Greg M
Member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2014
- Messages
- 284
There are haters of HF that I politely ask to just move on and ignore this thread. I welcome criticism of HF tools as long as it's constructive and informative.
Festool is what we want but they're expensive and not everyone has a lot of money so we've got to make decisions (compromises). We buy the Festools that we believe we'll use the most and then buy more when we can. However, in the meantime, we need other tools to complete the tasks that we have to do. Wether the tasks are woodworking, job related, or things around the house. For some of us, if we're buying items from Festool, Woodpeckers, Incra or from other high quality expensive manufacturers something has to give. We need inexpensive tools for jobs we seldom do or we need tools to fill the gaps until we can afford to buy better long term replacements.
HF does have many useful items depending on your needs. I'd like for this thread to be a place to share what HF items people have found useful. Yes, their quality control is lacking but you do have 90 days to check the tools out and at their prices many of the items you get from them can be considered disposable.
I've found that they will take a 20% off coupon even if the item is on sale. Here's a link to HF coupons.
http://www.hfqpdb.com
Here are a few that I've found useful and why.
Most popular gem for woodworkers is the HF 2hp dust collector. Lots of info about this gem on the web as well as how to modify it to be better than most other units you can buy. You can make this into a near HEPA filter for about $400 including the cost of the DC. It's good for using 1 machine at a time. If you run multiple machines at a time you're probably not interested in this thread anyways.
http://www.harborfreight.com/2-hp-industrial-5-micron-dust-collector-97869.html
http://festoolownersgroup.com/other-tools-accessories/dust-collector-advice
I very rarely use a tool like the Vecturo. I need the occasional hole made or the occasional door trim cut for flooring to fit under it. It makes no sense for me to buy the Vecturo but I still can use a similar tool once in a while. HF's oscillating tool gets the job that I need done. It's $20 on sale and can use the 20% off on that price. It's not in the same league with other offerings and you can burn out the motor, done that, but it'll do what I need it to do.
http://www.harborfreight.com/oscillating-multifunction-power-tool-62302.html
Don't use a drill press often but I wanted to have one. Got the 17" one and was careful to check it out really well when I set it up. I found the runout to be well within acceptable range even with the chuck that came with it. Got it on sale and used a 25% off coupon.
http://www.harborfreight.com/16-speed-floor-drill-press-43389.html
Used their clamps for a while. They get the job done but they're should only be considered a stop gap while waiting to purchase higher quality clamps. However, the red and black 24" and 36" bar clamps I have found to be very good and I see no reason to replace them. The ones like these:
http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-ratchet-bar-clamp-spreader-95027.html
For yard work I've used their electric trimmer and pole chainsaw and while the electric chain saw takes longer to cut both items get the job done. Saved a bunch.
I've got a few other HF items. Some have been useful and others not so much.
Hopefully other will chime in with useful information. Finding useful items from places like HF frees up money for other things.
Festool is what we want but they're expensive and not everyone has a lot of money so we've got to make decisions (compromises). We buy the Festools that we believe we'll use the most and then buy more when we can. However, in the meantime, we need other tools to complete the tasks that we have to do. Wether the tasks are woodworking, job related, or things around the house. For some of us, if we're buying items from Festool, Woodpeckers, Incra or from other high quality expensive manufacturers something has to give. We need inexpensive tools for jobs we seldom do or we need tools to fill the gaps until we can afford to buy better long term replacements.
HF does have many useful items depending on your needs. I'd like for this thread to be a place to share what HF items people have found useful. Yes, their quality control is lacking but you do have 90 days to check the tools out and at their prices many of the items you get from them can be considered disposable.
I've found that they will take a 20% off coupon even if the item is on sale. Here's a link to HF coupons.
http://www.hfqpdb.com
Here are a few that I've found useful and why.
Most popular gem for woodworkers is the HF 2hp dust collector. Lots of info about this gem on the web as well as how to modify it to be better than most other units you can buy. You can make this into a near HEPA filter for about $400 including the cost of the DC. It's good for using 1 machine at a time. If you run multiple machines at a time you're probably not interested in this thread anyways.
http://www.harborfreight.com/2-hp-industrial-5-micron-dust-collector-97869.html
http://festoolownersgroup.com/other-tools-accessories/dust-collector-advice
I very rarely use a tool like the Vecturo. I need the occasional hole made or the occasional door trim cut for flooring to fit under it. It makes no sense for me to buy the Vecturo but I still can use a similar tool once in a while. HF's oscillating tool gets the job that I need done. It's $20 on sale and can use the 20% off on that price. It's not in the same league with other offerings and you can burn out the motor, done that, but it'll do what I need it to do.
http://www.harborfreight.com/oscillating-multifunction-power-tool-62302.html
Don't use a drill press often but I wanted to have one. Got the 17" one and was careful to check it out really well when I set it up. I found the runout to be well within acceptable range even with the chuck that came with it. Got it on sale and used a 25% off coupon.
http://www.harborfreight.com/16-speed-floor-drill-press-43389.html
Used their clamps for a while. They get the job done but they're should only be considered a stop gap while waiting to purchase higher quality clamps. However, the red and black 24" and 36" bar clamps I have found to be very good and I see no reason to replace them. The ones like these:
http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-ratchet-bar-clamp-spreader-95027.html
For yard work I've used their electric trimmer and pole chainsaw and while the electric chain saw takes longer to cut both items get the job done. Saved a bunch.
I've got a few other HF items. Some have been useful and others not so much.
Hopefully other will chime in with useful information. Finding useful items from places like HF frees up money for other things.
