Harbor Freight 1/2" D-handle drill $32.99

[wilserbrewer]

http://ww2.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47991

Just a heads up for anyone looking to turn a mill on the cheap. The paper store ad shows $32.99, the thing is a beast.

 

[caver95]

I caught one of those on fire just from over loading it. but that was a bunch of mortar.

 

[chefmike]

I caught one of those on fire just from over loading it. but that was a bunch of mortar.

were you using it on an extension cord by chance?

 

[wilserbrewer]

I caught one of those on fire just from over loading it. but that was a bunch of mortar.

Harbor freight also sells heavy duty welding gloves. Ugh...you say, "just from over loading it". Any tool will break if used outside it's limitations irregardless of quality or price.

 

[masonsjax]

I bought a smaller drill from them that only lasted about ten minutes before burning up on a minor job. The construction on their power tools is very poor. Flimsy plastic casing and wide tolerances. HF is great for lots of stuff, not power tools.

 

[fineexampl]

i get all my microsurgery and dental drills highly complex equipment from Harbor Freight. My customers appreciate that i use 10 drills per session and feel special that i use new tools for every step of the process and throw out the old (read: broken) ones for "sanitary purposes".

 

[Cyan]

i get all my microsurgery and dental drills highly complex equipment from Harbor Freight. My customers appreciate that i use 10 drills per session and feel special that i use new tools for every step of the process and throw out the old (read: broken) ones for "sanitary purposes".

are you serious or was that a joke?

 

[wilserbrewer]

OK, agreed HF power tools are not the highest quality. Here is a unit for those looking to spend a few dollars more...
http://www.mytoolstore.com/milwauke/1250-1.html plus shipping

 

[Photomask]

Every power tool I ever got from Harbor Freight felt like junk when I got it and let the magic smoke out very quickly. It didn't take long to learn that if you expect it to work when you need it, spend the money and buy the good stuff to begin with.

Have you tried Milwaukee or Hilti dental equipment?

 

[BucksPA]

my HF angle grinder has been used to polish 3 kegs, 4 corny's, cut out the top of 3 kegs, and grind and polish my brutus stand. the thing works great still. i'll let you know when it decides to go poo.

 

[Synovia]

http://www.reconditionedsales.com/H...mp_EVS_Reversible_(Reconditioned)___i269.aspx


Same price, much better drill. Won't catch on fire.

 

[Edcculus]

Ive had good results with the HF 1/2" drill with gear reduction. The low power drill is crucial to milling grain so you can spin the rollers slowly and have enough torque to chew through the grain. I had another drill that instantly blew up when trying to mill.

 

[Photomask]

my HF angle grinder has been used to polish 3 kegs, 4 corny's, cut out the top of 3 kegs, and grind and polish my brutus stand. the thing works great still. i'll let you know when it decides to go poo.

I've burned up 3 of them, 2 on the first day. I have several DeWalts that have been run hard for the past 2 years, a big Makita that is over 20 years old, a big Milwaukee that is a beast for power, a Porter-Cable that will run with the big dogs, a Walter polisher that is as fine a system that can be bought for polishing, (expensive though). I do a lot of welding & fabrication work and I work power tools hard. HF is junk, but for someone that rarely uses it and is very light-handed with it; they can probably get by with it. For a while anyway.....

 

[Kralizec]

I just got a drill from harbor freight as well.

They have a 2 year guarantee, which they said I could drive over it with my car and get a new one.

So, I'd like to think that burning it to a molten pile of crap would apply as well.

it was another $10 for piece of mind

 

[wilserbrewer]

http://www.reconditionedsales.com/H...mp_EVS_Reversible_(Reconditioned)___i269.aspx


Same price, much better drill. Won't catch on fire.

Much better drill, not sure it is a better mill turner. Geared too high??

 

[Cyan]

I have been using HF power tools consistently for several years with no problems.

Don't believe me? Fine, then check this chick out:

 

[Photomask]

I just got a drill from harbor freight as well.

They have a 2 year guarantee, which they said I could drive over it with my car and get a new one.

So, I'd like to think that burning it to a molten pile of crap would apply as well.

it was another $10 for piece of mind

I'll give 'em that one. I have heard of them honoring guarantees that anybody else would have chalked up to user abuse. But from my experiences with HF tools. I would much rather buy a used Milwaukee, Makita or other professional class tool than to waste my time and fuel making trips to HF to change out something of theirs that I burned up. Money and fuel I can always get more of but my time is valuable and cannot be replaced. A drive out to HF & back to change out a smoked tool would cost me a couple of hours. What do you consider your time to be worth?

The other problem with HF is parts. If you get a larger machine and have a part fail, getting a replacement part is like pulling teeth on a chicken. It just ain't gonna' happen. I had a friend go through that recently with a vertical mill. They wouldn't replace the whole mill but would order the leadscrew nut, delivery time in excess of 4 months. He wound up ordering an American-made leadscrew, machining it to fit the mill and making a nut to fit it and the x-axis table. It was much better when he was done but he lost a lot of hours in tool down-time as well as his own hours to fabricate the repair. When you factor in those things, he would have been much better off buying any other brand. HF machines are very inexpensive but should be considered a ready-to-finish kit. They still need a lot of work put into them to do a reliable job of what they are bought for.

To quote an old phrase, "You get what you pay for."