Worst buys from HF

[mhoy]

Nifty s/w for a forum. Seems to be used by a number of places.
Anyway guess things work.

Mark

[LCHIEN]

Worst buys from HF

Let's have some fun. What are the worst/disastrous items you ever bought from harbor Freight? We've all heard that there are some bargains to be had but on the flip side There have been some awful items...
I mean items that you thought were really cheap and then you realized you got a lot less than your money's worth...
Tell us if you still have them or returned them [8)] or gave/pawned them off on your BIL .

Mine:

$40 Biscuit joiner that cut slots way too wide and the joints kinda flopped around (returned)

Set of five countersinks - most of them were non concentric so they wobbled severely in the DP. Unusable for the purpose. Also they didin't fit properly into the supplied plastic case (returned)

12" combination square with three heads for $20. Not to be confused with a Starrett (Which is $140). Fit and finish awful - lumpy paint, raw finish on the steel parts. Protractor too tight, won't turn easily. scale engraved but extremely hard to read - too faint plus the scale and the pointer seem to be in different planes making glare a problem. Still have it... but not a joy - in fact a real drag - to use at all.

That's what I can think of right now.

[Ken Massingale]

1. 6 1/2" jointer, with end pivoting fence. Thought it wanted to be a swinging door when it grew up

2. Mortiser (maybe should have tried better chisels with it)

[maxparot]

Venturi Vacuum pump

[bmyers]

Airless Paint Sprayer. Waggoner Wannabe

[sweensdv]

Set of drill bit stops. Never used them once. I keep them around as a reminder to not buy any more gimicky gizmos that I think I can't live without.[B)]

[leehljp]

HF's version of the rotozip! The collet locking mechanism/pin didn't!
Router bit set that had one bit ground for use in the wrong direction![V]

[Tool Fool]

1) 2" casters - one of them broke within a couple of days
2) magnetic work light - worked for two weeks....just long enough to throw out the box and the receipt
3) brad point drill bits

[Talley-Ho]

Thanks for the review of HF’s Biscuit Jointer.
I came in to specifically ask if anyone had tried one.
I am in the market for one and was highly skeptical of theirs and was not going to even try one unless I found a good review here.

[germdoc]

DP plug cutters--burned up with first use.

[kwgeorge]

Well I bought this 2" mini lathe chuck that wont hold anything!

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=4486

[Whaler]

I have no problems with Harbor Freight, I have one about 20 min away but have never been in the store.

I started putting my shop together about 5 years ago and 38 of the 41 power tools I have were added in that period. The brands range from Bosch, Craftsman, DeWalt, Delta, Jet, Makita, Porter Cable, Ridgid & Ryobi. Every tool has performed without a fault and some better than expected.
Sure I could have bought cheaper tools and some may have worked but it wouldn't have been worth the down time to replace them if they didn't.
I am a firm believer in buying the best quality tool, or any product, that you can afford even if you have to save up a bit first.

I don't want to come across as a brand name snob here but I am just relating what has worked for me.

[Deadhead]

Worst thing I bought was the instructions that came with this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47078

[JeffW]

Plug Cutters
Drill Bits
Plug Cutters (the other style)

They are all junk.

[Pappy]

Hole saw sets!