I have had good experiences with them, but understand that whatever it is
I am buying is going to be third-tier quality. Some of my tools are
Snap-On, some are the bread-and-butter brands, and a few things are Harbor
Freight. It depends on what you need and for what.
I have not bought power tools from them. I prefer older standard brands.
But as a class, the types of power tools that Harbor Freight sells -- and
there are several companies selling the same types of stuff -- are
knock-offs that are produced overseas, usually Taiwan. The components
that comprise these machines are produced in little job shops. One guy
makes pulleys, another beds, and so on. A factory cobbles the
independently-produced parts into a product.
This means that there is a lot of variation. You might end up with a
perfect machine, or maybe one that simply has out-of-round (or balance)
pulleys, or whatever. Or even a disaster, comprised from parts each out
of tolerance in the same direction.
My advice is to buy tools like this for occasional or non-critical uses.
Or as an adjunct to fill specific voids in your shop (example: you've got
a great large drill press; what's wrong with buying a $90 table-top
special for those jobs it could handle?). And, if all you do is make
bushing drivers, any lathe will do.
John
On Tue, 21 Apr 1998, Nils O. Ny wrote:
>
> At 06:29 PM 4/17/98 -0500, Susan and John Roper wrote:
>
> >Should you need parts or service once Harbor Freight has your money, you
> >might want to practice bending over and kissing your posterior goodbye.
> >John
> >
> I'm alarmed to hear these kind of things about a place I'm considering
> ordering from ! Is this from personal experience ? Do you have one of
> these low cost milling machines ? If so which one and what do you
> like/dislike about it?
>
> How about others on this list? ... anyone else have this horrible
> experience with milling machines or other substantial tools from Harbor
> Freight ?
>
> Has anyone else bought one of these low cost milling/drilling machines or
> lathes from Enco or Harbor Freight ? If so I'd appreciate any input you
> may be willing to share with me.
>
> Thanks, Nils
>
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