Harbor Freight experts needed!

[gunther]

If you enjoy looking around flea markets, you can find really good, old American tools. At reasonable prices. Much more satisfactory than Chinese. Battery powered tools are almost all Chinese, but have heard several folks say Milwaukee is worth the extra. Don't know where they are made. If you intend to get some use out of them, they are worth it.

[deces]

HF has really changed since covid, they dont even mail their fliers anymore. here is a site that has just about every coupon they have active.
https://www.hfqpdb.com/gallery/pct

[kerplode]

Not sure if my "devotion" to Dewalt cordless tools is justified but I keep buying them. They have served me well, except for the 18V NiCad battery life. The Li-Ion 20V seems a lot better. But now I have a bunch of "useless" 18V Dewalts. Not sure I gained much over buying "useless" HF tools that were less than 1/2 the price.

DeWalt makes a nifty plug and play battery adapter that'll let you use the 20V Li-Ion packs in the 18V tools. It's not super cheap, but it's cheaper than buying a new tool...

I have a bunch of them for my old 18V stuff...They work great! Something to consider...

https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-18v-20...dp/B016K1UD0E/

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

If you enjoy looking around flea markets, you can find really good, old American tools. At reasonable prices. Much more satisfactory than Chinese. Battery powered tools are almost all Chinese, but have heard several folks say Milwaukee is worth the extra. Don't know where they are made. If you intend to get some use out of them, they are worth it.

China

[missionary5155]

Just another "grab bag" (HF) in the one world takeover. Bring everyone to the same level of nothingness.
Americans can make America Great.

[Winger Ed.]

Milwaukee is worth the extra. Don't know where they are made.

They've gone to Chinese production a few years ago too.
DeWalt still makes some things here, but not all. You have to check 'em by model number.

[deces]

They've gone to Chinese production a few years ago too.
DeWalt still makes some things here, but not all. You have to check 'em by model number.

I believe China's TTI owns milwaukee now, I could be wrong about that.

[Winger Ed.]

I believe China's TTI owns milwaukee now, I could be wrong about that.

Probably so.

Chinese laws are a little different from ours.
You can contract with a Chinese outfit to make your stuff for you there, but foreigners can't own the factory.
We can also make a deal for them to produce our stuff under license with our company's name on it, and get a comission.
Or, buy a controlling interest of stock- then make & sell whatever trash they want with that old American brand/trade name on it.

[n9tkf]

Probably so.


Or, buy a controlling interest of stock- then make & sell whatever trash they want with that old American brand/trade name on it.

Craftsman tools owned by Stanley but probably made in China comes to mind. Any stores selling Craftsman anymore?

[deces]

Craftsman tools owned by Stanley but probably made in China comes to mind. Any stores selling Craftsman anymore?

Lowes and some Ace hardwares.

[shooterg]

Lowes and some Ace hardwares.

I have lots of OLD Made In USA Craftsman stuff mostly because I AM old ! But heard somewhere back tht someone else bought the name and was gonna make 'em in TX ?

But even before Sears bit the dust they were giving Chinese made replacements for broken stuff. I still buy the old stuff when found at the flea market but I'm not using tools much anymore - too old, too lazy, too broke down !

Power tools no matter the brand are most likely foreign made . Only production here is the printing of money! Can still find shoes and clothes made here but they cost me more.

[megasupermagnum]

You missed the boat on harbor freight, simple as that. The place used to have insanely low prices. Today the prices just make me shake my head. There are some things in there that are decent if you are ok supporting China, but you really have to know what you are buying. For the most part today most China tools are all the same, and similar price. You may as well buy the stuff anywhere. Support a local hardware store is viable again. Their sockets are decent. Their ratchets are knuckle busters. Their more special sockets like torx, e socket, etc. are decent. I've heard good things about their welders, but only certain models. Their welding helmet will blind you. Their floor jacks are actually pretty good.

As for USA made tools, there are tons, but you need to actually seek them out. No single store sells only USA made tools. No single brand makes only USA made tools. Basic hand tools are easy to find like sockets, wrenches, and punches. Hammers and such are easier than anything, most stores carry Estwing or Vaughan or both. Power tools are trickier. Lots of electrical components are Chinese, so nobody can put a made in USA label on them. There are made in USA with USA and global components though. Currently DeWalt is the biggest name. Most of their power tools are made in the USA with some foreign components. Milwaukee used to be the top dog. Today they are mostly China. Their older stuff was mostly USA. For example, one of the best angle grinders ever made was the older Milwaukee heavy duty series. They were made in USA, and they take a real beating. They can be found on eBay for very reasonable prices. I bought one NOS in the box for less than a brand new Chinese made one costs.

[deces]

You missed the boat on harbor freight, simple as that. The place used to have insanely low prices. Today the prices just make me shake my head. There are some things in there that are decent if you are ok supporting China, but you really have to know what you are buying. For the most part today most China tools are all the same, and similar price. You may as well buy the stuff anywhere. Support a local hardware store is viable again. Their sockets are decent. Their ratchets are knuckle busters. Their more special sockets like torx, e socket, etc. are decent. I've heard good things about their welders, but only certain models. Their welding helmet will blind you. Their floor jacks are actually pretty good.

As for USA made tools, there are tons, but you need to actually seek them out. No single store sells only USA made tools. No single brand makes only USA made tools. Basic hand tools are easy to find like sockets, wrenches, and punches. Hammers and such are easier than anything, most stores carry Estwing or Vaughan or both. Power tools are trickier. Lots of electrical components are Chinese, so nobody can put a made in USA label on them. There are made in USA with USA and global components though. Currently DeWalt is the biggest name. Most of their power tools are made in the USA with some foreign components. Milwaukee used to be the top dog. Today they are mostly China. Their older stuff was mostly USA. For example, one of the best angle grinders ever made was the older Milwaukee heavy duty series. They were made in USA, and they take a real beating. They can be found on eBay for very reasonable prices. I bought one NOS in the box for less than a brand new Chinese made one costs.

I have always been found of the American owned Ridgid brands. Ridgid is a subdivision of Emerson and out of that there is Ridgid's red line of plumbing tools and Ridgid electric that is all about the other tools. What got me into them was the then lifetime warranty on their power tools, since then it has been changed to a life time service agreement, which is still unbeatable in the industry.

With the partnership between Emerson, Home Depot almost all of Ridgid electrics tool are subcontracted out for manufacture by TTI, the same company that owns Hoover, milwaukee, AEG. The Produce tools for Ryobi and even the old Craftsman C3 line. There are dozens other brands included.

Since covid, I have noticed many of the tools coming out of Vietnam instead of china. I think a lot of companies are trying to distance their manufacturing from china.

[Bored1]

Discounts now at harbor frieght depend a lot on what the item you're looking at is. Coupons now have quite a few excluded items in the fine print.check out the inside track club, paying for the membership may be worth the discount, i know my local store was giving 30% off to inside track members this last weekend, but again a lot of fine print to see if what your looking for was excluded. Occasionally, I've had luck with them taking competitor coupons from Northern Tool or Tractor Supply. That's hit or miss and having a comparison ready to show them of the item and price at the competitor helps a ton!

[jonp]

only took a couple of posts to get to the "HF is made in China and it's junk" stuff. I have had ok luck with them. Some of the power tools were not worth buying, a hammer drill and sawzall with a rotating handle work fine as does the generator. The compound miter saw on sale was less than half a Hitachi or DeWalt and works just as good. Mini drill press runs fine for what I want. I have a bunch of hand tools and they work fine especially the occasional use tools and small nitpicky stuff like gloves, zip ties, crow bars and bungy cords. Just bought a grow light to start seedlings for half the price of Lowes and it is working fine. The transmission jack worked just fine and saved me a few thousand over having a shop do it. Buy the Pittsburg for rarely used stuff, the ICON for daily use and something else for tools that make you money.

The paper discounts, I think. will never come back. I get their emails with sales and discount coupons. If I see something I need like neoprene gloves or zip ties I'll cruise in and look at the flyer right by the counter. If you sign up for a credit card you get 10% off first purchase so if you need a generator or wire welder right off and can't wait for a sale, sign up at the store, get the money off and promptly cancel it.

[Bored1]

Without knowing exactly what your looking at I can't suggest best way to get a deal, but remember they have a 90 day return policy. My local store is great at returning things IF YOU KEEP THE RECEIPT and decide you don't like it. I think it may actually be 30 days, but the local store here everyone always says 90 so that's what they honor. Worth asking while you're looking around the store.

[GhostHawk]

If you make your living with the tools, by all means buy the best you can. When I was working as a plumber I had almost all Rigid tools. Still have them.

But if you just use a tool once or twice a year it is hard to beat HF. I have a chicago Electric 4.5" angle grinder that is 25 years old and still going strong. Paid 16$ for it back in 96. But I only use it once a year if that and I don't abuse it.

I am a big fan of the Bauer line of cordless tools, 20 volt. I have 3 cordless hammer drills, a small skill saw, sander, the drain cleaner, the inflator. I have yet to have a lick of trouble with any of them. Some of those are with my RV in Louisianan.

One cordless drill was running a 3" hole saw cutting a hole in my floor. When it came through it caught. Drill rotated caught me one in the ankle. Handle seperated and was at an angle. So I went and replaced it.

Came back and worked with the old one a bit pushing it back into place. Parts snapped back into place. And it still works. But I do keep it on light duty.

Instead of paying 7-8$ per spool of fly tying thread 100 yards long I bought poly thread in a wide range of colors and 550 yards per spool for 20$ for 30 spools.

When one of my bobbins runs empty I match the color, chuck the empty spool into my drill and refill it. I have a small hex shafted hole punch that just wedges into the spool perfectly.

Of course tying flys with thread like that is sacrilidge to fly tyers around the world You can't do that the fish might be offended.

HF has its place, its good buys, its cheap stuff. Use a little common sense and it can treat you well and save money.
Trying to fight the big multinational corporations is only going to hurt you.
and they have decided that USA wages and unions cost too much so the tool will be built elsewhere. More money for their pocket.

[toot]

do they give us veterans a discount?

[Ed K]

I drive a 1995 Dodge RAM2500 with 5.9 Cummins and run a 1942 made in Springfield MA Van Norman mill to support this hobby but the $7 special Makita knock-off 4-1/2" angle grinder I bought there in 2002 is still going strong (with case, grinding wheel, sandpaper w/backer pad arbor and segmented diamond blade). I actually have an original Makita but which one do you suppose I let get beat up?

No real advise to give on coupons - don't really use them much myself. It would be nice to have a 30% coupon for this:

https://www.harborfreight.com/saw-mi...table+saw+mill

Edit: Wow Ghosthawk I missed your post on the grinder. I guess I was there on a good day! I try to buy older, used tools however when I cannot I usually shoot for Japanese first, then S Korea or Taiwan before "made in China". India? Don't get electrocuted or cut on a busted casting

[MrWolf]

They started excluding way to many brands which puts them right up there with most other places. Not worth the discount you used to get. By local and USA made if possible. The days of a 25+ % discount are gone as they are only applicable to a very few brands and a lot of the more expensive is junk. Their Bauer stuff is decent but not getting any great deals anymore.