What's amused you today? XD

Some of my buddies give me crap for buying stuff (primarily tools) at HF. I have a few good tools (not as many as I’d like) such as Snap On, Mac & Hazet to name a few... but I’d say that when I need something and don’t feel like investing a fortune.... 90% of the stuff I buy at HF works to get the job done. + if it busts, they return it no questions asked.

 

I hope to get one full use of any tool I buy at Harbor Freight. Great for odd ball tools you don't use often. Other than that, their stuff is crap.

 

Lol, I know what you mean. I had a really nice heavy duty Bosch belt Sander that someone stole out of my vehicle. I decided not to replace it and finish a project I was working on with a HB unit. Complete crap, plastic wheels, paper adjustment was a joke, just a real letdown. I ended up returning two of them because the heat generated melted the wheels! Third time was the charm. Stay away from the belt sanders!

I’ve had pretty good luck with their Pittsburgh line of screwdrivers and a couple large metric boxes end wrenches. Oh and the Pittsburgh super low profile / high lift jacks are decent. I’ll pretty much try anything as long as I use the 20% coupons.

Maybe I’ll wise-up and just follow the old adage “you get what you pay for” ... although sometimes, for me anyway, I’d rather spend my money on parts and supplies.

The other day, I found myself in need of a 36mm wrench. Snap On $300 ouch, Craftsman $50, HB, $15 + 20% coupon. I went with the HB lol. It worked, didn’t round off my nut and I got the job done. Still would like to have that Snap On though. Champagne taste on a beer budget lol.

 

The secret of the mystery seeds has been solved, well almost..................

U.S. identifies some of the mysterious seeds mailed from China

The 14 varieties identified include common ones, such as hibiscus, morning glory, and lavender. Still, experts warned recipients not to plant them.

Last month, a number of states reported that residents were getting packages of seeds they did not order.

All 50 states have since issued warnings about the unsolicited packages and the inspection service said it had been sent packets from at least 22 states.

Doyle Crenshaw of Booneville, Arkansas, said he had planted some of the unsolicited seeds he got.

“I told my wife, ‘They don’t look like any flower seed I had ever seen,’ ” he said Sunday.

 

I buy a lot of stuff at HF too, and most of it gets used hard. I use their HVLP spray guns for primer guns, and if I ruin it, its cheap to replace. Their angle grinders are great. Ive been abusing a pair of them for many years. The flux core wire feed welder has gotten a lot of use too even though I have to take the torch head apart and tweek it from time to time.

 

That was back when Coke contained cocaine.

 

I used to buy very expensive tools all the time, then I learned, if it's something I'm going to use every day I buy the dear stuff, if it's a one off then something cheaper will do, on average a power drill runs at around £150, test equipment anything from say £100 for a set of test lamps up to a couple of thousand for certain test meters.I also have a fair bit of mechanics stuff too as well as plumbing tools, I fix my own cars and trucks and those of the family, so it all gets used. As for Snap On, never bought it, I had one of their soldering Irons once and to be honest it was no better than one that cost about 3 times less. One of the big problems, at least over here with their stuff is they changed the warranty a few years ago, once upon a time if something broke they just replaced it, fair enough, now they send it away and examine it, any signs of 'abuse' and they don't want to know. The thing is all tools get minor dings and scratches with use, it happens, yet they use it as an excuse not to replace it.
I'm a big fan of Bergen, but you have to be careful now as there's some cheap copies about, for screwdrivers it's Wera (German), they get a lot of use in my job, power tools are generally Makita, and test gear normally made by Fluke, it's expensive but reliable.
I will be shipping all mine out in a few weeks, it has now filled 3 sheds, several cupboards and my loft, anyway one of my friends who is also a client owns a farm about 8 miles away, it's very secure ( I look after the security) and he's letting me have a large storage container on there to keep my kit in. I will just keep a few bits at home, tool box and a power drill and store the rest at his place, to be honest it's probably safer than at my home.

 

Ive been a mechanic for many years. I used to by a lot of Craftsman tools. Decent quality and they were goods on warrenty service. And I didn't have to wayt for a vendor to show up. I have some matco tools that failed under warranty and the vendor never seemed to be able to get the replacement. Then he died and it was forever to get a new rep, who knew nothing about it. But now I work out of my own garage and I find a lot of the cheap tools from HF are pretty decent. THey offer lifetime warranty on hand tools. I refuse to pay for a name.

 

Rumour has it that Grand has quite a toolbox.

 

Its not a rumor.

 

Are you confirming this then?

 

Please do not prove it. lol

 

Awesome! We're going to have to start doing competitions on this thread.