[crash70rs]

Estate sales are pretty sweet, got a few high quality power tools from there for good prices. Just this past weekend I picked up a Craftsman 3.5 horse air compressor... It kinda noisy.. but seems to work well (havn't gotten any decent air tools yet - returning the non-functioning HF ones ).

[Lhorn]

I usually get tools when I need them but have gotten away from HF crap. How does a flare wrench round off a brake line? I thought I'd get a set of their flare wrenches because I wouldn't be using them much. With any pressure, the wrench sprung open a bit and rounded off the nuts. Got frustrated and got a set of Craftsman flare wrenches and they worked perfectly and didn't damage the brake line. Ditto HF taps and dies. Spent a half hour trying to get a HF die to thread a rod. All it did was sharpen the rod like a pencil but could never get threads started. Got a quality die from the hardware store and I had perfect threads in 5 minutes. I've been happy however with a few things from HF. Their vicegrip style welding clamps seem to do the job.

[aminga]

Originally Posted by bigbadbowtie

I do exactly the same...I have found some killer deals at garage and estate sales. My neighbor is also a heavy equipment mechanic for the city. He usually has what I need.

Introduce him to me sometime

[aminga]

First who voted that they have enough tools. you can NEVER have enough tools.

I have a rule of thumb for specialty tools. If I need one more than twice I buy it.

[oldred]

Originally Posted by Lhorn

I usually get tools when I need them but have gotten away from HF crap. How does a flare wrench round off a brake line? I thought I'd get a set of their flare wrenches because I wouldn't be using them much. With any pressure, the wrench sprung open a bit and rounded off the nuts. Got frustrated and got a set of Craftsman flare wrenches and they worked perfectly and didn't damage the brake line. Ditto HF taps and dies. Spent a half hour trying to get a HF die to thread a rod. All it did was sharpen the rod like a pencil but could never get threads started. Got a quality die from the hardware store and I had perfect threads in 5 minutes. I've been happy however with a few things from HF. Their vicegrip style welding clamps seem to do the job.

Those HF brand taps and dies are junk and no good for anything except chasing existing threads and you had better be careful doing that! They do however have genuine Hanson tap and die sets which are top notch quality but priced accordingly, still a better price than a lot of places for the same set. Like a lot of tap and die sets the Hanson set comes only with plug taps that will not thread to the bottom of a blind hole and are a poor choice for cutting new threads so anyone buying a set needs to get a set of starter (taper) taps to go with it. I Got off subject there a bit but the point is HF does have some quality tools like Hanson, genuine Vise Grip, etc but you have to look a bit harder for them.

[matt167]

Originally Posted by oldred

Matt is this the puller set you are talking about?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=37824

I got mine for 5 bucks on sale and I have used and abused it to no end and that thing does a good job and is holding up well. I have replaced some of the grade 5 bolts with grade 8 but for all but the most severe jobs the grade 5 will work just fine. That little outfit is one HF's real bargains and is one tool from there I would recommend. They also have a dandy power steering pulley remover that is a fraction of the "real" tool cost but it too works really well and seems indestructible, I think I got that one too for about $5.

yup, same 1. it was on sale last week at my local HF for $5.49, but I needed it when I bought it.

[oldred]

I bought mine at one of the "parking lot" sales they have sometimes and I thought for $5 I would give it a try since I did not have one at the time but was always needing one it seemed. Like I said the grade 5 bolts are strong enough for most jobs but if you get into a really hard pull a grade 8 would be in order. I have had to really bear down on mine a couple of times and with the stronger bolts I figured the press screw threads or the frame itself would let go but it surprised me and did just fine in spite of the abuse. I may be wrong but I think that thing is made in India instead of by our good friends in China, for what that may be worth.

[matt167]

yup. mine's stamped India. not the best still, but I won't get lead poisioning from using it..

I bought a small 2 gal HF compressor at the sidewalk sale, 1/4 hp I think, supposto be 3.3 SCFM @ 90. for $50, to use as a aux compressor for my air system whail painting, big compressor is only a Sears Companion brand 2hp, 8 gallon. not shure on CFM rating. they actually work decent togther, but I have been noticing, the little compressor, is starting to get slow then fast again in motor speed. but I run the crap out of it. it's 100 PSI max, 8 gal compressor is 135, so I have to watch the preassure, and decrease the big compressor's preassure to 110 psi, the little HF compressors preassure relife blows at 115 ( yup, I run it in the red zone, but the manual says it's tested to 120 psi )

[crash70rs]

Honestly, I was expecting more of the vetrans so say they have all they need.. But i guess that can never be true in our hobby!

[gcrmcc]

Hand tools, I have so many that if I lost half of them I still would not really need to replace them. Now, shop equipment, I am in good shape there also. But there is difference of needing tools or wanting them, and yes there is a few I really want. Like a plasma cutter and an english wheel.

gcrmcc

[Canadian Charlie]

This sounds bad but I buy them for the wife and kid's birthdays, Christmas's, Easter and any other holiday occassion

[john prescott]

every week i pay MAC truck man 25.00 . I'm a heavy eqpt. mechanic[bull dozers,track hoes ect.] and cheap tools just can't cut it.they will last a life time and work better.Use a mac ratchet and then use a craftsman,see how easy the pawl turns in a mac ,now try crafts man, you have to hold the socket to make it ratchet. just my observation over a lot of years wrenching.

[lanierledford]

I keep a check in pawn shops, but only buy name brands. I'll buy a broken craftsman or other breakable tools which are free replacements. If its higher than I want to pay, I wait a few weeks, and if its still there, I make an offer. Some you get, some you don't. Always on the look out for a bargain.
As for the little woman, I do her like those guys that get caught running around. I denine it to my dying day. You got everything to gain, and nothing to loose.

[tbill]

i used to buy a lot of stuff when i first started turning wrenches for a living, but after 20 years of that, i have 'almost' all i need [for work anyway], last few years has been gathering tools for home 'garage use'. nothing drives me nuts more than needing a tool at home, knowing i have it at work, but can't go get it, so the home tool collection still grows.......

[schnitz]

I hadn't bought many tools for quite a while, and then I got a job in maintenance. Dropped $150 in HF stuff to serve as a starter set to see what I'd eventually need to upgrade/replace. So far, only new stuff I had to add was a multimeter (I've got 4 at home, but none of them had the features needed for my job) and a set of Craftsman allen wrenches. The HF set I picked up was pure junk. But, I'll be needing more.....


In a while, Chet.