New Harbor Freight store 15 minutes from me

I know it is almost all Chinese import crap but there are a few good things. I went there this morning "just to check it out". Yeah I bought some stuff, I couldn't help myself! This is bad.

Christmas is coming!

Tommy, going into harbor freight for us is like a kid going into a candy store

Jim

Be prepared to make some room in your garage/shop for all the new stuff you ARE going to buy. A lot of what they carry is a waste of money but, if you are selective you can find some reasonably priced tools that are fine for occasional use. I also have one 20 minutes away. Chuck

Ah yes - Harbor Freight. The 'Dollar General' of hardware stores.

I know it is almost all Chinese import crap but there are a few good things. I went there this morning "just to check it out". Yeah I bought some stuff, I couldn't help myself! This is bad.

Christmas is coming!

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T..I was there too this morning around 10 ish..Nice store actually.. & I scored some stuff using the coupons from the flyer they had in this weeks paper.

Nice for that tool you are gonna need only once but they do have moving blankets dirt cheap good for covering the cars while working on them.

My favorite choice for consumable stuff like cut off wheels, grinding discs, spot weld bits. Buy 'em cheap, burn 'em up and throw them away.

Exactly, sometimes it's a better investment to pick up cheap tools. I like Harbor Freight. The guys on Garage Journal really like their large tool boxes.

I have one nearby too and usually buy something when I go in there. Lots & lots of cheap tools...and by cheap I mean crappy. Don't buy anything with an electric motor in it from Chicago Tools. I bought a grinder that got too hot to hold while sharpening a lawn mower blade. Their anvils are pretty good though.

I know it is almost all Chinese import crap but there are a few good things. I went there this morning "just to check it out". Yeah I bought some stuff, I couldn't help myself! This is bad.

Christmas is coming!

Click to expand...

T..I was there too this morning around 10 ish..Nice store actually.. & I scored some stuff using the coupons from the flyer they had in this weeks paper.

Click to expand...

I must have just missed you!

I have been buying my tools from Northern Tool mail order. A lot of what they sell

is made in China but they also have name brands like Dewalt and Makita etc. Also

offer free shipping on many items including full size tractors.

mike

I love Harbor Freight, its across the bridge in Port Huron Michigan (1/2 hr away)

its great for tools for the garage, that you use ocationally

I have the little Zip disk grinder, works great.

the tools are 1/2 the cost i would pay in Canada for the same quality.

I also never buy any extended warrenty, take a printer or for example.

you can buy one for $120 the extended warrenty is usually 10-20% of the purchase price.

a year later you can buy a new one for $60

Don't get me wrong - I've bought plenty of stuff from HF, and have learned the value of cheap consumables. I still have more than 2/3 of my box of latex gloves I use for Rust Bullet (and other chemical) applications.

I did actually buy a Chicago reciprocating saw from our store and it's been really good so far. Used it to cut off the Rustang's front clip (and other stuff), as well as make short work of getting my old fence into smaller, manageable sizes to fit in the Ram for my 'dump-runs.' The blade guide vibrated off after awhile when cutting up the fence sections, but I found it and thread-locked it back on, so no worries there.

Not to mention their spot-weld removal bits were only $8, compared to $14 at NAPA.

Best thing I ever bought from HF was a mid-size blast cabinet (bench top model) about 6 yrs ago. Cabinet was $100. I purchased a $20 mini-halogen spot light from Lowes for lighting inside the cabinet. One tube of caulk to seal the cabinet seams since it blew medium everywhere the first time I used it. A couple lengths of foam weatherstrip to seal the door. Threw the gun it came with into the trash and used a Craftsman gun I had in the tool box. Following that, about $100 in the next couple years for 80 grit glass medium - changing it out as it wore down.

Paid for itself about 5 times over since that time for all the small and medium sized parts I cleaned. It's currently in a friend's garage being put to work on his project car.

The only other thing I every bought was a 90 deg drill for some close up work in tight quarters.

Since I dedicated my tool box to my Jeep (mounted in back and secured down). I always found my tools getting disorganized due to lack of space. I started pricing tool boxes and settled on the U.S. General PRO from HF.

They are made in China. The quality is very good. THey are very strudy and the price is good.

My wife picked up a parts cleaner from HF years ago. It's kind of junky.

I like harbor freight....They got some wild stuff sometimes...most of it cheap....What i paid for my 30 gallon air compressor would of costed me a ton every else i went..with half the horse power too.....I tell you one neat thing that mite save you some money on china junk...You know how best buy and eletronic stores like too charge 40 too 50 bucks for HDMI cords too connect from your tv,xbox,computer?....I found them at my local harbor freight for 15 bucks!! for 15 foot cord..woot...now thats a deal