Not really one that buys a whole lot of things typically, so maybe it's been this way for awhile. I've recently bought a high end projection screen, Blackstone 36" griddle, wife's new Christmas tree stand, and large outdoor storage container. Each of these items had something wrong with the build quality. Most of them were something not being threaded fully, or at all. In one case, even the replacement had an issue so I went and bought a metric tapping set from Harbor Freight to fix the issue. Anyone else noticing this?

It's just a result of having to produce a lot more for a lot less. I too own a threaded Rivet gun for the black stone. Lol.

You can blame your fellow cheap man. A higher quality item would cost a lot more and folks simply won't pay for it. You and I might, but we aren't going to carry the profit margin.

I recently bought a receiver hitch for my John deer gator. It was 40 bucks. I also duplicated it in my shop with better steel, and it cost me 1.5 times as much and half a day, not including consumables. Mine is way better. Tighter tolerances. Heavier steel. But the 40 dollar one works just fine. Most are good with fine.

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for confirming my suspicions

Just to make sure the irony isn't lost - you bought a Harbor Freight tool to fix a quality issue!

BenTheGoodAg said:

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Just to make sure the irony isn't lost - bought a harbor freight tool to fix a quality issue!

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Well I went to lowes first and they don't even stock tap and thread kits. Point taken. But to be honest I've typically had pretty good luck with harbor freight.

Nah - I get it. But it kind of speaks to the answer. Most casual users won't need a Snap-on tap and die set. There's a legitimate market for lower quality, less used tools, so someone is willing to make them and many are willing to buy them. And generally speaking, I would argue that it's not a bad thing to have access to casual use items.

But dang, it is disappointing to pay top dollar for something and it have obvious quality issues.

I think computer-aided design has played it's part - designers have a better idea of where the margins are, and fewer things are over-engineered. Lean manufacturing and automation have played their part. There are fewer and fewer craftsman that spot-check the quality of their work, and manufacturers use unskilled labor and rely on the process to catch quality issues. The trade-off is that goods are cheaper and more available to consumers, but the quality suffers at scale. Cheaper goods are made better through these processes, but quality goods suffer.

And I feel like I've seen two different types of quality organizations in manufacturing - those that are staffed by the rejects who couldn't cut it in the production side, and those that are staffed by the best craftsmen in their trades. I'm sure you can guess what the impact is.

The ironic thing is that harbor freight sells the same tools as Home Depot and lowes except for half the price and with a different branding.

Snap on and Mac are different animals, but there isn't any difference between a Pittsburgh Chinese tool and a Craftsman, Dewalt or Porter Cable except for what you pay for it and the paint color scheme.

It makes a lot of sense when you consider raw parts sourcing.

I have a vehicle polisher that someone did a side by side disassembly on YouTube with. It's identical. Down to the casting of internal parts and fastener tooling.

People are starting to understand that, and harbor freight knows it which is why they killed their coupons I suspect. Still bummed about that.

I love Harbor Freight but let's not get carried away. Just because Harbor Freight tools are good enough for most people does not mean that the quality is the same as a professional brand like Milwaukee, DeWalt, Bosch, etc. Typically the motors aren't as durable so it doesn't stand up as well to daily hard use but more importantly, they just aren't as precise. Good luck squaring up a Harbor Freight miter or table saw. Of course, if you just need a belt sander or grinder for occasional use, why not?

Haven't read a really good thread like this in awhile ... thanks! ... and +1

Don't forget the chinesium hand tools. If you want to use it once ok, but I've bent HF breaker bars and cracked enough sockets to just buy good ones

Harbor Freight secretly owns everything and produces cheap products so you'll buy their cheap tools to fix them.

This isn't entirely true. Harbor Freight sells a lot of tools that are the same design as higher quality brands, but they spec lower engineering tolerances in their parts sourcing. HF's batch of 1000 widgets with a specced tolerance of +/-.01" is going to be cheaper than DeWalt's batch of the same widgets with a specced tolerance of +/-.002". Same widgets but very different levels of consistency, and HF will be using a lot of widgets DeWalt would be considering out of spec. It is possible to get a decent, precise tool from HF, but not very likely. The more expensive brands will deliver the same design but with more accurate and precise parts. They'll last a long time and be very consistent in their quality level.

If you're looking for something you don't mind destroying or only need once, it's great. If you need it to last or delivery precise results consistently, it's a crap shoot.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying harbor freight impacts are as good as dewalt. I'm saying the spread in quality between dewalt and harbor freight isn't likely as large as we want to think.

I think it's more a function of the fact they are just copying other tools, using crazy cheap labor, cutting out distributors, no corporate bull crap, and let's not forget that they don't need to support a warranty like dewalt for 3 years…just 90 days.

I've never Owned a HF power tool. I have owned dewalt one time and not been impressed with power or durability compared to my Milwaukees that I use daily. The last dewalt I had broke in half, in my hand, at 4pm not only cutting my hand but making me have to come back the next day to finish. I've been sore about it ever since.

That said, surely someone has done comparisons online. That's what the kids like to do these days.

I'd be curious to see how harbor freight stacks against dewalt, craftsman, as well as how each stack against say husky or Ryobi or kobalt.

I've got a Ryobi drill that's 25 years old. Hard to argue against durability on that one.

BrazosDog02 said:

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Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying harbor freight impacts are as good as dewalt. I'm saying the spread in quality between dewalt and harbor freight isn't likely as large as we want to think.

I think it's more a function of the fact they are just copying other tools, using crazy cheap labor, cutting out distributors, no corporate bull crap, and let's not forget that they don't need to support a warranty like dewalt for 3 years…just 90 days.

I've never Owned a HF power tool. I have owned dewalt one time and not been impressed with power or durability compared to my Milwaukees that I use daily. The last dewalt I had broke in half, in my hand, at 4pm not only cutting my hand but making me have to come back the next day to finish. I've been sore about it ever since.

That said, surely someone has done comparisons online. That's what the kids like to do these days.

I'd be curious to see how harbor freight stacks against dewalt, craftsman, as well as how each stack against say husky or Ryobi or kobalt.

I've got a Ryobi drill that's 25 years old. Hard to argue against durability on that one.

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Quote:

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The ironic thing is that harbor freight sells the same tools as Home Depot and lowes except for half the price and with a different branding.


Snap on and Mac are different animals, but there isn't any difference between a Pittsburgh Chinese tool and a Craftsman, Dewalt or Porter Cable except for what you pay for it and the paint color scheme.

It makes a lot of sense when you consider raw parts sourcing.

I have a vehicle polisher that someone did a side by side disassembly on YouTube with. It's identical. Down to the casting of internal parts and fastener tooling.

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Slightly related. What brand of multi-tool should I get?

agdaddy04 said:

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Slightly related. What brand of multi-tool should I get?

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I splurged on a Bosch and love it whenever I have to use it. Have used it for sanding, cutting through wood, and cutting through some metal as well.

I swear by the Ryobi One+ stuff