Harbor Freight Win-or-Fail Thread
#661
Boost Pope
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
Posts: 33,027
Total Cats: 6,593
I typically purchase high quality taps one at a time as I need them. Grainger, McMaster, etc keep them in stock if you have one close, or can get you one overnight for reasonable money. For all the taps/ dies I've ever bought, I don't think I've spent more than $100 and will probably never have to replace one. Worth it, IMO.
But it's also nice to have a big set of cheap ones for when you occasionally run across an odd hole. Big time-saver.
Same with the dies. You hardly ever need a die, but every now and then you run across a weird problem that can easily be solved by one. I think the only time I ever used a die from that set was to thread the pushrod on a wastegate actuator so I could lengthen it, and I was extremely glad I had it.
#662
I considered that 60 piece set, but nearly everything I work on is metric, so it seemed like the 45 piece metric-only set actually offered a lot more sizes.
Monk, when you broke that tap, would say it was due to a quality issue (i.e. not HSS) or more due to poor handles, not enough oiling, etc?
Monk, when you broke that tap, would say it was due to a quality issue (i.e. not HSS) or more due to poor handles, not enough oiling, etc?
#663
SadFab CEO
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: your mom's house phoenix, AZ
Posts: 4,560
Total Cats: 1,142
HF taps blow chunks, huge bloody chunks. I have cracked teeth right off of them, even with a 60% or less thread! im not a moron, so ive never snapped one off in the work... The surface finish is so poor, that they will tear and smear the metal. The holders are so shitty, im at a loss for words. Ive stripped them out just taping a 1/4" hole in aluminum.
Having said that, for the occasional use in the home shop, or for thread chasing, I guess they can be adequate. I machine for a living among other things so take my review with a grain of salt.
Joe, real taps are made of, at the "softest", HSS. It says right there in the description, alloy (aka high carbon) steel.... junk.
Having said that, for the occasional use in the home shop, or for thread chasing, I guess they can be adequate. I machine for a living among other things so take my review with a grain of salt.
Joe, real taps are made of, at the "softest", HSS. It says right there in the description, alloy (aka high carbon) steel.... junk.
#665
HF taps blow chunks, huge bloody chunks. I have cracked teeth right off of them, even with a 60% or less thread! im not a moron, so ive never snapped one off in the work... The surface finish is so poor, that they will tear and smear the metal. The holders are so shitty, im at a loss for words. Ive stripped them out just taping a 1/4" hole in aluminum.
Having said that, for the occasional use in the home shop, or for thread chasing, I guess they can be adequate. I machine for a living among other things so take my review with a grain of salt.
Joe, real taps are made of, at the "softest", HSS. It says right there in the description, alloy (aka high carbon) steel.... junk.
Having said that, for the occasional use in the home shop, or for thread chasing, I guess they can be adequate. I machine for a living among other things so take my review with a grain of salt.
Joe, real taps are made of, at the "softest", HSS. It says right there in the description, alloy (aka high carbon) steel.... junk.
#668
Elite Member
iTrader: (5)
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Detroit (the part with no rules or laws)
Posts: 5,677
Total Cats: 800
I'm betting less than 1% of the population would ever need these, but for the price, i love them.
Transfer Punch Set - 28 Piece
Cheap as hell, effective. Certainly not for continuous use. If you're in a machine or fab shop, buy something a little better. These are no where near file hard, but i wouldn't expect them to be.
Anyone have any experience with the HF bench grinders? I kind of want one for the shop at work, but don't want to spend a lot of money since i go over budget pretty much every month.
Transfer Punch Set - 28 Piece
Cheap as hell, effective. Certainly not for continuous use. If you're in a machine or fab shop, buy something a little better. These are no where near file hard, but i wouldn't expect them to be.
Anyone have any experience with the HF bench grinders? I kind of want one for the shop at work, but don't want to spend a lot of money since i go over budget pretty much every month.
#669
I'm betting less than 1% of the population would ever need these, but for the price, i love them.
Transfer Punch Set - 28 Piece
Cheap as hell, effective. Certainly not for continuous use. If you're in a machine or fab shop, buy something a little better. These are no where near file hard, but i wouldn't expect them to be.
Anyone have any experience with the HF bench grinders? I kind of want one for the shop at work, but don't want to spend a lot of money since i go over budget pretty much every month.
Transfer Punch Set - 28 Piece
Cheap as hell, effective. Certainly not for continuous use. If you're in a machine or fab shop, buy something a little better. These are no where near file hard, but i wouldn't expect them to be.
Anyone have any experience with the HF bench grinders? I kind of want one for the shop at work, but don't want to spend a lot of money since i go over budget pretty much every month.
The transfer punch set is awesome for the price. Only use mine occasionally but worth having.
#671
Elite Member
iTrader: (5)
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Detroit (the part with no rules or laws)
Posts: 5,677
Total Cats: 800
I bought the largest of the bench grinders. It was absolute trash. Any pressure resulted in the wheels slowing down. Wire wheel made it slow down until it was worthless. I have a lot of HF tools and I took the time to find another bench grinder on Craigslist. I found an amazing deal on an 8" wassota that was practically new for $20. I gave the guy $40. Almost any craftsman $20 bench grinder on Craigslist will be better.
The transfer punch set is awesome for the price. Only use mine occasionally but worth having.
The transfer punch set is awesome for the price. Only use mine occasionally but worth having.
#673
SadFab CEO
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: your mom's house phoenix, AZ
Posts: 4,560
Total Cats: 1,142
transfers punches are so much win, although i have a grizzly set, not HF
HF bench grinder is useless for reasons stated above and the wheels that came with mine were about 1/8" out of round; it will transport its itself across the garage on its stand, or shake everything off the bench its mounted to.
somewhat related side bar
At work the other day i tried to true up an american made transfer punch, i think the set is well over $100, it has literally transferred 1000's of holes. Big rigid lathe, roughing grade sandvik carbide and it blew the entire edge right off, and didnt scratch the punch. oops
HF bench grinder is useless for reasons stated above and the wheels that came with mine were about 1/8" out of round; it will transport its itself across the garage on its stand, or shake everything off the bench its mounted to.
somewhat related side bar
At work the other day i tried to true up an american made transfer punch, i think the set is well over $100, it has literally transferred 1000's of holes. Big rigid lathe, roughing grade sandvik carbide and it blew the entire edge right off, and didnt scratch the punch. oops
#674
transfers punches are so much win, although i have a grizzly set, not HF
HF bench grinder is useless for reasons stated above and the wheels that came with mine were about 1/8" out of round; it will transport its itself across the garage on its stand, or shake everything off the bench its mounted to.
somewhat related side bar
At work the other day i tried to true up an american made transfer punch, i think the set is well over $100, it has literally transferred 1000's of holes. Big rigid lathe, roughing grade sandvik carbide and it blew the entire edge right off, and didnt scratch the punch. oops
HF bench grinder is useless for reasons stated above and the wheels that came with mine were about 1/8" out of round; it will transport its itself across the garage on its stand, or shake everything off the bench its mounted to.
somewhat related side bar
At work the other day i tried to true up an american made transfer punch, i think the set is well over $100, it has literally transferred 1000's of holes. Big rigid lathe, roughing grade sandvik carbide and it blew the entire edge right off, and didnt scratch the punch. oops
#675
Boost Pope
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
Posts: 33,027
Total Cats: 6,593
Like I said. Those few taps I used a lot, I bought at the local tool store. But having the HF set on hand saved me a lot of wasted time and trips on those occasions when I found myself needing to tap one or two holes to a thread I don't commonly use.
And, to be fair, most of the stuff I did was aluminum.
Thread files are great when you need to clean out the thread on an old fastener. Dies are great when you need to create entirely new thread on a plain round rod, like the arm on a wastegate actuator after you cut it, or an aluminum dowel when you need to create custom-length standoffs (we do this a lot on television sets.)
HF taps are like HF everything else. If it's a tool I use a lot, I buy quality. My primary socket-wrench set is a Craftsman, probably about 30 years old. Love it.
But for tools I only need occasionally, HF usually fits the bill.
#676
SadFab CEO
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: your mom's house phoenix, AZ
Posts: 4,560
Total Cats: 1,142
Except theyre not, because i dont think they even temper them, and if they do, they need to do it better. They are the most brittle little ******, like glass. Thats why I have snapped teeth off.
TBH, if they tempered them well, they might not even be that bad as far as carbon steel tools go.
TBH, if they tempered them well, they might not even be that bad as far as carbon steel tools go.
#677
Are there any reasonably priced metric rivnut tools out there? I keep finding $100 sets.
Thinking about taking a chance on this and seeing if it will fit in my harbor freight tool.
6mm Nutserts Nutsert Inserts Metric Rivnuts Steel Adapt | eBay
Thinking about taking a chance on this and seeing if it will fit in my harbor freight tool.
6mm Nutserts Nutsert Inserts Metric Rivnuts Steel Adapt | eBay
#679
SADFab Destructive Testing Engineer
iTrader: (5)
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Beaverton, USA
Posts: 18,642
Total Cats: 1,866
I'm going to be doing this method for rivnuts
Make Your Own Rivet Nut (RIV-NUT) Tool! - Honda Ridgeline Owners Club Forums
Make Your Own Rivet Nut (RIV-NUT) Tool! - Honda Ridgeline Owners Club Forums