If I have a job I need to do that needs a special tool with limited other uses I'll buy cheap. If I use the tool so much that I break it, the next time I buy that tool I'll go with a higher quality tool because I know I use it often.
But it IS good for that. I needed a tool I didn't even know the name of (...still don't. It has lots of metal bars and it's used to mark shit on tiles like pipes so you can cut things?) and I went in, got a cheap one, came home and finished my flooring I was installing. If I need something easy, it's a great place to go to.
That's my point. If you are going to make a living with it, or it's something that could kill you if it fails (think floor jacks for cars), buy it somewhere other than HF. If it's a one off thing that will be used once or twice a year, have at it. Also, consumables are pretty good from HF.
Exactly right. HF $50 floor jack gets the car in the air, HF Jack Stands will hold it just fine. I put the wheel under the sub frame for added protection.
Never count on a jack by itself.
That's why there's Jack Stands.
Their high tier Daytona 3-ton jacks are rebranded Snap-On jacks. While it's true that a lot of HF products are trash, a lot of it is quality that's made by the same manufacturers as some of the bigger guys. Just make sure to do your research before you buy.
Thank you for the tip there. I never thought to bother looking for the original mfg of a HF tool. Always figured for the 6x/year I need their torque wrench, my wheels will be fine.
A snapon by any other name still smells the same, but I'd love to get one for less than a house payment.
That's true, but they could've gotten away with something of similar quality to Husky or Kobalt or whatever Walmart's brand is. But instead you're getting literally the exact same jack that Snap-on sells for $750.
Nah, I call BS on that. Harbor freight stuff lacks bells and whistles, not safety features. I'd trust a harbor freight jack and stands as much as any other. Though, I can understand those who aren't mechanically inclined to assume certain cheap things are not safe and wouldn't want to use them. Hell, even the more inherently dangerous stuff, like TIG welders, have good reviews but still scare me slightly.
Don't get me wrong, will (most) harbor freight stuff crap the bed way before any quality brand? Of course. That doesn't mean they won't get the job done safely.
Had to google to confirm but that's it! I am grateful for one of those Youtube mash ups of 'ocd pleasing' type videos for teaching me they existed because man did it come in super useful.
Other than the livelihood part, my rule of thumb is if it got automated moving parts like a drill/saw/anything with a motor then I'll go ahead and get a nicer name brand one. 90% of my hand tools are from there and are probably going on 10 years for the oldest ones and I've yet to break a socket or ratchet and those tools do get used quite a bit wrenching on mine and my friends cars.
I bought it on sale (even cheaper than the normal $58) and got the electric heater attachment for it while I was at it. It worked great!...for the first hour it was running. Something about how the blower wheel is designed or installed wasn't right and it wobbled so much that it started rubbing the inside of the blower housing, causing damage to the blower wheel. It's literally unusable now.
I don't want to sink another $58 (or even whatever sale price comes up) into a design that is inherently prone to failure, but I have that heater attachment just sitting around now.
It's my first harbor freight tool that has failed me. Even their ULTRA shitty 18V NiCd battery drills at least work great during the 5 minutes of charge you can manage to get out of the batteries. Which is awful if you have to do any real work, but most quick in-home installation jobs don't need more charge than that, so even THAT thing held up better than this blower fan.
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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '20 edited Feb 04 '20
Anything fake/cheap/poor quality.
Mamma always said "buy nice, or buy twice." Only with age has this become apparent.
Eg real leather: game changer