I almost lost my good looks today with mine.........I had a piece in it that slipped and the bottle jack flew right out of the frame and smacked the wall! :jd: If it would have slid toward me it would have hit me smack in the puss! This tool is unsafe in my opinion, and tomorrow I'm phoning them to complain....I should sue! :rant: Harbor Fright :eek2: sells junk!! Sure it was cheap, but if it's unsafe it should not be for sale. :af:
Let me start by saying I have some of Harbor Frieght's stuff. I bought my hoist there, an engine stand and my blast cabinet. I got the 12 ton press for my birthday a couple of years back. It hasn't seen much use though the others have. The hoist will not hold any angle at all, with or without weight hanging on it. It moves slowly, you can't even see it come down, but it does come down. Other than that, it has been a good addition to my equipment. The engine stand doesn't really have any mechanical or moving parts. Other than some seriously cheap bolts to put it together, it's worked like one is supposed to. It holds the engine off the floor, allows it turn a full 360* and hasn't fallen apart. In fact, it has had a complete small block Chevy sitting on it for over five months now. The blast cabinet works fine though it needs some kind of duct work or filter to keep the media off the floor. The junk I've bought there is a pretty long list I am ashamed to say. What I remember is this: Electric pressure washer. Lasted less than 20 minutes then gave it up. Zip ties. They don't work well when the locking tab breaks off every single one the first time you try to zip it up. Cut-off disks. I can blow through the ones from there in less time than it takes to cut a front coil spring. Wire wheel for my grinder motor. So unbalanced, I thought the shaking would destroy the stone wheel on the other side. Air-powered Die grinder. Returned FIVE TIMES for the same problem. They won as I got tired of taking them back. When it is turned on the fourth or fifth time, it doesn't completely shut off again. Ever. So, I am down to buying things like compressed air hose, but only when it says Goodyear on the hose with the Goodyear trademark, name brand stuff like my Hobart Welder or things that don't require any moving parts, like a sledge hammer, a pry bar, stuff like that. I would NEVER again buy anything that is labled "Central Pneumatic", Central Electric" or "Central Machinery". It's not only inexpensive, it's low grade crap made overseas. Buyer Beware and pay attention to what you are buying.
Your better off, and cheeper in most instances(by the time you ship it), to buy some channel iron and build one. Go to sears or someplace an buy a bottle jack. also most of those cheep ones don't work good beause they are bolted together with bigtime slop in the bolt holes. take some meaurements, get the whole frame square and then weld it. way stiffer. way safer. At that point you elimate flex that may cause misalignment with the press, punch or pusher and your piece. They are dangerous enough working properly. Take it from a guy that uses one almost every week for one thing or another(mostly press fit bearings and races)
There are SOME good handtools there, for instance Impact sockets are still impact sockets, I've had a bunch of them for years and they still look fine, I use them almost daily too. A friend of mine bought a big set of combo wrenches there too, and they've held up nicely. I would have to agree that buying power tools is not such a sound investment, but I get a lot of other odds and ends there, airline fittings, screwdrivers (I break good ones just as quickly and never get around to taking them in for warranty), grinding stones......... ect. We just have to decide in the store if it's really something that has the potential of being flawed. I met a guy who made parts for Campbell Hausfield, he told me they were using poor quality steel for things,and having big problems. That's something that caught me off guard, but it just goes to show that poor quality can rear it's ugly head in lots of places. Tom
My wife reminded me the othyer night of the single worst item I ever bought at Harbor Freight. Sand paper. No kidding, when I tried to use it, the sand and the glue that is supposed to hold it in place CAME OFF THE PAPER!! Made a mess like sanding wood does, only wood wasn't being sanded. All I did was rub the media and glue off the paper! It's gotten to where I will only buy expensive tools and machinery at places like Sears. Yes, I do pay more for it than I probably could other places. I have had my compressor for five years and had Zero problems. Same with a hand drill. Campbell Hausfield, the stuff sold by Lowes or Home Depot have better pricing but I haven't used any of their stuff and don't know for sure of anyone else that has so I don't know if it's good or not. I do know Craftsman though. When I build my new shop (hopefully this summer) I will be buying a new compressor and some other floor mount machinery. It will probably all come from Sears.
quality tools While in Springfield mo. I got acquainted with Grizzly. Good , high quality tools at a reasonable price. www.grizzly.com , I think.
Grizzly Tools I have bought a few things from Grizzly, A Slip roller, Ring Roller, and few other odds and ends and have not had a single problem with them. Harbor Freight things are not the best but then if I buy anything from them I always look and see if I can make it stronger like the press I used grade 8 bolts to put it together and also Beefed up the rail supports,I can do this because I have a Machine shop and I can improve on their weakness. Don
grizzly I have bought precision measuring tools ,air tools, and machineist tools from them and they are good quality for the money that i spent. I have been to their wear house in Springfield MO. and looked all thru it everything that i saw was good stuff. they have wood working tools , metal working tools, sheet metal working tools, welding stuff and air and electric power tools. taps, dies , mikes, mike stands, all types guages ect.
Check out Eastwood company, I've never ordered from them, but I get the catalogs. They look pretty cool, especially if you're doing restorations. http://www.eastwoodco.com They're really worth a look.Tom
I think Eastwood is too expensive. Some things are way overpriced. However, some things they have you can't find anywhere else........at least I haven't seen them anywhere else. :bglasses:
