HF tools that suck

3RRL · Dec 24, 2008

I don't know if they still sell them, but they used to sell those toy airplanes.
What POC those were. Mine didn't last one flight.

MtnViewRanch · Dec 24, 2008

3RRL said:
I don't know if they still sell them, but they used to sell those toy airplanes.
What POC those were. Mine didn't last one flight.

Not one flight? What, did it explode in mid flight?

Or did it crash into one of your trees?

That would be bad piloting wouldn't it?

Danno1 · Jan 9, 2009

.

Maybe he didn't use a long enough conveyor!!!

.

TerryJ · Jan 13, 2009

I bought a 30' "fat" tape measure for occasional use, $1.99. I used it on one occasion............only one. I stretched the tape measure out to 20', then 22', then 24', all the time feeling the tension of the return spring failing. I now have a 30' non- retractable tape measure.

patrick_g · Jan 13, 2009

TerryJ said:
I bought a 30' "fat" tape measure for occasional use, $1.99. I now have a 30' non- retractable tape measure.

Terry, you are lucky. I have a collection of failed tapes wth names like Lufkin, Craftsman, and so forth. Biggest difference is you got off a lot cheaper. I have a tape I really don't like too much. It is one with inches running on one edge and centimeters on the other. I really NEED inches on both sides. A carpenter gave me the tape nearly new because it bugged him. Why do I use it?? Because it works and never messes up. I wish one of the name brand Fat Max or whatever would last so long.

I started out saving the tape out of the units with failed springs and even cut some of them into convenient lengths to leave laying about at different pieces of shop equipment like joiners, planers, drill presses and such but there is only so many ways to use my large supply of failed tapes.

Maybe we need to consider buying a bunch of the same model so the parts are interchangeable.

Pat

mygoatboy · Mar 1, 2009

patrick_g said:
Terry, you are lucky. I have a collection of failed tapes wth names like Lufkin, Craftsman, and so forth. Biggest difference is you got off a lot cheaper. I have a tape I really don't like too much. It is one with inches running on one edge and centimeters on the other. I really NEED inches on both sides. A carpenter gave me the tape nearly new because it bugged him. Why do I use it?? Because it works and never messes up. I wish one of the name brand Fat Max or whatever would last so long.

I started out saving the tape out of the units with failed springs and even cut some of them into convenient lengths to leave laying about at different pieces of shop equipment like joiners, planers, drill presses and such but there is only so many ways to use my large supply of failed tapes.

Maybe we need to consider buying a bunch of the same model so the parts are interchangeable.

Pat

You know that Craftsmen does have a lifetime warranty on their tape measures as well. I my line of work, timber framing, you wear out tape measures and now I will only get Craftsmen because of being able to exchange a 25 year old one with a broken tape for a new one.

Also let me add a tool that sucks.

The pitman arm puller is a waste of $6.99. I need to pull the pitman arms on my Ford 3000 to change some oil seals so I bought the pitman puller. It looked nice, even made in Taiwan and not China. I put it on and snug it up by hand. Then I put my 1/2" ratchet on it and start going to town. Gosh it feels like it is pulling off really easily, mind you the pitman arms were in the shadows of my shop. Then bang the tool blew into 4 pieces. Good thing my loader frame was between the tool and my "special area". Needless to say I drove to Sears and got a good puller for $30 and it did the job with no problem.

dejswa · Mar 3, 2009

Electric heat gun for $9.99 on sale - 2/10

OK, the thing did work for about 10 minutes, then died - nothing.

So, how complicated could a heat gun be. I opened it up. My first impression was "OMG - what a piece of cr#*. No wonder they could sell it for $9.99.

First of all, the motor was the tiniest thing I have ever seen - like what I would expect on a kid's toy with AA batteries, maybe 3/4 inch in diameter. Next, the wiring was substandard for a device that was 1500 watts. It looked like maybe 22 ga wire going from the power cord to everything else. The plastic housing was paper thin. This truly looked like a disposable item.

The switch turned out to be defective. I just hard-wired it so now it turns on when you plug it in.

Was it worth the money? Maybe - I don't use a heat gun often - probably has another hour of life left in it.

I just bought a HF 3/4" drive socket and ratchet set for $50. Quite a lot of metal for $50. Some of those sockets cost $50 each if you buy elsewhere. Maybe I'll be lucky and get a little use out of them before one breaks.

DJ

Iplayfarmer · Mar 3, 2009

Add the grinding stone bit set for a hand drill. I looked on the website and couldn't even find it there.

I used it last night to open a few holes that I drilled 1/32" too small. My first thought was that the stones were a little higher quality and didn't disintegrate on contact like previous sets I have used. My second thought was, "Where did the stone go?" It broke in half and came completely off the shaft. Luckily there was another usable piece in the set that I bought, and I was able to get the job done.

The first stone lasted about 21 seconds.

BobbyH · Mar 3, 2009

Bummers: The palm held nailer. I bought one and it just sat there and hissed out all the air through poor connections within the nailer. I brought that one back and got another one. Same thing. Just POC, save your money.

The PVC cutter is a world class POC.

The 18 guage nail/brad gun is definitely worth the money. Excellent tool.

The battery operated 14 & 18 volt drills are generally pretty good. I have gotten three years out of two of them, using them frequently.

The orange colored electric shear works well and I use mine a lot.

I have a lot of HF tools... many of them good, some few of them garbage. As with any store, you gotta be careful of what you buy. Caveat emptor. Nice thing about HF is that they have never refused to take back and either replace or refund an item that I was unhappy with.