Chicago electric tools from harbor freight

[racerx45]

First off I buy stuff from H/F every so often. I do have one of their stores in town so I am not having it shipped. The rule I use when buying from them is what will the item be used for; hobby or work (or will it be use to make money with)? So if it is a tool that I use at work I want a high quality item that would fail on a job site, but if it is working around the house I don’t mind trying to get away with a cheaper version that I don’t normally use at work.
As for good tools for home/hobby the guy I work with loves his Home Depot brand Ryobi power tools. His 18v drill keeps up with my 12v DeWalt. The price is very good and they have a good selection. The best part is it not from and online store so if you do have a problem you can take it back in

[glassbottlesrule]

I buy all my hobby type tools from the Harbour Frieght store in town.  The Chicago stuff isn't that bad.  The electric die grinder I bought 2 years ago has withstood more abuse than the Makatia one before it.  I have had pretty good luck with their stuff and have bought some tools to use at work as long as it's something that's not coming out of the tool box often.  Back when I was younger and not as bright all my work tools came from Snap-on. 10 years and 2 kids later Craftsman works just fine for about 1/3 the price.

MY turn to chime in,  I have many CE tools from HF and they have been champs for years now. I have a Grinder Tilesaw( wet) powerwasher and Buffer and some other things and this far they have been troopers. Also just a FYI ALL HF hand tools are warrentied for LIFETIME..........So they are cheap to buy and cheap to replace( cause of the warrenty) tho I havent had to replace any yet. To those with the HF that has rusty tools and mismatched lables, you must be going to a Ghetto HF LOL. You have a 30 day return policy so buy it use it LOTS and beat it into the ground and if It breaks Bring it back.

[BryanH]

Didn't expect this kind of response to the question.  Thanks for all the opinions.  I gave in on the cordles drill and went to Home Depot and picked up Ryobi's 18V drill and light combo with 2 batteries for $80. My old drill was a 12V Ryobi and it finally gave up the ghost last night - both batteries died within two weeks of each other.  It lasted me somewhere near 7 - 8 years with pretty regular home / hobby use. Not too bad given the AZ heat -> even car batteries only last 2 - 3 years here.  Still on the fence over where to get the grinder/buffer/polisher and gravity feed HVLP gun.  Might just try HF/CE for the grinder given the warranty and return policy.  HVLP will be a tougher choice -> won't know whether or not the crappy paint job is the gun or newbie user error.