I've been very surprised with many of my HF purchases. I recently added about 600 square feet to my house and purchased several tools to help the job along. I figured that if the tool only lasted through the remodel, I would still have gotten my money's worth. Surprisingly, the framing nailer, brad nailer, tile saw, 48" level, cordless drills and drywall shooter completed the entire job and are all still going strong. We even found that the HF drywall shooter set the drywall screw height more consistently and required less effort than a brand new Dewalt drywall shooter! Yes, some of the really low buck items can be iffy but I've had pretty good luck overall.
Hornblower
Harbor Freight ranks up towards the top of my "specialty tool" shopping places. I only expect certain quality, though. If I was using the tools to earn a living, I would likely shop elsewhere. I have two shops "local" to me (about 30 miles away, although one is about 5 miles from work).
What I like is that they have so many unique tools. I don't know how many times I have looked at their catalog, browsed online, or saw something in the store and thought "If I only had that last year when I ...".
I have one of their 4X8 Trailers that cost me about $200. I bought it about 6 years ago. Since I do not have a pickup truck, that trailer comes in VERY handy for me. I even used it for a move from VA to CA and then back again. Sure, there are better trailers out there, but they cost SO much more.
I like their table mounted lighted magnifying glass and the various clamps with "helping hands" for soldering projects.
Thanks Loathar, great find!!!
Harbor Freight critics- What do you expect? So you thought that $35.00 cheap orange sawzall would be as good as the Dewalt? Snap-On quality for cheap china prices? You guys aren't that niave are you? Maybe so?
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
loatharNow I tried that a long time ago and the Weller suffered a melt down. It didn't like being ON for those extended periods of time.
Now I tried that a long time ago and the Weller suffered a melt down. It didn't like being ON for those extended periods of time.
I built a humdinger of a soldering gun when I was in an electronics class in college; it was designed as a mass-producible product, but of course, I only built a prototype. My landlord at the time borrowed it -- to sweat his copper plumbing, of all things! After keeping the button pressed for about 10 minutes straight, the coil overheated! Duh. And that was such a good soldering gun, too! (hand-wound coil--don't plan on doing it again to replace it).
I use a torch for plumbing (or call a plumber), and keep my Weller for the electronic stuff. I've also got some irons--one that belonged to my Dad--it must weigh 5 pounds, has a wooded handle. I don't use it very much.
On the matter of cutting foam, I've used a knife blade in one of the irons (has a heat adjustment), but just recently picked up a $20 foam cutter at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon. I haven't tried it yet, but plan to in a day or so as I continue setting up the layout in the garage loft. I need want new background hills.
[Edit--sorry for getting off topic & rambling--must be the antihistamine.]
Allegheny2-6-6-6 I persoanlly cobbled a blade onto an old Weller soldering gun it works great and I've seem something similar posted here.
I persoanlly cobbled a blade onto an old Weller soldering gun it works great and I've seem something similar posted here.
I wouldn't try and build a sky scraper with HF tools or anything like that. I can say their Cummins brand drill motors are quite good for the money. Glad to hear one person is using one of these knives with success.
Same here I have a HF close by so returns are not a problem. As stated if you want to buy "real tools" or Hard working tools where you can get seriously hurt if something fails HF aint the place to buy em. If a hot knife fails whats the worst that can happen? I persoanlly cobbled a blade onto an old Weller soldering gun it works great and I've seem something similar posted here.
I buy tools from HF and many have a life time return (been lucky to have a local shop near by). I don't buy my "working" tools for day in day out use there. But many times HF comes in handy with a cheap speciality tools that makes a job much more easy. One example is HUGE sockets and pipe wrenches that come in handy for them one off jobs.
I've had mixed results with HF stuff. True, the hammer drill was a disaster. Did get an excellent miners light and a number of other things. You kind of get what you pay for, they are cheap, low end, but if you aren't going to use them hard, they often work out. Will concider when I make another order.
Thanks for pointing it out, hadn't happened to see it.
Ditto above!!!!!!!!! They run hot & cold - mostly cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Guess I must be lucky. I've been buying from them for around 15 years and never had a problem.
To add to Griz's comment, most of the stuff from Harbor Freight Tools is low end, that's low price and low quality. I got a couple hammer drills from them that didn't run long enough to cut one hole in concrete (with the proper bit), but I also bought a concrete mixer that's still running fine after mixing at least four tons of concrete. Since the hot knife isn't used for heavy cutting (at least in model railroad scenery), this may be OK.
be careful, at least half the stuff i have gotten from harbor freight has been junk. i won't buy anything from them again.
grizlump
Just saw this and thought I'd pass it along. Most of the hot knifes I've seen were in the $50 range. Maybe this would be a cheaper alternative.http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=66182&r=4053_35491