Thread: The Harbor Freight Debate.

First of all, let me get the following out of the way...
"You get what you pay for." -Common knowledge.
"If you buy tools anywhere else, you're throwing your money away!" -Harbor Freight's slogan.

Some things at HF definitely fall into the "cheap, Chinese made..." category. But I feel like there is a happy middle ground between the above two statements. I'd like us to debate the viability of the tools 'n such that are available at HF, since they seem to be just about everywhere.

I know the tools they sell are often brought up on here, but wouldn't it be nice to have a single, condensed version/place for this retailer in particular? And if the HF offering is just utter rubbish, those with first hand experience with both products should point us in the right direction.

One example I can think of from the top of my head is the buffers at HF. Seems like there are plenty of guys here on the forum that are sufficiently satisfied with the buffers. Granted, they are often customized (see: improved) with longer shafts & appropriately sized wheels from Caswell. But their buffers seem to be worth the money.

I don't entirely trust reviews on a site selling a given product. You can gleam some information from them, but there is always the risk of censorship. Good investigation requires multiple sources!