Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Midniteoyl]

Forgot about this amazing hf bandsaw contraption, returned to hf by whoever initially bought it as non working never wanted one but price was worth my time to try and get it working again until a few shims, adjustments, and four letter words later it stopped throwing the blade. Great to set the downfeed and do other things while it cuts. Definitely beats a chopsaw, or wafer wheel on thicker stuff. Added some scrap sheetmetal to the sides to help catch the cutting fluid.

Those are good saws to have.. We used a large Jet one in a production environment. Worked great for years..

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Today I went meta. I bought a Harbor Freight tool which was loaded into my car with a Harbor Freight tool, and I used a Harbor Freight tool to unload it.

I got a Yukon chest to hold a CNC lathe I stupidly made. They used a 1000-pound cart to put it in my SUV, and I used my 500-pound cart to finagle it onto the garage floor.

I should add that the Yukon chest I bought appears to be just as solid as the US Generals I already have. The steel seems to be just as thick. It also has a nice hardwood top which has all sorts of possibilities. It's not as deep as a US General, but I was looking for a narrower chest, so that was fine.

 

[5030]

Ordered the Bauer 20 volt shop blower and it really blows. I use the 5AH batteries on all the tools. Very good buy but no store around me had one in stock so I bought it direct. HF must have some sort of deal with Fed-Ex because no matter what you buy, shipping is $6.99, Fed-Ex home delivery.

Tool works quite well. It will be in the tractor when I'm shredding to keep the radiator and air to air cooler free of chaff. It will fit nicely behind the seat too. It's 3 speeds, low, medium and blow everything away high. I'm impressed.

Bauer is starting to switch over to brushless. Bought the brushless 4.5" angle grinder last month and gave my old one to a friend.

 

[Cycledude]

Ordered the Bauer 20 volt shop blower and it really blows. I use the 5AH batteries on all the tools. Very good buy but no store around me had one in stock so I bought it direct. HF must have some sort of deal with Fed-Ex because no matter what you buy, shipping is $6.99, Fed-Ex home delivery.

Tool works quite well. It will be in the tractor when I'm shredding to keep the radiator and air to air cooler free of chaff. It will fit nicely behind the seat too. It's 3 speeds, low, medium and blow everything away high. I'm impressed.

Bauer is starting to switch over to brushless. Bought the brushless 4.5" angle grinder last month and gave my old one to a friend.

Did u ever buy the Harbor Freight tool box u were talking about a while ago ? I’m considering buying a new toolbox

 

[5030]

Did u ever buy the Harbor Freight tool box u were talking about a while ago ? I’m considering buying a new toolbox

I keep pondering it, but as of late, no. My old Waterloo is getting pretty ragged out. Have to be Kubota Orange...

 

[Cycledude]

I keep pondering it, but as of late, no. My old Waterloo is getting pretty ragged out. Have to be Kubota Orange...

Well my current toolbox is also Waterloo, it’s in nice shape but only 26 inch so I’ve outgrown it Years ago.
Local Ace Hardware has a nice 52 inch Craftsman that I’m considering and they said they would deliver it for free. Supposedly Fleet Farm has the same Waterloo Box on sale for $180 off but I haven’t actually checked it out in person and Fleet Farm is a 50 mile drive.
The 56 inch Harbor Freight box also seems nice but it’s a couple hundred more and I’d have to get someone to haul it home for me since I don’t currently own a truck.
Menards also has about the same toolbox with a different brand name but they are also 50 miles away.
Maybe I should spend a bunch more money and get a 72 inch box.

 

[IndyJay]

Tractors and tool boxes.... always buy a little bigger than you think you need.

 

[Pixguy]

Tractors and tool boxes.... always buy a little bigger than you think you need.

Don't forget garages.... build bigger!

 

[5030]

My issue is, I outgrew the Waterloo years ago so I picked up (at a garage sale) another old school craftsman top box and roll around lower cart that is pretty full as well.

Having 2 complete roll around boxes did allow me to put all my SAE tools in one box (Waterloo) and al my metric tools in the other box which is nice actually. If I combined them, I'd have to have a 'whopper' tool box and I'm not sure I want to go that route so I've been dealing with the basically worn out Waterloo and the 'garage sale' Craftsman. The issue with a 'whopper box' is where do I stick it and how hard will it be to move around.

 

[IndyJay]

My issue is, I outgrew the Waterloo years ago so I picked up (at a garage sale) another old school craftsman top box and roll around lower cart that is pretty full as well.

Having 2 complete roll around boxes did allow me to put all my SAE tools in one box (Waterloo) and al my metric tools in the other box which is nice actually. If I combined them, I'd have to have a 'whopper' tool box and I'm not sure I want to go that route so I've been dealing with the basically worn out Waterloo and the 'garage sale' Craftsman. The issue with a 'whopper box' is where do I stick it and how hard will it be to move around.

It's funny that over the years my tool needs changed so gradually. 30 years ago most of my tools were SAE, I had a smattering of metric that I seldom used. As I built up my tool collection I realized that I was needing metric much more than SAE. That change was very gradual for me and almost came as a shock. I have a couple of top/bottom chest combinations that I have grouped by type. One for mechanical; another for general pliers, puches, chiesels, hammers, bit and blades; then a top chest for meters, fine measuring, extractors, etc.