it saw extensive DIY use.
I certainly got my $9.99 (or was it $19.99) minus 20% coupon worth of use. In fact I used it rather all the time while keeping my Fein model-with its fancy case- unused (which I paid several hundred dollars to purchase when multi tools where first on the market).

The tool was just good enough!

 

[5030]

Did it stink like smoldering rice paper as it died? Landfill it and get a new one and hope it lasts longer (and don't stink in the end)...lol

 

[Travelover]

..........The tool was just good enough!

That was the HF business model for 30+ years - just good enough. I hope they don't phase out their bottom end tools as they put a lot of tools in the hands of occasional DIYers that would never pop for a big brand name tool. I rarely use my HF multi tool, but when I do, it is exactly the right tool for the job and for the 15 or 20 bucks I paid for it, it has been an excellent value. And for those that demand made in Thailand Milwaukee quality, they have that choice.