SPAM: Re: [TheForge] RE: HarborFreight and Sears?

[Ries Niemi]

Me, I havent bought a tool from Sears since about 1980, and I have 
never bought a single thing from either Harbor Freight or Walmart- You 
gotta have some standards.
I buy tools that are the best I can afford, and have never regretted 
spending the money on quality.
That is not to say the odd Chinese POS has not snuck in my shop- I do 
have a chinese Porta Power set that cost 1/10 of what an Enerpac set 
would have cost, and of course, it leaks.
I have bought various lathe and mill accessories from Grizzly, because 
they are the nearest place to me that sells any machine shop supplies- 
next closest one is a 4 hour round trip.

But by and large, especially for hand tools, I have no trouble finding 
quality american made stuff.
Proto has never done me wrong, Snap on tools I get at yard sales, 
Williams and Armstrong likewise, some Crescent and Wiss tools are still 
worth buying, Klenk snips are made here and the best, Miller and 
Lincoln welders, Hossfeld benders, Dries and Krump brakes from Chicago, 
and of course Starrett- I confess I have paid the high price for some 
of those little red boxes, and never looked back- my first expensive 
tool purchase was a Starrett 4 piece combination square, in the mid 
70's, and it seemed like a fortune at the time, but I still use it 
daily.

I kinda doubt many of those Harbor Freight tools would forge very well- 
but if I see any at garage sales, maybe I will buy some and throw em in 
the forge, and see what they are really made of.

Ries


On Dec 28, 2006, at 5:47 PM, Jerry Smith wrote:

> Guys,
>
> We should end this thread, unless we are forging the
> stuff.
>
> The tools that I buy now whether it be Sears or HF are
> pretty much junk these days. I think HF has a better
> return/exchange policy than Sears.
>
> I have my father, pre WW II, pre depression 1/2 inch
> and 3/4 inch ratchet sets. They don't do all sorts of
> things like the new ones do, but they sure are strong.
> Probably cost an arm and a leg to make this quality
> today.
>
> Jerry
>
Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist

http://www.RiesNiemi.com