I meant "Speaking"....Is this worth buying for occas. use at all? Sometimes you get lucky with their stuff, Anybody tried this yet?
Cordless reciprocating saw http://www.harborfreight.com/18-volt-cordless-reciprocating-saw-67027.html
They have a cordless impact listed in the lasted flyer, but not on the site. Bad sign????
I don't buy cordless tools for occasional use, The batteries don't seem to last if not used regularly.
I would not, could not buy that saw.
We used HF angle grinders and reciprocating saws in my High School metal shop and they burned up frequently (this was 10 years ago though, their product might be better now?).
I love harbor freight, but often it's worth it to get something a little higher quality.
2002maniac wrote:(this was 10 years ago though, their product might be better now?).
I LOL'ed.
Sorry for the threadjack, but it seems appropriate...
How about this thing?
http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive-motorcycle/floor-jacks/rapid-pump-4000-lb-...
I am comparing it to this one. I realize one is aluminum, and one is steel. I prefer lighter.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&am...
$10 difference, also 10 lbs weight difference. I'm specifically looking for portability/liftability in a jack. I feel like I'm gonna get a hernia from my current floor jack when I try to move it from my apartment to my parent's home.
A while ago Costco had an aluminum, heavy duty, low-profile floor jack for $110 bucks. I'm kicking myself for not picking it up when I had the chance.
Ive heard a lot of stories about people opening up whatever HF power tool in question and adding grease onto things like spindle bushings and such, and the tool going on to last a long long time. I did this with a miter saw I bought and so far so good after 2 years (several crown molding jobs and various other project uses).
ive got a bunch of their stuff, including one of their versions of the sawzall (orange one, not the linked one above.) besides breaking a 14mm brake line wrench, and burning out a heat gun prematurely imo everything else has been fine. Im not sure I want to trust their jacks though. everytime i hear "a jack failed and crushed" story, first thing i ask is what kind of jack it was, havent heard of any hf jacks failing yet (when it counts) but im still not convinced about them.
im headed back today to get a cheap pinpoint abrasive blaster and 25lbs of walnut shells. :)
In reply to captainzib:
They're both junk.
I'm the guy that has the final yes/no decision on what cheap chinese junk we import at a similar company to HF.
I also get to deal with all the returns and getting replacements / compensation from the companies in China when we do get something that is crap.
Sometimes we hit a home run, often the tool is plenty good for home use. Sometimes we get a load of junk because they switched factories on us and now we get stuff from their "D" students.
I haven't found a good quality, cheap aluminum floor jack yet. They all seem to have seal problems, the swivel casters break and fall off or the main lifting arm cracks at the pivot.
We don't even carry an aluminum jack in our catalog anymore because of this.
Buy a good, steel floor jack from a reputable company (OTC) and it'll last you a lifetime. It'll also cost you about $500.00
Oh, and grow stronger, I lift the steel ones every day. being in good shape helps with your racing skills. 
Shawn
Trans_Maro wrote:Oh, and grow stronger, I lift the steel ones every day. being in good shape helps with your racing skills.
Shawn
I lift weights regularly, and I guess I should say it's not so much the weight, (I know I made it sound like it was), but the steel jack I have now doesn't seem to be designed with being picked up in mind, because I can only pick it up with my finger tips. If the berkeleying thing had some handles I could wrap my entire hands around, it wouldn't be an issue at all.
I've had my HF steel jack for 12 years now. No problems. Sort of wish it would fail so I have an excuse to get the aluminum quick jack, but no luck.
Back to the original question - if you want a reciprocating saw with some balls, get one with a cord attached. I've never understood the appeal of making one of those battery operated. We have a Craftsman one at work that's always not quite good enough to do the job when it's charged, and usually it's not. My plug-in one? Always ready, willing and able.
Well, when it comes time to go out back and slice down large tree limbs, I far prefer my battery power reciprocating saw to the notion of stringing 1,000"+ of extension cord, and I don't really like lugging the chainsaw for the job. So, the battery powered reciprocating saw is very appealing to me. Works just dandy.
Same with a whole lot of demolition jobs around the house. Slicing that opening for the new exhaust fan, enlarging openings for new windows, installing new doors, etc.
I just plain like my battery power reciprocating saw.
I've always found a gas-powered chainsaw most effective in slicing off limbs.
I apprec. all the responses. I haven't had alot of luck w/ the HF electric tools myself, but I had to ask. I most recently bought their corded impact wrench and have only had one bolt it wouldn't take off so far. And aside from the fact that's it weighs about 10lbs and is huge and awkward-shaped, I love it. Thanks for the info.
Will
http://www.harborfreightusa.com/html/SingleMagLanders/americanprofile/images/20_c.jpg
Well, I do my best to make sure every HF thread includes a link to this 20% off coupon (good until the end of 2010).
Yeah, I know it's in the magazine, but sometimes you need some extra copies!
Hotlinked as well:
Well that HF jack I posted earlier might not be superb in quality, but that 20% off coupon just sold me on it. I think as long as I don't put my life on the line with it, which I try my best to never do, I should hopefully be fine.
I've used their aluminum for 5 yrs now, and other than having to bleed it occasionally it's worked fine... ( 'course all it has to pick up is a CRX), starting to look ratty plus the handle fell off, so got a new one ... now I need a new box on my trailer since the new one is ~ 1 1/2" longer 
about their bat powered impact wrench... if it's the blue one...DON'T.. went through 3 before I went to Great Northern Tool
Speaking of jacks, does the HF cherry picker hold up pretty well?
now I need a new box on my trailer since the new one is ~ 1 1/2" longer
sounds like a problem my $19 Chicago Electric reciprocating saw can fix 
I've got the 1 ton HF cherry picker. Worked good for my Miata engine swap. I thought I got a deal at $114 after coupon, but now there's a coupon in GRM for $90! I doubt you could rent one twice for that. I like it and it folds up out of the way nicely. We were discussing this tool on Miata.net and several people noted that the reach is limiting. Even at the longest setting, the cylinder would contact my Miata bumper cover when centered over the engine. I modded mine a bit and it worked great.
captainzib wrote:If the berkeleying thing had some handles I could wrap my entire hands around, it wouldn't be an issue at all.
uh, so weld some handles on it!
oh, and the HF cherry picker is wonderful. we've pulled countless engines at our shop with it, used it to lift mighty heavy stuff, etc.
captainzib wrote:Trans_Maro wrote:Oh, and grow stronger, I lift the steel ones every day. being in good shape helps with your racing skills.
Shawn
I lift weights regularly, and I guess I should say it's not so much the weight, (I know I made it sound like it was), but the steel jack I have now doesn't seem to be designed with being picked up in mind, because I can only pick it up with my finger tips. If the berkeleying thing had some handles I could wrap my entire hands around, it wouldn't be an issue at all.
I have one of these, it costs about $300.00 and is worth every penny. If you look at the front anr rear "axles" there are bars across the body to lift the jack up. It fits under a MGB GT with two flat tires on one side (VERY LOW) and will lift a Dodge stratus high enough to get three wheels off the ground.
Keith wrote:Back to the original question - if you want a reciprocating saw with some balls, get one with a cord attached. I've never understood the appeal of making one of those battery operated. We have a Craftsman one at work that's always not quite good enough to do the job when it's charged, and usually it's not. My plug-in one? Always ready, willing and able.
keith,
i have dewalt corded and cordless ones. 90% of the time we use the cordless and it does anything we need it to do. we even cut up a car last summer on 4 batteries because my helper misplaced the corded one. the high end cordless ones are worth their weight in gold, the cheap ones are worthless.
for garage and car work if i had to have one, it would be corded.
