Why I absolutly hate Harbor Freight

wps-hbt
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
It's not that it broke off because it's soft, it broke because it is brittle. So it will be a real pain to drill. Also it's tiny @2 mm. If you can get a drill bit smaller than 2 mm to actually do this I would love to see it. That is not a joke, please film it. Bits that small walk, wiggle and bend like a noodle.

The idea of heat isn't a bad one but given the op already stated he is super anal the discoloration from the torch might drive him insane. ;)

If waiting for the coupler to eventually loosen over time isn't in the cards, which it may or may not. I'd just cut the coupler off and get a new one. Less than a minute and the problem coupler is gone.
Jayjay1976 said:
The HF hex key material should be soft enough to drill seeing as how it snapped off in the first place. I'd just drill a hole down the center large enough to remove most of the material. Then slip the other end of the drill bit into the hole and wiggle it, just a little bit. Hit it with a few drops of WD-40, PB Blaster, or Kroil before you drill; the heat generated by drilling will draw the oil in and help free it.
Click to expand...
 
I'd probably drill a hole in the hex wrench piece with a small bit and then use an appropriately sized extractor.

Getting the hole and extractor size to match up is a little finicky - I've had mixed success.

Either way, I think you're looking at destructive removal.
 
ToolExpectations.JPG
 
I've broken off the ball of a Bonhus set so no one is perfect. I was able to get it out by picking at it with a dental pick but it was also a little bigger. I'm surprised the screw wasn't so soft that it just rounded off. If you need to remove the coupler for replacement you can cut the screw through the slot in the side of the coupler and might be able to use a screw extractor to get out the part that's left. Drilling the hole might even just walk it right out the back. Genuine LoveJoy couplers in these sizes are pretty inexpensive at McMaster Carr and their shipping will be dirt cheap (but you won't know what it will be until after it ships.) If you aren't sure what sizes you need, the digital caliper from Harbor Freight is a great deal.

Some of the lines of HF tools, starting with some things in the Pittsburgh Pro line and definitely in the newer "premium" brands are getting pretty darn good for seriouis weekend warrior use. I've got a number of hand tools, a jack, and a tool box that are all very good tools. I usually stay clear from power tools but bought a "Bauer" sander for some drywall work several weeks ago so I wouldn't ruin my Dewalt and wouldn't you know, it seems to be a nicer sander than my Dewalt and survived the drywall dust nicely.
 
Tobor_8thMan said:
Returned the broken hex set to HF over the weekend for a refund. Person asks, "Why returning?". I reply, "These are sh*t". Surprised look and "Oh". Refund received.
Click to expand...
I understand your frustration when your tool broke, but it was a 2.5mm hex. It flexes with finger pressure. You can't get too surprised with shearing when you overnighted. Furthermore, given this site and what we do here and what you were doing... was beer involved? I've used beer-superpowers to break things more than once.

But my real question... did the minimum wage worker at harbor freight make the tool?
Did they have anything whatsoever to do with its production design?
Or was the worker checking the boxes and doing their job when you returned the item?
Do you really feel that the minimum wage worker deserves the treatment you gave them?
 
Last edited:
A 2.5 socket head is an M3. Which should take about 20 inch pounds of torque. I’m guessing this was over tightened?

The ball end is not meant for breaking loose or final tightening either.

I’ve actually had some pretty good luck with HF Allen keys over the last 8 years.
 
Was my original post even read? Barely turned the hex tool in the mill/motor coupler. No beer involved. For me, while brewing, getting ready to brew, cleaning up after brewing no beer is ever involved.

Also, as I originally wrote, my Kobalt hex set was used on my road bike many times. Tightened the cr*p out of things with the Kobalt set. Never a break.

IMO, HF = Chinese junk
 
It appears that at least some of the Kobalt tools are made in the US. But beware! Most of what is in the box stores is Chinese made...... Probably many come from the same factory that made your Harbor Freight hex keys.
 
I have several of those "Crap From China" items. My drill is far better than one that I bought at a box store costing twice as much. You just need to know that you are not getting the best. In fact most of the things I have bought from Harbor Freight are still going strong years later.

Obviously YMMV. It is something of a crap shoot.
 
Over the years I’ve belonged to message boards devoted to agriculture, auto/diesel repair, aviation, carpentry/woodworking, and homebrewing. Threads involving Harbor Freight have been a regular feature of all of them.

It’s always easy to tell the serious tool users from the from the amateurs in these discussions. People who use tools on a regular basis tend to be frequent HF customers. There are certain categories of tools which can be considered consumables rather than investments. Harbor Freight is the vendor of choice for those kinds of tools. The tiny hex wrench which is the subject of this thread is a prime example. I consider those things single use items, regardless of who made them. Same goes for tiny drill bits. There’s a reason that bits smaller than 3/16” are sold in packages of 10 or 20. Utility knives are another good example. Why pay $20 for a name brand utility knife when you can buy a package of three of them at HF, or any big box store, for $7.95 and they use the same blades as the expensive one.

In many years of buying stuff from HF I’ve only had two items fail, that I can think of. One was a pneumatic grease gun whch cost <$20 and never worked. I returned that one. The other was a brand new 5/16” combination wrench, part of a set I kept around to replace tools which get lost around the farm. That one broke the first time I used it (disconnecting a cable from a side terminal battery). I didn’t cry or start a thread on a message board to bash HF. It was a tool intended to last as long as it lasted and was just one of many that I keep on hand.

My experience probably isn’t typical of the average homebrewer who considers this board time well wasted, but it’s quite typical of the folks who use a wide variety of tools under a wide variety of circumstances.
 
I've been very happy with my HF air compressor and pneumatic staple gun. I have a shake roof and they make the yearly repairs bearable. However, I was warned about using HF staples as they tend to jam the gun, so I have always bought Porter Cable staples. I did buy a water hose there that burst as soon as I turned the water on. HF was quick to replace it with a new one that has been problem-free for a couple years now.

I am still looking for a tarp that can last more than 10 months in the California sun though.
 
Dead blow hammer. Home Depot brand = $17.97 and is harder plastic. It cracks. Harbor Freight brand $7.99 softer plastic but tough enough that it doesn't crack or even gouge out......

There is a place for these cheaper items. A lot of times it is cheaper to buy the less expensive item more than once.
 
The collar on the shaft, the screw is not perpendicular to the flat on the shaft, correct? It's a clamp collar so the screw is going in tangent to the shaft. Therefore, there is a gap in the collar. The clamp is only threaded below the gap. You can cut the screw through the gap and the screw will fall out. You can use a narrow saw blade or a Dremel cutting wheel depending on how much resulting scarring you can live with. You can probably then get the remaining piece out easily with an ice pick turning it from the opposite side.

I did something similar once. After cutting the screw I lightly center punched the screw on the exit side and started to drill it out. Drill caught on the screw and just ran it out.

As for breaking off the wrench, it's pretty clear whoever tightened that set screw in the first place over torqued it. If that's a 4mm diameter screw, and I bet it's smaller, it only needs about 10 inch pounds. Put it in with a touch of blue Loctite and it should be good for life, yet removable.

All the Best,
D. White
 
Last edited:
It's kinda hit and miss. I've used they're $29 Drill Master corded driil and 12in miter saw using 2x6 and above to build a 500sqft deck using 3in deck screws. I put a Diablo blade on the saw. So far no issues. Tried using they're sockets etc on the cars with limited success.
 
passedpawn said:
Which tools are "consumables"?
Click to expand...

He listed a bunch. Utility knives, small drill bits (somewhat depends on what you are drilling), spring clamps, throw away chip brushes.

And often cited here on HBT - step bits, if you are only going to use them for one project. I bought a set of 2 for less than half that one would have cost at the box stores. Cut 3 holes in my stainless steel pots, never used it again. Yet.

I am sure there are a ton of other items where you don't need the high quality version.
 
passedpawn said:
Which tools are "consumables"?
Click to expand...

Uh-I gave several examples.

In our particular situation, a farm with a fleet of trucks and farm machinery to maintain in the middle of nowhere, pretty much any small hand tool, wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, punches, chisels, are “consumables”. We have two service trucks. Much of our maintainence and some repairs have to be done, of necessity, in the field. Small tools get dropped. If not noticed right away these tools might get stepped on and buried in the soft dirt. When picking up the tools the lack of a certain tool or three will be noticed. Where to look, exactly, for it? If the wrench was from Snap-On, and cost $20-30, we might feel obligated to spend the extra time to find it. If it cost a buck or two we just consider it a “seed tool” (tools that get planted in the field) and replace it with the inexpensive spares we keep in the shop.

As I noted in my previous post, my situation is not common to the typical frame of reference of the average member of this board, but it is not at all atypical of a great many tool users who are HF customers. The urban-rural divide is very real. :cool:
 
I realize I don't have the whole story, only what you have supplied. I also have experienced HF tools falling short of expectations, but they have also met expectations many times over.

But using your words: I am lead to believe the following:

Tobor_8thMan said:
Used a Kobalt household hex key set I purchased from Lowes a few years ago.
Click to expand...

Tobor_8thMan said:
Also, never had an issue using the Kobalt hex keys to tighten the crap out of things
Click to expand...

Tobor_8thMan said:
Luckily, the coupler screw is tight and I was able to mill as planned. Nothing similar ever happened with the Kobalt set.
Click to expand...
First - no blame is directed at you or HFT. Given your quotes, there is a positive likelihood of this device being previously overnighted. My perception is that this device may have been tightened with your previous hex that may be a higher grade steel, though its possible that overtightening while it was warm from previous use then locked tightly once it cooled. The fact that it is still tight helps reinforce one or more of my above assumptions.

Secondly, given the location of the clean break, I assume this was a ball-end hex. Theweak point is the ball head, especially given the small size, aclean shear is not surprising.

The tl:dr - this may have happened regardless of where the hex was purchased. I'm sorry this happened to you on your mill and I hope one of the provided solutions/suggestions work.
 
I’ve got a harbor freight compound mitre saw, a circular saw, a air carpet staple gun, and countless random tools. All have served me well for years.
Maybe HF is a crapshoot, but I’ve come out on top with everything I’ve purchased.
 
My two cents, I’ve dealt with a lot of the in various settings... I’d try vibrating the hell out of it with a harbor freight air impact hammer from the side to try to knock it loose, while simultaneously trying to capture it with a harbor freight rare earth magnet. If that doesn’t work, grind a slot, or drill it out, you goal is to destroy the collar but save the shaft.
 
Yup, I definitely think that there are some tools which are great to buy at harbor freight, and then others to stay away from. Like others have said, it also depends on what kind of work you do and what kind of uptime you require for your paycheck.

It is definitely hit or miss. Also, scaling expectations helps. For the most part, any tool I buy there, I consider to be disposable, or at least the first one to figure out if I want a nicer version. I bought the midi lathe many years ago to try out, and it still serves me well today. I do plan on getting a laguna in the future, but this one is working well enough for me now.

I did have a fiberglass handle shatter on a hammer once. I just laughed and threw it away and bought another one the next time I was there. Haha.

Now, as to help you, here is one option: I would try would be to use a hardened steel center punch and see if you can knock the piece of hex key loose and out of the screw.
 
IslandLizard said:
Yup, that's probably too small for the job. But there's not much choice in flush/snagless bolt heads that size either. Although should one expect the allen wrench to snap off a tad higher up?
Click to expand...
it depends. I snapped a 6 mm allen socket off the first time out of the box. probably due to their heat treating process.
 
lots of videos out there with reviews on the good, the bad & the ugly at HF

there's a Russian(?)-American guy out there with more than a few. David Piccutto, the Drunken Woodworker/Make Something guy has some

I like their clamps. $3, $4, $5 & $6 for their 6-in, 12-in, 18-in & 24-in are a good deal for solid clamps. you can never have too many and theirs are more than worth the price. you can stock your shop and not spend a lot

i dig their giveaway small LED lamps/flashlights. keep a couple lying around the house, in the shop, the brewery lab, the car... replace the batteries when necessary, toss the things out & get new ones when they die. either free with purchase or $3, $4

moving blankets are decent. keep a couple large ones in the car for emergencies

the only power tool I ever bought there was a cheap Dremel clone that didn't have enough power to use as an electric toothbrush.

Plastic ammo boxes are decent for $8. Zip ties. Got a tool bag I use as a gig bag

Lotsa decent stuff. You just gotta be aware of the limitations
 
Last edited:
The HF $2 PVC coated mechanic's gloves are the bee's knees. I bought them for a brake job expecting to throw them out afterward but instead tossed them in the wash with some old towels and they came out like new. Then I used them to throw a set of quick struts on my car and they performed admirably. Then I put them on to protect my hands while trimming some branches and ripping some stray roots out of the yard, mission accomplished. Next I wore them while spreading peat moss and grass seed, then I mulched around trees and they're still holding up surprisingly well. I've washed them maybe a half dozen times and they are still keeping their shape and the pvc remains flexible and grippy. Last time I used them it was to help a neighbor move some furniture; the extra grip they gave made the work easier while protecting my hands from splinters and pointy edges. I'd buy a few more pairs if the dang things ever wear out but that could still be a while.
 
Last edited:
I feel it is a bit excessive to poo-poo a store on one broken tool. Especially a tool that is not heavy duty in the first place. I have used hex keys that were not from Harbor Freight and while they did not break they twisted like a stick of Twizzler.
 
gnef said:
Now, as to help you, here is one option: I would try would be to use a hardened steel center punch and see if you can knock the piece of hex key loose and out of the screw.
Click to expand...
Another good idea! Use some WD-40 with it.
 
S-Met said:
Secondly, given the location of the clean break, I assume this was a ball-end hex. Theweak point is the ball head, especially given the small size, aclean shear is not surprising.
Click to expand...
That's a good point, although we better not assume anything. A 2.5 mm allen tool is already thin to start with.
 

Similar threads

Tobor_8thMan
Lowes Kobalt 14-key Metric/Standard (SAE) Hex Key Set
Replies
0
Views
870
Tobor_8thMan
Tobor_8thMan
Horseflesh
So what’s the right Harbor Freight drill for a mill? 20% off coupon out now
Replies
25
Views
2K
augiedoggy
augiedoggy
lapolvora
Sold HERMS Electric system NEW ... Custom back 2 back Kal clone 50 Amps (Quebec city, Canada)
Replies
1
Views
983
lapolvora
lapolvora
G
How do I tell what kind of taps I have?
Replies
15
Views
1K
day_trippr
day_trippr
Deadalus
DIY Double Butt Strap Hood
Replies
3
Views
1K
Jayjay1976
Jayjay1976
Brewer's Friend 300

Latest posts

Back
Top