Harbor Freight Gems list updated.

[dbhost]

Eh, at the price of this thing, for the kind of use I am planning on using it for, I can gamble on it...

[Mr__Bill]

I'm not sure yet if this belongs on the GEM list or not. Saturday I bought a small drill press from Harbor Freight. It's this one, 38119, for $45 plus CA tax with a coupon. I assembled it today to see just what I had. It vibrates a little but I don't know yet if it's just the belt and that will even out on running some or if there is something off somewhere. What I really wanted was a Grizzly Radial Drill Press, but I needed it this week and at under $50 I figured I could not go wrong. I have about 700 holes to drill for the dreaded shelf supports. I figure that with a simple jig and the little drill press I'll only go slightly insane. The long term idea is to use it for a spindle sander. I have most of the drums that you can put a sanding tube on and then chuck in a drill and watch as it careens across the work destroying it. I hope in the drill press I'll have better luck.

But now, seems like there is always a but, I am wondering if the thrust bearings will hold out very long in the drill press with that kind of use.

I am open to ideas of how to reduce the vibration and any other comments you may have.

Bill

[windmill]

FYI, item #98303 T Track Hold Down Clamp has been discontinued, which is a shame. They work great, especially after replacing the standard bolts with T-bolts.

[dbhost]

FYI, item #98303 T Track Hold Down Clamp has been discontinued, which is a shame. They work great, especially after replacing the standard bolts with T-bolts.

A pity, the set I have are really nice. Yeah T bolts work better, but I have the Rockler track and the OE bolts work fine with it...

[dbhost]

I'm not sure yet if this belongs on the GEM list or not. Saturday I bought a small drill press from Harbor Freight. It's this one, 38119, for $45 plus CA tax with a coupon. I assembled it today to see just what I had. It vibrates a little but I don't know yet if it's just the belt and that will even out on running some or if there is something off somewhere. What I really wanted was a Grizzly Radial Drill Press, but I needed it this week and at under $50 I figured I could not go wrong. I have about 700 holes to drill for the dreaded shelf supports. I figure that with a simple jig and the little drill press I'll only go slightly insane. The long term idea is to use it for a spindle sander. I have most of the drums that you can put a sanding tube on and then chuck in a drill and watch as it careens across the work destroying it. I hope in the drill press I'll have better luck.

But now, seems like there is always a but, I am wondering if the thrust bearings will hold out very long in the drill press with that kind of use.

I am open to ideas of how to reduce the vibration and any other comments you may have.

Bill

The quill stroke on that one is pretty short for a lot of my uses, but a lot of guys are happy with that model bench top DP. I have seen them go for as low as $30.00 after coupon savings... But that low is very rare. Usually they snatch around $70.00.

Vibration is unusual for the HF drill presses. If yours had been in the box a long time, chances are good it's the belt... But it is possible you got a dud... (Each make and model has some bad examples, from HF or Powermatic, doesn't matter... They all occasionally let junk go out the door...).

The nice thing about Harbor Freight is their return policies are plenty lax... I haven't had to return much, but what I have they never give me any flack over...

Keep us posted on that drill press. Hopefully it will pan out....

For the price of the thing, I am not sure I would worry about destroying the bearings...

[Chris S]

https://www.hfreviews.com

[PaulLadendorf]

Funny Story

My brother liked to laugh and tease me about my HF power tools. So he brought his $300 Dewalt compressor over to help me with my roof. Whatta ya know, it wouldn't start (he says it was too cold!) so I brought out my HF 1 3/4 horse 4 gallon pancake compressor, fired right up and we used it for the whole job. Who's laughing now? At $70 (on sale + coupon) this was my second best buy next to my $70 10" sliding compound miter saw.

The tools I wouldn't buy again are the dremel knockoff (didn't last) and the plunge router (broke first try).

To be fair, my brother's a contractor and I was just building my own house so I didn't want to spend $5000 on tools. Instead I spent about $1000 and got everything I needed.

[phi1l]

I don't see the multi-function tool on that list yet.

Look again, it's there

[Photojosh]

The nice thing about Harbor Freight is their return policies are plenty lax... I haven't had to return much, but what I have they never give me any flack over...

Just thought I would second this statement.

I haven't returned a ton to HF (trim router missing some parts, miscast pipe clamp, etc) but they never give me any trouble. The people there know what the deal is with their tools and they know that the quality control is part of why the prices are so cheap.

Now, I've never tried taking something back like a year later, but I suspect that any time within the warranty period would be fine and if you are especially concerned, buy the extended one.

Just like all power tools, always keep your receipts.

[BrazosJake]

Maybe it's on there, but 2957, the 3/4 SDS rotary hammer, belongs on the list. It's an awesome demolition tool/heavy-duty drill for $30. It has a hammer-only mode. I've used it to remove tile, demolish a slab, drive heavy lag bolts when my impact driver batteries are dead (hold on tight, though), and mix mortar.

For tile removal, with some care it'll pop them out intact, and you couldn't rent an air chisel for what this one costs.

[BrazosJake]

What I really wanted was a Grizzly Radial Drill Press,

Mr. Bill,

I thought I wanted that one, too, but check the reviews on Amazon, they are scorching.

OooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhNNNooooooooooooo! !!!!!!!!!!

[sweensdv]

This is kind of a specialized addition to the Gem List. Today, I picked-up an Aluminum Mobility Device Carrier #66303. Fortunately, I don't need it for what its primarily intended for but I plan to use it to haul around my 2 stage snow thrower. I find as I get older I'm always looking for ways to make my life easier and I was getting real tired of fighting to get the snow thrower into the bed of my pick-up which sits rather high up off the ground. So this AM I went to HF and picked one up. It was listed at $200.......on sale for $159.99.........tacked on a 20% off coupon and I was out the door for $135.03 including tax.

The assembly was very straight forward and took about an hour to put together. One word of warning though about the assembly. In typical HF tradition there are both metric and SAE fasteners involved with the assembly. You'll need a 5/16" combination wrench, Philips head screwdriver, #10MM combination wrench and a #4MM allen wrench. Once assembled this unit is very sturdy and not a light weight at about 55lbs but was very easy to mount into my receiver.

If you're constantly hauling around lawn movers or snow throwers this unit will make that job easier. All of you below the Mason Dixon Line can ignore the snow thrower comments.

[dbhost]

If you're constantly hauling around lawn movers or snow throwers this unit will make that job easier. All of you below the Mason Dixon Line can ignore the snow thrower comments.

Not this year!

[JSUPreston]

If you're constantly hauling around lawn movers or snow throwers this unit will make that job easier. All of you below the Mason Dixon Line can ignore the snow thrower comments.

Hey, one of my old colleges (Jacksonville State, Jacksonville, AL) bought a snow plow after the Blizzard of '93 (we got 3' to 4' in places, with 5 to 6' drifts-all unofficial since the closest official weather station at the time was 15 miles away and got considerably less snow).

At the time, we thought they were nuts for buying the thing. If this screwy weather keeps up, they may need it this year.

[JSUPreston]

This is kind of a specialized addition to the Gem List. Today, I picked-up an Aluminum Mobility Device Carrier #66303. Fortunately, I don't need it for what its primarily intended for but I plan to use it to haul around my 2 stage snow thrower. I find as I get older I'm always looking for ways to make my life easier and I was getting real tired of fighting to get the snow thrower into the bed of my pick-up which sits rather high up off the ground. So this AM I went to HF and picked one up. It was listed at $200.......on sale for $159.99.........tacked on a 20% off coupon and I was out the door for $135.03 including tax.

I wonder how this would hold up to smaller motorcycles, like 250 class dirt bikes. It is almost big enough to handle my little Rebel. Wheelbase on my bike is 58".