junk items from harbor freight

[hugemoth]

I have a set of these HF metric combination wrenches that are made in India. Very nice looking and surely a good buy for average consumer use. I did manage to bend the 17mm wrench which wouldn't have happened with a Snap On but they are 1/10 the price and still have a lifetime warranty.



Also have one of these. Not recommended except for occasional use. If you don't remove the battery when not in use it will go dead in a week.

[B.Curvin]

Originally Posted by gmiguy

I've seen many recent-production Bosch brand power tools labeled "Made in Switzerland".

Granted, Switzerland is not technically "America", but if you're looking for non-Chinese power tools they may be worth investigating.

Thanks for that. I haven't bought Dewalt or Bosch in years because they've been labeled

Mexico (DeWalt) or china (Bosch). If Bosch has moved some

production back to Switzerland I'd be happy to buy them. (googling now).

[Tweaker]

Originally Posted by B.Curvin

Thanks for that. I haven't bought Dewalt or Bosch in years because they've been labeled

Mexico (DeWalt) or china (Bosch). If Bosch has moved some

production back to Switzerland I'd be happy to buy them. (googling now).

Don't know about drills but I noticed Made in Spain on a couple of other Bosch tools I have.

[gmiguy]

Originally Posted by B.Curvin

If Bosch has moved some production back to Switzerland I'd be happy to buy them. (googling now).

I just checked, my 12V cordless Bosch drill is made in Switzerland with the battery pack made in Japan. I bought it about 2 years ago.

Many of the 18V cordless drills we use in the plant are Bosch products, I recall seeing new ones labeled Switzerland within the last couple of weeks. I could be wrong, but I think the 18V batteries were labeled China.

[Tweaker]

Originally Posted by B.Curvin

Thanks for that. I haven't bought Dewalt or Bosch in years because they've been labeled

Mexico (DeWalt) or china (Bosch).

I dunno, I see support for Mexico as an indirect benefit to the US. At least a lessor of two evils. Give them work there and they don't come here and flood my trade with cheap labor.

How is that worse than buying Euro tools?

[tgeliot]

Originally Posted by gmiguy

I just checked, my 12V cordless Bosch drill is made in Switzerland with the battery pack made in Japan. I bought it about 2 years ago.

Many of the 18V cordless drills we use in the plant are Bosch products, I recall seeing new ones labeled Switzerland within the last couple of weeks. I could be wrong, but I think the 18V batteries were labeled China.

I find it astonishing that they would decide it's more economical to manufacture something in Switzerland. That's one of the most expensive places on the planet.

[GlennR]

I recently heard that the Chinese have begun producing weapons. That's our last real product industry.

What else do we have left, agriculture & entertainment?

Maybe when we're all broke the Chinese will come over and make us live on reservations.

In the meantime....I'm stocking up on cheap tools, because I have a tool addiction. HF usually works okay for me, but I hate orange (except KTMs). I buy good tools too.

Btw, I'm betting the Chinese have plenty of internal issues that could easily destablize their country. Money seems to be pouring into China at the moment, but things can change. Overnight successes are often followed by overnight failures. One thing is certain, they won't continue to work for peanuts indefinitely.

[svejkovat]

Think i might have added this somewhere before, but here's just another heads-up. Much of the shrink tubing I've gotten from HF has been pretty disappointingly weakened by solvents. In the past I've generally been impressed with shrink tube in this regard. But the stuff I've used (it's so cheap it's irresistable) from HF has suffered in gasoline. Pisses me off, since it appears to have all the markings and standards on it.

[Rapid Dog]

Anyone have any experience with their little powdercoater? I've seen the same item sold thru powdercoating suppliers.

[dox]

Originally Posted by svejkovat

Think i might have added this somewhere before, but here's just another heads-up. Much of the shrink tubing I've gotten from HF has been pretty disappointingly weakened by solvents. In the past I've generally been impressed with shrink tube in this regard. But the stuff I've used (it's so cheap it's irresistable) from HF has suffered in gasoline. Pisses me off, since it appears to have all the markings and standards on it.

The shrink tubing I've used from HF has held up decently to abuse and heat, but I've not exposed it to solvents yet. Works great for light duty stuff.

Thanks for the warning, I'll use the higher end stuff for anything where it might see solvents.

[tgeliot]

Originally Posted by dox

The shrink tubing I've used from HF has held up decently to abuse and heat, but I've not exposed it to solvents yet. Works great for light duty stuff.

Thanks for the warning, I'll use the higher end stuff for anything where it might see solvents.

I bought some 4' lengths of the heat shrink tubing that has adhesive inside from somewhere but have only use a little bit and it's only been in there for a couple of months, and not exposed to solvents. I think it was about $1/foot. I can dig out the vendor if anyone wants. They have a $25 minimum order, but also sell a lot of other wire-related stuff, including UV-resistant tie wraps. I want to get some smaller heat shrink from them, but am held off by that minimum order.

[Old_Lion]

On Sale for $8.99
on page 2 of the sale flyer
http://www.harborfreight.com/retail-flyer

http://widgets.harborfreight.com/wswidgets/tabviewer/webDisplayItem.do?itemnumber=93888



Have you used/tried these?

George

[mfp4073]

Originally Posted by Old_Lion

Have you used/tried these?

George

Have seen them, but never used them. They look ok in person. You cant buy wheels to make your own for that price.

[Tweaker]

Originally Posted by Old_Lion

On Sale for $8.99
on page 2 of the sale flyer
http://www.harborfreight.com/retail-flyer

http://widgets.harborfreight.com/wswidgets/tabviewer/webDisplayItem.do?itemnumber=93888



Have you used/tried these?



George

Yes, I have 2. They are the smaller size. They do what they are supposed to do.

[Sir Not Appearing]

Originally Posted by Tweaker

Yes, I have 2. They are the smaller size. They do what they are supposed to do.

I have a pair of those and they work great. I've moved quite a few things on mine and they have held up well.

As far as junk at Harbor Freight, their tail pipe expanders are crap. They are only meant to be used to round out pipes that have crushed areas from clamps but even doing that mine stripped the bolt out on the first use.