Chicago electric tools from harbor freight

[BryanH]

I've seen a couple of posts in here about buying stuff from Harbor Frieght. Their CHICAGO ELECTRIC  tools are incredibly inexpensive. Are they cheap? I'm assuming that you get what you pay for, but I'd hate to buy a more expensive brand if their tools are ok.

[jasmine64]

I havent had very good luck with H.F.
Almost every order i've received has either been
torn open and retaped or torn open and items missing.
I completely stopped ordering from them when my last order
was lost and couldnt get a refund. The box showed up 3 months later
with 2 of the 6 items inside.

Has anyone else had that happen?

We have a harbor freight store in Wichita.  Have visited there a few times, the tools are cheap, most look like they are cheap knockoffs from third world countries.  I looked at some cordless tools, and got scared off by rust on exposed metal, misapplied labels, etc.  Figured if what I saw on the surface was iffy, then the underlying tool would probably not hold up that well.  Warranty was life of tool, or until you left the store, whichever came first.  Having said that, they do carry some odd things (casters, misc. metal parts, benches) that look ok and would probably be worth tinkering with.  I tend to purchase most of my tools locally from the home centers, or via internet.

[BrianB]

Short and simple.....You get what you pay for. A few of the guys I work with, including myself, will buy only what we consider "disposable" of one time use tools such as paint brushes, batteries, cheap metal/wood files, sand paper and so on and so forth. The same goes with all of the traveling tool shows such as Homier and Cummings.

[BryanH]

Thanks guys... I assumed that would be the case.  Like I said, just hated dropping 2 - 3x on a recognized tool brand if their Chicago Electric stuff actually worked.

So, now on a similar, but slightly different thread.  I generally buy power / air tools from Craftsman tools, sometimes pick up a piece here or there from Home Depot.  Anybody have good success (price, quality and service) with an online seller? Don't need professional grade tools but solid home / hobbyist quality. If it helps, I'm looking for a cordless drill (>= 18V), 7" grinder/buffer/polisher and gravity feed HVLP gun.

[loman4ec]

I have a black and decker 18V cordless drill that has been great. I got it from Walmart for like $60. I mostly buy craftsman as well but then I learned that B&D make the Craftsman drills and they are almost the same insides and are much less.
I am really bad on tools. I don't know why but I am constantly dropping them and just plain abusing them, and this drill have taken everything I have given it. My father has a Dewalt cordless and he is really carefull on how he takes care of his tools but as we were packing to move he dropped his from mid way up on a 6 foot ladder on to a padded carpeted floor and it no longer works. It broke the shaft inside.

[MoonDawg]

A high quality polisher will pay for itself many times over. I always color sand and buff my new paint, so a high speed buffer gets real high gloss shine.  And when you take this buffer to a 30 year old soda machine's original faded paint the value  increases $100 +
       I've had the same  Millwalkee heavy duty polisher for over 15 years and use it every week, a real moneymaker.  I can only find it a an Industrial Tool supply house.

[sodaworks]

I use a variable speed polisher/buffer made by Hatachi. I picked it up from Home Depot for around 100.00. Keep in mind that this is NOT a grinder. All my other power tools are mostly Craftsmans.

[sodaworks]

As far as Harbor frieght tools goes, I normally by speciality tools there. By this I mean a tool that you are not going to use but once or twice in your life time. You can usually by these for a fraction of the cost. I also bought my bead blasting cabinet and sand blaster from there. These have actually held up pretty good. A few of my air tools have came from thier as well. One of the air files I bought there lasted 4 years.

Two places I've tried looking are on Amazon under tools, and on Yahoo shopping.  If you're looking for a specific item number or brand, you can search multiple vendors quickly and identify good prices on the same object.  I think EBay offers some of the same, but many of the tools I've seen there are partial (like a rechargable drill minus batteries and charger) which I think is a bit of a pain.  Would much rather get a warranty to go with the tool.

[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.