The Harbor Freight PASS/FAIL Thread...

[Bryanthegreat]

Made an outboard motor stand out of one

 

[emeraldcoupe]

These dollies are definitely a pass. Over the years I've accumulated 18 of them and nearly all of them are used to "semi-permanently" store something. i.e., a couple have 4-speed transmissions on them; a couple have totes/boxes of "I'll need this stuff someday" on them; etc., etc. Seems like when I need one (or more) I have to go buy more 'cause they are all in use. I bought four of them a while back to connect with 2x4's to use as a platform to move a Model A body around on but used them for other stuff before I got them put together. Guess I'll have to run to town and get more.

And right now they are on sale.

You can't buy the casters for this price, and then there's the labor and materials to build a dolly if you do buy the castors. I've never put an engine on one, but they claim to be able to hold 1,000 pounds which is more than just about any engine, short of diesels. I'm afraid the footprint isn't big enough to be very stable with an engine on one though.

they work fine for engines, at least a shortblock. i have a 302 shortblock on one right now, holds it fine and still rolls easy.

 

[driftpin]

one doesn't turn when I want it to.

I take recalcitrant to move wheel casters as a personal affront and attack them. If I get to a point where I see that nothing economical in time or $ will solve the issue, I declare 'Victory,' and toss 'em into the scrap bucket.

I have a body dolly I got from a friend's shop. He wasn't going to be using it anymore, I took it and cut it down a bit, and now I have a big roller platform/skeleton but at the moment no use for it. I think I could find one, what with all my stuff being stored.

Bryanthegreat, what does the plate on the vertical 2x4 say? "Here sits the mighty FishSlayer I.C. engine?" I was wondering about the placement of the verticals, but then I realized that the load is pretty-well centered front to back, longitudinally.

About the stamina of the HFT dollies (or similar), I had a 360 RT-1 Yamaha (riders 'of a certain age' will know that one) with its wheels removed and lashed to a Milwaukee wood dolly, about the same size as the HFT larger one, and with time, the long rails just sagged more and more, until I decided the bike deserved more support. I built another 2x4/2x6 dolly, and slipped it into place. Much easier to roll-around as I play Garage Tetris. I used the wheels off the swaybacked Milwaukee dolly to craft another heavy-duty dolly, and it's waiting its call to duty. The bike w/o wheels is probably 225 lbs, so about half of a SBC short-block.

 

[bmdubya1198]

I use them for engines and transmissions all the time. I actually have a Volvo 5 cylinder long block with the trans still attached sitting on one of the larger ones right now... little sketchy, it's flexing badly, but it's working for the time being!

Even better, I used two of these small dollies to load a scrap car onto my trailer the other day. Blew out a caster on one, and split a board on the other. But they got the car onto the trailer! It had no front suspension, so that was tricky. You can kind of see them under the subframe.

 

[Bryanthegreat]

I take recalcitrant to move wheel casters as a personal affront and attack them. If I get to a point where I see that nothing economical in time or $ will solve the issue, I declare 'Victory,' and toss 'em into the scrap bucket.

I have a body dolly I got from a friend's shop. He wasn't going to be using it anymore, I took it and cut it down a bit, and now I have a big roller platform/skeleton but at the moment no use for it. I think I could find one, what with all my stuff being stored.

Bryanthegreat, what does the plate on the vertical 2x4 say? "Here sits the mighty FishSlayer I.C. engine?" I was wondering about the placement of the verticals, but then I realized that the load is pretty-well centered front to back, longitudinally.

About the stamina of the HFT dollies (or similar), I had a 360 RT-1 Yamaha (riders 'of a certain age' will know that one) with its wheels removed and lashed to a Milwaukee wood dolly, about the same size as the HFT larger one, and with time, the long rails just sagged more and more, until I decided the bike deserved more support. I built another 2x4/2x6 dolly, and slipped it into place. Much easier to roll-around as I play Garage Tetris. I used the wheels off the swaybacked Milwaukee dolly to craft another heavy-duty dolly, and it's waiting its call to duty. The bike w/o wheels is probably 225 lbs, so about half of a SBC short-block.

The plate on the 2x4 is so my magnetic parts dish will stick to it

 

[zendriver]

I took those dollies, cut them in half, removed the carpet, extended them with 2x4's and then fastened standalone steel shelving on top.

Storage shelving I can easily move where I want them.

 

[JeepYJ]

I have two chest deep freezers on the dollies. I only used the casters and built my own frames. It makes it easy to roll them out away from the wall to clean under and behind them. They’re in the garage.

 

[driftpin]

I finally gave up trying to find a cheap portaband saw at yard/estate sales and bought one of these: https://www.harborfreight.com/10-amp-deep-cut-variable-speed-band-saw-64194.html for a buck twenty.

My plan was to also pick up a SWAG table to mount it to but then Harbor Freight introduced these: https://www.harborfreight.com/universal-portable-band-saw-benchtop-stand-59640.html It is pretty much a steal at $99.

It does the SWAG table one better by not just being a vertical bandsaw, it also lets you use it as a horizontal cut off saw that does straight and miter cuts. It takes a little fiddle farting around to get the saw lined up just right in the stand and a little more farting around with the on/off lever to activate the trigger switch on the saw but once you get that all done, it works a treat. It also comes with a table when using it as a vertical bandsaw and various brackets to mount a Bauer, Hercules, Milwaukee or DeWalt brand bandsaw.

I'd rate both as a pass.

I bought the new chopsaw frame for the portaband. I am not impressed. It's been a real pain to setup so far. I made one cut that was pretty crooked, after spending a lot of time checking for square and clamping the saw in place.
There's no great way to clamp a workpiece without a specific clamp that isn't included. C-clamps doesn't work, and the frame floor doesnt allow for typical locking visegrip type clamps. The on/off trigger setup is pretty useless, but maybe more finnageling and I'll get it figured out. The stand is adjustable but fitment still manages to ****. The blade should easily align with the opening in the frame floor, however it is physically impossible to attain that when using the Bauer saw. I like the Bauer saw, but in the frame it just isn't working well. I'll update if the weekend brings about better results.

It takes some patience. The top bracket is slotted for left/right and front to back movement. Once I figured out the best place for the front to back to back position, I began to focus on side to side. I found the approximately 1/2" slot in the frame where the blade passes was square to the work piece backstop so using the sideways slots in the top bracket, I squared the front of the blade up in it. Then use the two big knobs square up the rear of the saw blade. You can also get some trigger adjustment using those 2 big knobs to adjust the height at the rear of the saw up or down. Like I said in my review, it takes some fiddle farting around, but since my saw will likely live in this stand, I didn't begrudge the process taking longer than it should. If they had built the stand to only accept one specific saw, I'm sure a direct drop in and bolt up solution would be a piece of cake, but having to fit 4 different brands made it what it is.

HF sells this drill press clamp: https://www.harborfreight.com/9-inch-drill-press-locking-clamp-36221.html I pulled it off of my little drill press table and it works okay to hold the work piece in the saw stand but a slightly bigger size would work better.

Yeh, that clamp is listed as Frequently Bought Together at the bottom of the table listing:

Universal Portable Band Saw Benchtop Stand

Amazing deals on this Universal Portable Band Saw Stand at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Clamp:

9 In. Drill Press Locking Clamp

Amazing deals on this 9In Drill Press Locking Clamp at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

.

Yeah I even saw the clamp at the store but didn't think I NEEDED it at the time.
I got the saw square in the frame, but the blade does not center in slot no matter what I do. The body of the saw contacts the frame before the blade/slot align. The last thing to mess with is the three bolts on the back that move the two halves of the frame.

Same issue I had trying to fit a Rockwell porta-bandsaw to the frame.

Glad I'm not the only one. I bent the fence on the first day. Pretty flimsy. No matter how many times I tried to adjust I could NOT get a straight cut. I ended up trying it as a vertical saw and that worked ok except for the fact that the allen head screws that attach the plate sit above the surface of the plate. To top it off the Bauer saw died after two weeks of minimal use. Would not turn on any longer. Returned the saw and I'm going to order the Milwaukee M18 and set that up in the vertical position. I should have known better but I was trying to cheap out.

No issues of bending with my fence, it seems good-enough to use, my issue with it is the angles painted on the bottom frame aren't accurate-enough to use for aligning the fence for the angles shown. See the HFT porta-bandsaw benchtop frame thread for how I am dealing w/that. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/hercules-band-saw-stand.518194/#post-10430520

I finally got mine in a usable state, but man it was a pain and its still not cutting correctly. The blades are junk, and I burned through them really quickly. I used to run lager bandsaws every day, so Im not unfamiliar with saw operation, and still trashed these. I've got new blades, but something other than Hercules blades will be on my list soon. As for the frame, don't plan on cutting anything precise with it.

I have limited use of the Hercules blades, but so-far they are doing what they should. I never ran larger bandsaws every day. emeraldcoupe (below) shares my opinion that the Hercules blades are working OK.

Hercules porta band blades HA279-C4418 and HA279-C24. Bought them to use in my DeWalt portaband. USA made. Don't have a ton of time on them, but they cut nice and after going through exhaust tubing, it hasn't lost any teeth and is still sharp (18 tpi). $15.99 for a two pack

Preliminary pass

I went back a few pages, and looked for the posts about the HFT portable bandsaw benchtop stand, so apart from the thread,
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/hercules-band-saw-stand.518194/#post-10430520 solely-devoted to the stand, this could provide in one location, the + and the - of GJ members about this item, from recent posts.

No it's not going to replace a Clausing or a Kalamazoo floor-model chopsaw/bandsaw, but from my limited experience with it, I am satisfied with the product. Not having success with trying my Rockwell porta-bandsaw in the stand, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase the Hercules (Good-Better-Best) portable bandsaw, and see if I could be satisfied with the 'married' tools. At this early point, I'd say, "the honeymoon is on." ("Miami, Dallas, New Orleans, I just missed him! The rat who ruined my life! Then in Niagra Falls, I came face-to-face with him! Niagra Falls, slowly I turn, step-by-step, inch-by-inch...")

 

[DGersic]

After some consideration I’ve decided that the Tubing Notcher is a Fail by the terms at the top of this thread.

The good: it seems pretty stoutly constructed. The main base is 1/4” plate that has been cut, folded, and welded in to a 90* angle. It’ll hold a piece of pipe in its jaw (up to 2”). You can thread a hole saw on to the drive shaft. It has mounting holes, which I didn’t use. The pipe holder goes from 90* to 60* with a handy scale that I didn’t check for accuracy. It’s inexpensive, at $54.95.

The bad: The shaft support block has two sets of holes, each with about 1/2” of rough slide adjustment for vertical positioning of the saw blade. This design is ok, but the whole thing isn’t tall enough to allow for enough clearance to get the saw blade away from the pipe end beyond about 35* with a 1” pipe. As shown, the support block is 2” above its tallest position, held by only one of the two mounting bolts, and the blade still doesn’t clear the pipe at the max angle of 60*. In the lower position, even the end of the shaft doesn’t clear the pipe, with no saw even attached.

I considered getting some 1/4” plate or a piece of angle and extending the top of this thing to make it work. Having to modify the tool to make it work rates it as a Fail. In the end, I decided to just return it.

It’s not a bad jig. If you need shallow angles, it works ok. I drove it with my 18V cordless, and it made a couple of cuts ok.

 

[bubinga]

Same issue I had trying to fit a Rockwell porta-bandsaw to the frame.

No issues of bending with my fence, it seems good-enough to use, my issue with it is the angles painted on the bottom frame aren't accurate-enough to use for aligning the fence for the angles shown. See the HFT porta-bandsaw benchtop frame thread for how I am dealing w/that. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/hercules-band-saw-stand.518194/#post-10430520

I have limited use of the Hercules blades, but so-far they are doing what they should. I never ran larger bandsaws every day. emeraldcoupe (below) shares my opinion that the Hercules blades are working OK.

I went back a few pages, and looked for the posts about the HFT portable bandsaw benchtop stand, so apart from the thread,
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/hercules-band-saw-stand.518194/#post-10430520 solely-devoted to the stand, this could provide in one location, the + and the - of GJ members about this item, from recent posts.

No it's not going to replace a Clausing or a Kalamazoo floor-model chopsaw/bandsaw, but from my limited experience with it, I am satisfied with the product. Not having success with trying my Rockwell porta-bandsaw in the stand, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase the Hercules (Good-Better-Best) portable bandsaw, and see if I could be satisfied with the 'married' tools. At this early point, I'd say, "the honeymoon is on." ("Miami, Dallas, New Orleans, I just missed him! The rat who ruined my life! Then in Niagra Falls, I came face-to-face with him! Niagra Falls, slowly I turn, step-by-step, inch-by-inch...")

It was a great episode!

 

[BreeStephany]

I picked myself up an ICON 58" prybar, ICON 24" 3/8" extension and a set of ICON universal joints a while back and finally put them to use this past week while assembling a 6000+lb 1600A main switchgear.

The switchgear cabinets each weighed about 2000lbs and the ICON 58" prybar made easy work of moving the cabinets into place and getting them squared up to one another. The black oxide finish / paint? wore off where the heel was against the pavement / concrete pretty quickly but the bar didn't bend, the claw maintained its edge and didn't distort and overall did a great job for its purpose. I give the ICON 58" prybar a PASS as it helped maneuver/lift a significant portion of 2000lb cabinets without damage.

The 24" 3/8" drive extension was AMAZING for tightening and specifically torqueing bussing from the front of the cabinet as well as helping to tighten hard to reach 3/8" bolts that bolted the cabinets together at the back of the cabinet / behind bussing. With that said, I was only torqueing 9/16" fasteners to 20ft/lbs and I did notice that the extension seemed to flex / twist a little under tension, but it didn't distort / damage the tool at all, just seemed to have a bit more flex in it than I would have expected. When tightening joining bolts between cabinets, I used the extension with a 3/8" universal joint and another 6" extension attached to my impact driver and it did GREAT and I didn't notice the flex as much as I did when torqueing fasteners. The finish on them is great and doesn't damage, even when abused with an impact driver. I would give the ICON 24" 3/8" drive super long extension a PASS as well.

The ICON universal joints were a little stiff out of the box so I sprayed them down with a little 3-in-1, Marvel's and PB Blaster before putting them in my bag. After the first time of putting them to use, I noticed that there was a fair amount of gunk working its way out of the swivel pins with the oil and they became a LOT smoother. They didn't have any slop in them, even after using them with a impact driver but did require a little "break in" to get them as smooth as my MAC and Snap-On universal joints. They have a good finish on them that seems to be unphased, even when slightly abused with impact driver use, and they are pretty smooth but NOT sloppy now. I give them a PASS now... but I do wonder what prolonged future use and likely abuse will do to them and if they will continue to loosen with time given how quickly they loosened up.

Just my two cents.

 

[zendriver]

I was wandering through the store with my ITC 25% off coupon, looking for something I could not live without (and didn't already have). As much as I like the quality of their headlights, I never could adjust to wearing one, so I think I have three but never use them. Seems like I'm always have to position my head to get the light where needed.

With old eyes, lighting is always a thing, so I ran across this and spent actually a long time pondering it, before pulling the trigger.

290 Lumen Rechargeable LED Neck Light

Amazing deals on this Led Neck Light at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I have to say, it pretty excellent. It's solidly built, so it seems like it will last. LEDs show charge left, the lights swivel up/down and zoom for more precise focus. I wasn't sure about the light placement but it awesome. Will easily illuminate the area the hands are and walking in the dark lights up a 6x6' area. I've been wearing it all day, don't even notice it's there.

The Lighting is almost the difference between vehicles headlights and a spotlight on the roof.

A PASS for sure, might surpass the aluminum folding step stool, as my HF favorite.

 

[bwringer]

I was wandering through the store with my ITC 25% off coupon, looking for something I could not live without (and didn't already have). As much as I like the quality of their headlights, I never could adjust to wearing one, so I think I have three but never use them. Seems like I'm always have to position my head to get the light where needed.

With old eyes, lighting is always a thing, so I ran across this and spent actually a long time pondering it, before pulling the trigger.

290 Lumen Rechargeable LED Neck Light

Amazing deals on this Led Neck Light at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I have to say, it pretty excellent. It's solidly built, so it seems like it will last. LEDs show charge left, the lights swivel up/down and zoom for more precise focus. I wasn't sure about the light placement but it awesome. Will easily illuminate the area the hands are and walking in the dark lights up a 6x6' area. I've been wearing it all day, don't even notice it's there.

The Lighting is almost the difference between vehicles headlights and a spotlight on the roof.

A PASS for sure, might surpass the aluminum folding step stool, as my HF favorite.

Is the charging port USB-C?

 

[zendriver]

Is the charging port USB-C?

yes.

 

[gatewaysysop]

Dunno if I missed it in the 275 preceding pages, but didn't find it trying to search, so I'll add on here.

FAIL: The 16-piece Forstner bit sets, in particular the wooden box ones.

Holy hell what utter pieces of ****. I was gifted a set of these and recently gave them a try, making some 5/8" holes. All I got was a 1/16" deep crop circle in the surface of the wood. The smaller sizes with continuous style cutting rims were ALL duller than a rock and even the sweeps/chippers were garbage.

What's more, one of the larger bits in the set had a broken shank that seems to have just snapped in half due to a manufacturing defect, before it was ever even used. At least it didn't shatter during use and send shrapnel into the user, so I guess I should be happy.

In either case, avoid these pieces of ****. I considered donating mine, but decided to just throw the whole set into the garbage.

 

[driftpin]

Dunno if I missed it in the 275 preceding pages, but didn't find it trying to search, so I'll add on here.

FAIL: The 16-piece Forstner bit sets, in particular the wooden box ones.

Holy hell what utter pieces of ****. I was gifted a set of these and recently gave them a try, making some 5/8" holes. All I got was a 1/16" deep crop circle in the surface of the wood. The smaller sizes with continuous style cutting rims were ALL duller than a rock and even the sweeps/chippers were garbage.

What's more, one of the larger bits in the set had a broken shank that seems to have just snapped in half due to a manufacturing defect, before it was ever even used. At least it didn't shatter during use and send shrapnel into the user, so I guess I should be happy.

In either case, avoid these pieces of ****. I considered donating mine, but decided to just throw the whole set into the garbage.

Instead of throwing them away, make some machine-art and sell it on etsy. https://www.etsy.com/market/metal_sculpture



I have a set of the HFT Forstner bits and have used them many times. For me, they work perfectly. Mine are the wood boxed set. However it is not a set of 16. Without going out to the garage, I'd say it's a set of 8.

 

[Numerator2142]

Dunno if I missed it in the 275 preceding pages, but didn't find it trying to search, so I'll add on here.

FAIL: The 16-piece Forstner bit sets, in particular the wooden box ones.

Holy hell what utter pieces of ****. I was gifted a set of these and recently gave them a try, making some 5/8" holes. All I got was a 1/16" deep crop circle in the surface of the wood. The smaller sizes with continuous style cutting rims were ALL duller than a rock and even the sweeps/chippers were garbage.

What's more, one of the larger bits in the set had a broken shank that seems to have just snapped in half due to a manufacturing defect, before it was ever even used. At least it didn't shatter during use and send shrapnel into the user, so I guess I should be happy.

In either case, avoid these pieces of ****. I considered donating mine, but decided to just throw the whole set into the garbage.

I'll second that but for the Warrior branded plastic case ones. Hot garbage on a summer day. Literally couldn't do anything with the 1 1/2 in.
They did take it back as defective...so there's that at least.

 

[steve855]

Dunno if I missed it in the 275 preceding pages, but didn't find it trying to search, so I'll add on here.

FAIL: The 16-piece Forstner bit sets, in particular the wooden box ones.

Holy hell what utter pieces of ****. I was gifted a set of these and recently gave them a try, making some 5/8" holes. All I got was a 1/16" deep crop circle in the surface of the wood. The smaller sizes with continuous style cutting rims were ALL duller than a rock and even the sweeps/chippers were garbage.

What's more, one of the larger bits in the set had a broken shank that seems to have just snapped in half due to a manufacturing defect, before it was ever even used. At least it didn't shatter during use and send shrapnel into the user, so I guess I should be happy.

In either case, avoid these pieces of ****. I considered donating mine, but decided to just throw the whole set into the garbage.

That's a shame. I have the 7pc set in wood box, drilled hundreds of nice clean holes in wood with them over the past 15yrs or so.

 

[DrinkMan]

These dollies are definitely a pass. Over the years I've accumulated 18 of them and nearly all of them are used to "semi-permanently" store something. i.e., a couple have 4-speed transmissions on them; a couple have totes/boxes of "I'll need this stuff someday" on them; etc., etc. Seems like when I need one (or more) I have to go buy more 'cause they are all in use. I bought four of them a while back to connect with 2x4's to use as a platform to move a Model A body around on but used them for other stuff before I got them put together. Guess I'll have to run to town and get more.

And right now they are on sale.

You can't buy the casters for this price, and then there's the labor and materials to build a dolly if you do buy the castors. I've never put an engine on one, but they claim to be able to hold 1,000 pounds which is more than just about any engine, short of diesels. I'm afraid the footprint isn't big enough to be very stable with an engine on one though.

Love those dollies. We have quite a few being used. I even put a small air compressor on one so I can roll it around the garage and inflate tires.

We use the dollies for our light engines. Here we even used two to help us align and mate a transmission to an engine. And after mating, rolled it around on the two.

 

[DGersic]

I’m skim coating the living room in preparation for painting. Lots of area to sand. I got this, and have started using it. So far, it’s good. Definitely a PASS.

Kinda heavy, I’m getting a workout, but better than ladders, scaffolding, or pole sanding. Dust collection works well. Even the LED ring light seems kinda nice.

 

[BrandonV]

Had to set some rivnuts.

Not bad for under $20. For the occasional rivnut here and there I think it's an alright value.

 

[Drkuhar]

I am using the small furniture dollys under each wheel of this project car with good results. When i get far enough to have the drivetrain in i dont think they would hold up. But for now while doing body and under side repairs they work well. I roll it to the middle when working and back to the side when done.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

Bauer Backpack Sprayer 58671

https://www.harborfreight.com/20v-cordless-4-gallon-backpack-chemical-sprayer-tool-only-58671.html

Mega Fail

100% Garbage. Dig into the reviews on their site and virtually everyone has the same problem.

The pressure switch diaphragm starts leaking and ruins the switch. If it does ruin your battery or douse you with herbicide or pesticide first.

This thing is mostly well made and feels great. Does a beautiful job spraying.But if you get a full season out of it, you are doing well. If you get a second season, you should have gone to the casino. The whole design of the pressure switch is terrible. A cheap piece of plastic with an offset screw holds the diaphragm in place, or tries to.

 

[Rinspeed]

Bauer Backpack Sprayer 58671

https://www.harborfreight.com/20v-cordless-4-gallon-backpack-chemical-sprayer-tool-only-58671.html

Mega Fail

100% Garbage. Dig into the reviews on their site and virtually everyone has the same problem.

The pressure switch diaphragm starts leaking and ruins the switch. If it does ruin your battery or douse you with herbicide or pesticide first.

This thing is mostly well made and feels great. Does a beautiful job spraying.But if you get a full season out of it, you are doing well. If you get a second season, you should have gone to the casino. The whole design of the pressure switch is terrible. A cheap piece of plastic with an offset screw holds the diaphragm in place, or tries to.

So, other than that it's pretty good.

 

[willy3486]

I am using the small furniture dollys under each wheel of this project car with good results.

A few years ago I had to move one of those screw together metal sheds that were like 8x10 or so. I didn't want to take it apart so I raised it with a jack,set some 2x4s under it and added pieces to the 2x4 to make a sled to move it. I then used my tractor to drag the shed on the makeshift sled 500 foot or so.

Once I got it close to the area I had to put it I was about 15 feet off due to not being able to get the tractor trough some trees. So I came up with a plan using the HF dollies to move it. I raised the shed so I could put a dolly under each corner of the shed. Under the dollies I put a piece of plywood. I made a path of plywood pieces and I could roll the shed to the exact place I needed it. Once there I raised it,removed the wood sled, dollies, sled pieces and sat it down. Those dollies held up great and are really nice and move stuff good.

 

[atch]

As for the furniture dollies I have over 20 of them. Most stay in the shop and have things on them that are easier to roll around than to carry; transmissions for example. A few stay in the house where the castors never get dirty. They are actually used to move furniture around. Imagine that!

 

[66HertzClone]

As for the furniture dollies I have over 20 of them. Most stay in the shop and have things on them that are easier to roll around than to carry; transmissions for example. A few stay in the house where the castors never get dirty. They are actually used to move furniture around. Imagine that!

I have done exactly the same thing, wrapped a piece of red tape around the frame on the inside ones to keep them from getting used outside or in the garage.

 

[Hakeem]

Wow, how have I never seen this thread until now? Big HF fan here.

I’ll start off with this one:



I don’t normally use an impact gun but I needed one to get my Honda crank bolt off. I wasn’t interested in spending lots of money on a limited use tool so this Bauer for $60 on sale seemed perfect …….. assuming it was up to the task.

Well, it took about 20 seconds but just when I was starting to give up, it came off. Here’s a video of the carnage:

Apologies for the poor camera work. I didn’t really get a solid grip until about 0:17, when I was using both hands. The two short bursts at the end are me changing direction, maybe that was what knocked it loose. No heat, no penetrating oil ….. I wanted to see what this was capable of, and it stood up to the challenge.

I’ve used it on other stuff, like if I forget to crack the lugnuts loose before lifting the car or for the odd fastener that I can’t get loose and it’s always worked for me. Never felt like “man I can’t wait to upgrade”. Sure its Bigger than a football but with an extension I can get it to where I need it.

Final verdict: PASS

 

[zendriver]

Wow, how have I never seen this thread until now? Big HF fan here.

I’ll start off with this one:



I don’t normally use an impact gun but I needed one to get my Honda crank bolt off. I wasn’t interested in spending lots of money on a limited use tool so this Bauer for $60 on sale seemed perfect …….. assuming it was up to the task.

Well, it took about 20 seconds but just when I was starting to give up, it came off. Here’s a video of the carnage:

Apologies for the poor camera work. I didn’t really get a solid grip until about 0:17, when I was using both hands. The two short bursts at the end are me changing direction, maybe that was what knocked it loose. No heat, no penetrating oil ….. I wanted to see what this was capable of, and it stood up to the challenge.

I’ve used it on other stuff, like if I forget to crack the lugnuts loose before lifting the car or for the odd fastener that I can’t get loose and it’s always worked for me. Never felt like “man I can’t wait to upgrade”. Sure its Bigger than a football but with an extension I can get it to where I need it.

Final verdict: PASS

I have one of those.

It's like "bringing out the heavy artillery" only comes out when needed.

 

[atch]

Something that I seldom use but is invaluable when I need it. Don't have name or part number but here is a pic. Magnetic pickup.

 

[craftsman creep]

My uncle has a snap-on 1/4inch set that we use all the time and was wondering how good this set is
-Preston

 

[zendriver]

My uncle has a snap-on 1/4inch set that we use all the time and was wondering how good this set is
-Preston

I'd bet they probably work the same.

It's quarter inch. It's not like someone will be removing head bolts with them.

 

[zendriver]

Drain cleaner booked, so I Guess it’s a piss, I mean PASS.

I’m 200# so it has that capacity

 

[KwikFab]

Cool thread!

Well I have to say that the horizontal bandsaw is a pass.

Almost 20 years old and all it's needed is a new starting capacitor, bearings replaced, and a small mod to the guide to make it cut square.



Air dryer isn't anywhere near as old, but gets a pass too because after emptying out my "catch can"...this is how much moisture it's removed after emptying it 2 months ago.

 

[Death Row Dave]

56 in top tool chess : super fail, and I’m a bit pissed . 3 of the drawer slides have taken a major **** . Anyone else ever have this happen ? If so what was the fix ? Thanks and be safe

 

[XJSuperman]

My 56" has been great. Is yours gen 1, 2, or 3?

 

[bmdubya1198]

My gen 2 44" has been great as well. The only complaint I have is that the drawers do not extend fully, but that has been established that it's a crapshoot with these boxes.
Otherwise the slides have held up fine, and I have it very much loaded up.

 

[Death Row Dave]

My 56" has been great. Is yours gen 1, 2, or 3?

They are about 4 years old at most . All the spiders seems to be weak . I guess approach HF about new ones

 

[Death Row Dave]

Sliders I hate auto correct !

 

[DGersic]

I bought this as an inexpensive fixed base router to work with a home made router table. It works fine, so I’m giving it a pass, but the up/down adjustment is very rough. It adjusts ok, but there are spots where the base just does not want to turn.