Will turned us on to this wild tool from Harbor Freight that we’ve never seen in the store: a 1″ gasoline-powered impact wrench. He writes: “When I saw this online, I thought, ‘Holy cow!’ I’ve never used one myself, but I could see using it to bust lugs on a semi.”
As if Harbor Freight’s prices weren’t low enough, they’re offering 20 printable coupons for various in-store purchases valid through this weekend. Discounted items include: a pneumatic spark plug cleaner for $6 , an angle finder for $2, a self-centering drill press setup for $5, and, of course, the measuring wheel (pictured) for $20.
Note: Don’t print the one above. Print the ones from the HF site directly, linked below.
Harbor Freight Printable Coupons [Harbour Freight]
Harbor Freight Store Location [Harbour Freight]
Ever notice that when you drop a bolt or socket under the hood it always ends up somewhere both hard-to-reach and dark? Harbor Freight’s offering a tool right now that kills both those birds with one $7 stone.
David writes: “Harbor Freight now has a cheap and functional fix for this problem in the form of a magnetic light on a stalk. Nestled into the end of the flexible stalk is a high-power magnet and in the middle of the magnet is a white LED light. The stalk bends smoothly and stays in place while you’re maneuvering it toward your intended target, and the bright light helps you see what’s going on so you can nail it the first time. The handle doubles as a Mag-Lite-style battery compartment with a sealed on-off button. I’ve had no reliability problems with mine, and I’m a happy customer!”
Flexible Magnetic Pickup Tool [Harbor Freight]
We’ve seen quite a bit of unfocused discussion regarding the quality of Harbor Freight’s extremely cheap torque wrenches, so we thought we’d ask the question straight up: are they accurate enough for real use, or are they a crap shoot?
One reader mentioned a while back that he put an HF 1/4″ torque wrench on his tester at work and it was quite accurate. Though I have no evidence to support it with HF’s wrenches specifically, it’s been my experience that many times cheap-ass tools aren’t necessarily all bad — quality simply varies more tool to tool because of poor quality control.
On a side note, poor QC is a very effective way to save production cost. If you’ve ever visited a quality tool plant — as we have — you’d be blown away by the sheer manpower that goes into good QC.
And at $12 for a 1/2″ torque wrench, you’ve got to figure they’re saving dough somewhere.
Anyway, what say you? If you have data (or experience) with these HF wrenches, jump in and let us know in comments.
1/2″ Clicker Torque Wrench [Harbor Freight]
Tim writes: “Princess Auto carries basically the exact same thing as this Harbor Freight arbor press for around $35 Canadian — a great deal. I’d love to know from Toolmongers how good these really are, though. I’d be using it for things like pressing out/in suspension bushings, press-fit objects like brass bushings, pins, etc.”
Harbor Freight’s website has a deal on assorted seals and plastic washers — a bag of 54 assorted sizes and types for a whopping $1.99. This isn’t enough to make a trip by itself for or anything, but if you’re headed that way anyway it’s worth picking up a bag or two.
Rob wrote today to ask if we’d had any experience with Harbor Freight’s $16 stainless steel solar garden lights. He writes: “I was wondering if you’ve had any experiences with the stainless steel solar garden lights that HF sells at 2/$16. I tried a similar set of solar lights from Wal-Mart last year and as so disappointed that I returned them within a week.”
Sadly, we’ve never looked at ‘em, so we thought we’d pass the question on to the Toolmonger community. Have you tried these out, or do you know of another source of reasonably-priced garden illumination?
Stainless Steel Solar Garden Lights, Set of Two [Harbor Freight]
Ok — I’m under no illusions that this is a quality winch or even that it’ll pull its rated 2,000 lbs. However, that said, this is a useful piece of gear at $60. It’d be quite handy for dragging items around the shop or even for loading smaller stuff.
Even if you were only to take this apart and use it for building something else, it’s a pretty good deal: a 1.5 HP motor, a planetary gear system, and a bunch of cable for $60.
2,000 Lb. Capacity Utility Winch [Harbor Freight]
Evan writes: “I don’t really want to submit this as a good tool, but I think it’s time for another installment of ‘Why the hell is this at the tool store?’ from Harbor Freight. I found this in the ‘miscellaneous hand tools’ section on the website.”
While I’d agree that HF sells their share of weird crap — their frog family statue comes to mind — a ring sizer can be handy, and even essentialy for jewelry makers. Truthfully, this is the kind of tool that I’d imagine hanging out in the shop of a real toolaholic – the kind of guy who has a tool for everything, leaving nothing to chance.
And at $4, I might just pick me one up the next time I’m in the store.
Ring Sizing Stick [Harbor Freight]
Paul writes: “Here’s a real winner from Harbor Freight. Save your arm from hacksawing with this powerful tool. Having one of these allows you to fabricate many things with ease. There’s also a whole cult of the Internet of users of this tool. Get one, join in, and get fabricating!”I have to agree. I actually own one of these, though it’s the older green model. (It looks identical to the one in the picture.) It was my first bandsaw, and has since been replaced with a JET that I bought from a friend.
When I saw the sale from Harbor Freight, it reminded me of how a number of you wrote in about HF’s new English wheel offering back when we mentioned their planishing hammer. At $240, it’s one seriously cheap wheel.
HF says it’s got a 27-3/4″ throat capacity, and adjustable anvil yoke, and “all-steel construction” that’ll handle up to 16-gauge steel and copper/aluminum to 14 gauge.
I know, it’s probably a piece of crap, but it might be a fun way to see if you’re really as interested in sheet metal work as you think you are. And for that matter, if you discovered that you are, I wonder if this stand couldn’t serve to host an upgraded anvil and wheel from another supplier.
One thing’s for sure: shipping ain’t gonna be cheap. (But if you live nearby…)
English Wheel Kit w/Stand [Harbor Freight]
A while back I posted about how great it is to have a few sets of “clean” work gloves around — gloves that you keep clean so you can use them for moving furniture and so on. At the time, I mentioned that I found some for $1 each.
Well, here’s your opportunity. Harbor Freight’s sellin the ones pictured above 3-for-$3 today. That’s half price as they’re normally $6.
While you’re at it, pick up two sets. You know you’re eventually going to end up getting some of ‘em dirty.
Work Gloves, 3-Pair [Harbor Freight]
I’m pretty positive that this would be lousy for the use in the picture above — I’d never trust my car’s finish to it — but I picked one up anyway when I found it on sale for $10. (The standard price is still only $20.) It’s actually quite handy around the shop, more for grinding than welding.
Jeremy writes: “Everyone has a 3/8″ drive torque wrench right? And most also have a 1/2″ one, too. But I’ll wager a guess that most DO NOT have a 1/4″ drive torque wrench. I suspect the typical price of one is prohibitive for most people. It’s very hard to find one under $125 unless you go to Harbor Freight. I bought one a few years back and (skeptical of the quality) I put it on the torque analyzer at work. It was better then 3% accuracy. Now I have something for all those little fasteners that love to strip.”
If you’ve been jonesin’ for a multi-LED flashlight — but aren’t willing to shell out $40 for one — Harbor Freight may have your ticket with this nine-LED light selling for a whopping $5 right now.
I know this stuff is available from a variety of sources, but I always pick it up from Harbor Freight because it’s seriously, seriously cheap. Like $3.50 for an 18″ x 72″ piece — and that’s not even on sale.
I always pick up a little extra when it goes on sale — I paid $1 per 18″ x 72″ piece last time — and stick it in storage because I always seem to be adding some kind of tool box/cart/etc. to our collection here. The photo above is from our tool cart, which is also highly recommended. This stuff keeps the tools from sliding around when you roll the cart, and keeps nicer tools from getting scratched up/scratching up the box/cart.
No, I don’t buy all my “cheap-ass tools” at Harbor Freight – though I do buy a lot of them there. This 25-piece metric/SAE wrench set for $18, for example, is an integral part of my I-don’t-give-a-shit-if-you-steal-it junkyard toolkit.
I put my first junkyard kit together the day after someone walked off with a stick full of 3/8″ drive Craftsman sockets while I was waist-deep in a Honda pulling some parts for my old CRX. Actually — I was a lot younger then — I whined about it to my Dad, and he recommended HF. Come to think of it, I believe this was my introduction to the ‘Freightster.
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