Harbor Freight Tools

[Sully]

*edit*
Their clamps are GREAT...I buy a handful every time I go there. Their lil Japanese flush cut saw works great as a fretting saw. Their random orbital sander and handheld belt sanders are great. Their angle grinder is awesome for the price. The Dremel clone has served me well thus far, but the bits and attachments definitely need an upgrade.

I plan to buy a drill press from there eventually.

*edit*
When I say their clamps are great, I'm referring to the F clamps and C clamps. The quick clamps are complete garbage. Never buy a quick clamp from Harbor Freight. The trigger will break the first time you try to use it.

Bought six of the F clamps for 2.99 each based on this. Thanks for the tip, as well as the suggestion to avoid the quick clamps. Noted.

 

[Renkenstein]

Anytime, bud! A note for the F clamps...they will seem like they aren't tightening all the way, and I think that's a feature, not a flaw. The F clamps will crank down to the point where the shaft bows, but then the handle will seem to spin once the max pressure is exerted. I've glued a few body blanks with these, and I've always had excellent results.

 

[Heretic]

I've been using those 6" F clamps since I first started building, so all of my builds have been done with them. I also have 6 of the 24" jobs for gluing body blanks together.

I recently bought a few of these 8" deep throat (giggity) C clamps for when I glue wider things together (like tops and body blanks), in order to help persuade the centers to stay aligned.

Like so:

 

[Renkenstein]

It's comforting to know that I can expect that kind of life out of a $5 clamp. Harbor Freight is a lot like shopping at Aldi. It's great if you know exactly what to buy and what not to buy.

 

[Whisky Jack]

Pawn shops! That is how I "tool up", on a budget. Who cares if a tool has been used a little, when it is in good shape, and a quality name brand? Just need a good eye. And some knowledge of what you're buying.

 

[Midnight Shadow]

I have had good luck with some of their tools. A couple of their angle grinders sound like the bearings sent the best but they have worked fine so far. There F clamps have worked great for me.
I bought their brad point bits and they worked well for a while but now don’t cut though much without a lot of pushing on my part. So for me I will need to buy another set somewhere else for better quality.

 

[gtrboy77]

Their version of the Irwin Quik-Grip clamps are garbage. They have little gripping ability and lose grip immediately. A lot of their other tools are decent though.