Harbor Fright Down Grades Quality Again

I've got a couple Harbor Fright Drill press. One is a floor model. Its not
wonderful, but its atleast 15 years old and it works. Once you learn a few
tricks you can drill decent holes. The other is a 12 speed bench model. In
some ways its better than the floor model. I keep a tapping head in that
one. I tap a lot of 10-32 holes in aluminum with it. It was the smallest
least expensive drill press I could find that had a regular MT2 taper, and
it works great for what I use it for. Tapping holes.

Lloyd gave me a good deal on another tapping head a little bigger than the
one I had. I figured I would set it up, and just leave a 1/4-20 machine tap
in it since that's the second most common hole I tap. I was thinking
another one of those Harbor Fright 12 speed bench toppers would do the
trick, so I started hunting for a coupon or a sale. Finally I found an
outfit that would "sell" me a coupon for it for $5. Since it would save me
$40 if it wasn't bogus I figured it was worth a shot. I printed my coupon
and checked on-line to make sure the coupon code was good. Off to Harbor
Fright to buy my drill press. There were none on display, but there was one
below in a box. I opened up the box to make sure everything was there, and
noticed the head didn't look right. I checked further and found it doesn't
have an MT2 taper anymore. Its got that stupid fixed BT16 spindle taper
instead. The one that is on the smaller cheaper drill presses. Just to be
double sure I looked at the manual. Yep. They downgraded the unit a LOT
and didn't lower the price.

I left the coupon on the box for the next guy.

On Tue, 14 Apr 2015 15:31:46 -0700, Bob La Londe wrote:

Harbor Fright Down Grades Quality Again

I've got a couple Harbor Fright Drill press. One is a floor model. Its
not wonderful, but its atleast 15 years old and it works. Once you
learn a few tricks you can drill decent holes. The other is a 12 speed
bench model. In some ways its better than the floor model. I keep a
tapping head in that one. I tap a lot of 10-32 holes in aluminum with
it. It was the smallest least expensive drill press I could find that
had a regular MT2 taper, and it works great for what I use it for.
Tapping holes.

Lloyd gave me a good deal on another tapping head a little bigger than
the one I had. I figured I would set it up, and just leave a 1/4-20
machine tap in it since that's the second most common hole I tap. I was
thinking another one of those Harbor Fright 12 speed bench toppers would
do the trick, so I started hunting for a coupon or a sale. Finally I
found an outfit that would "sell" me a coupon for it for $5. Since it
would save me $40 if it wasn't bogus I figured it was worth a shot. I
printed my coupon and checked on-line to make sure the coupon code was
good. Off to Harbor Fright to buy my drill press. There were none on
display, but there was one below in a box. I opened up the box to make
sure everything was there, and noticed the head didn't look right. I
checked further and found it doesn't have an MT2 taper anymore. Its got
that stupid fixed BT16 spindle taper instead. The one that is on the
smaller cheaper drill presses. Just to be double sure I looked at the
manual. Yep. They downgraded the unit a LOT and didn't lower the
price.

I left the coupon on the box for the next guy.

I have a friend who calls it "Cheap Ass Tools". Everyone knows what he
means.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

If you need a #2 Morse Taper or even know what one is, you are most
likely beyond the Harbor Freight quality of tools.

For tools I plan to use once or very rarely, they seem to work.




On Tue, 14 Apr 2015 15:31:46 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

Harbor Fright Down Grades Quality Again

I've got a couple Harbor Fright Drill press. One is a floor model. Its not
wonderful, but its atleast 15 years old and it works. Once you learn a few
tricks you can drill decent holes. The other is a 12 speed bench model. In
some ways its better than the floor model. I keep a tapping head in that
one. I tap a lot of 10-32 holes in aluminum with it. It was the smallest
least expensive drill press I could find that had a regular MT2 taper, and
it works great for what I use it for. Tapping holes.

Lloyd gave me a good deal on another tapping head a little bigger than the
one I had. I figured I would set it up, and just leave a 1/4-20 machine tap
in it since that's the second most common hole I tap. I was thinking
another one of those Harbor Fright 12 speed bench toppers would do the
trick, so I started hunting for a coupon or a sale. Finally I found an
outfit that would "sell" me a coupon for it for $5. Since it would save me
$40 if it wasn't bogus I figured it was worth a shot. I printed my coupon
and checked on-line to make sure the coupon code was good. Off to Harbor
Fright to buy my drill press. There were none on display, but there was one
below in a box. I opened up the box to make sure everything was there, and
noticed the head didn't look right. I checked further and found it doesn't
have an MT2 taper anymore. Its got that stupid fixed BT16 spindle taper
instead. The one that is on the smaller cheaper drill presses. Just to be
double sure I looked at the manual. Yep. They downgraded the unit a LOT
and didn't lower the price.

I left the coupon on the box for the next guy.


Remove 333 to reply.
Randy

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
http://www.avast.com

On Tue, 14 Apr 2015 15:31:46 -0700
"Bob La Londe" wrote:

snip
Finally I found an
outfit that would "sell" me a coupon for it for $5. Since it would save me
$40 if it wasn't bogus I figured it was worth a shot.

Check here for coupons (in case you didn't already) and of course you
can always ask in that forum it you don't find one:

http://slickdeals.net/f/1276399-harb...pon-thread?v=1

I hear you on the quality downgrade. You have to check every time to
make sure they haven't made changes for the worse... I always read
through the review comments beforehand. Some of their stuff is really
bad, not even worth what you pay for it

They've got a more expensive 13 inch bench model but in perusing the
manual it doesn't say what the taper is. At least I couldn't spot it...

http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-d...ess-38142.html

http://manuals.harborfreight.com/man...8999/38142.pdf

It's on sale for $249.99 and 20% off would bring it down to $200. Lots
of -20% off coupons around.

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

On Tue, 14 Apr 2015 19:29:01 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

I have a friend who calls it "Cheap Ass Tools". Everyone knows what he
means.

Okay, I **had** to do this:-
https://xkcd.com/37/

On 15/04/15 14:31, Leon Fisk wrote:
On Tue, 14 Apr 2015 15:31:46 -0700
"Bob La Londe" wrote:

snip
Finally I found an
outfit that would "sell" me a coupon for it for $5. Since it would save me
$40 if it wasn't bogus I figured it was worth a shot.
Check here for coupons (in case you didn't already) and of course you
can always ask in that forum it you don't find one:

http://slickdeals.net/f/1276399-harb...pon-thread?v=1

I hear you on the quality downgrade. You have to check every time to
make sure they haven't made changes for the worse... I always read
through the review comments beforehand. Some of their stuff is really
bad, not even worth what you pay for it

They've got a more expensive 13 inch bench model but in perusing the
manual it doesn't say what the taper is. At least I couldn't spot it...

http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-d...ess-38142.html

http://manuals.harborfreight.com/man...8999/38142.pdf

It's on sale for $249.99 and 20% off would bring it down to $200. Lots
of -20% off coupons around.

The spindle taper is listed as MT2 in the specifications list on the
right side of the page in the first link, I needed to scroll down a bit
but it is there.

On Wed, 15 Apr 2015 15:57:04 +0100
David Billington wrote:

On 15/04/15 14:31, Leon Fisk wrote:
On Tue, 14 Apr 2015 15:31:46 -0700
snip
They've got a more expensive 13 inch bench model but in perusing the
manual it doesn't say what the taper is. At least I couldn't spot it...

http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-d...ess-38142.html

snip

The spindle taper is listed as MT2 in the specifications list on the
right side of the page in the first link, I needed to scroll down a bit
but it is there.

Yes it is. Missed it, went straight for the manual and it doesn't seem
to be listed there...

Thanks for pointing that out. I doubt if Bob is still interested
though. What he already went through puts a mighty bad taste in your
mouth...

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

"Leon Fisk" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 15 Apr 2015 15:57:04 +0100
David Billington wrote:

On 15/04/15 14:31, Leon Fisk wrote:
On Tue, 14 Apr 2015 15:31:46 -0700
snip
They've got a more expensive 13 inch bench model but in perusing the
manual it doesn't say what the taper is. At least I couldn't spot it...

http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-d...ess-38142.html

snip

The spindle taper is listed as MT2 in the specifications list on the
right side of the page in the first link, I needed to scroll down a bit
but it is there.

Yes it is. Missed it, went straight for the manual and it doesn't seem
to be listed there...

Thanks for pointing that out. I doubt if Bob is still interested
though. What he already went through puts a mighty bad taste in your
mouth...

I haven't bought anything yet. I actually like the old one I have. It does
the job I bought it for. I would like another one just like it, but alas
that seems not to be possible. I was actually playing with the idea of
bolting four of them to a steel rolling table and just leaving each one
setup for a different process. Looks like True Value may be importing one
under the Master Mechanic label, but it doesn't say what the taper is.

I'm still shopping. I have two drill presses and two mill drills for manual
operations now, so I can wait until I find what I want. 12" and/or 13"
machines are an option, but they really are bigger than I need for this
setup. I'll keep an eye on CL, and next time I go to Phoenix or San Diego
(where there are more used machines than Yuma) I'll drive my truck and do a
little shopping.

Bob La Londe wrote:
Harbor Fright Down Grades Quality Again

I've got a couple Harbor Fright Drill press. One is a floor model. Its not
wonderful, but its atleast 15 years old and it works. Once you learn a few
tricks you can drill decent holes. The other is a 12 speed bench model. In
some ways its better than the floor model. I keep a tapping head in that
one. I tap a lot of 10-32 holes in aluminum with it. It was the smallest
least expensive drill press I could find that had a regular MT2 taper, and
it works great for what I use it for. Tapping holes.

Lloyd gave me a good deal on another tapping head a little bigger than the
one I had. I figured I would set it up, and just leave a 1/4-20 machine tap
in it since that's the second most common hole I tap. I was thinking
another one of those Harbor Fright 12 speed bench toppers would do the
trick, so I started hunting for a coupon or a sale. Finally I found an
outfit that would "sell" me a coupon for it for $5. Since it would save me
$40 if it wasn't bogus I figured it was worth a shot. I printed my coupon
and checked on-line to make sure the coupon code was good. Off to Harbor
Fright to buy my drill press. There were none on display, but there was one
below in a box. I opened up the box to make sure everything was there, and
noticed the head didn't look right. I checked further and found it doesn't
have an MT2 taper anymore. Its got that stupid fixed BT16 spindle taper
instead. The one that is on the smaller cheaper drill presses. Just to be
double sure I looked at the manual. Yep. They downgraded the unit a LOT
and didn't lower the price.

I left the coupon on the box for the next guy.

nice.

I took a friend over to the harbor freight and warned them the smell of
the place would be intense. We eventually had to leave for fresh air. I
can't even imagine what the prison/school sweatshops that churn out that
awful rubber and plastic stuff smell like.

The tools there are all pretty appalling except for maybe the impact
driver sockets. I didn't check the too carefully, but they appear OK to
use.

I did poke around at the 15 inch-ish drill to compare it to the Clausing
I'm trying to get working again. Everything down to the decals was crooked
on the HF drill press. I did get some orange Goop on the way out. The tiny
18" metal brake is still sort of tempting, maybe next time.

A few weeks ago I picked up a Roper-Whitney strip bender. Not sure if
that's the correct name but it will clamp down metal strips upto 2" wide
and bend them upto 90 degrees. I'm not sure of the rating, but it opens
up over a 1/4" and takes a 1" pipe for the handle so it's pretty tough.
It's 12" square less the handle and made of welded and machined angle iron
with a large cylinder of better grade steel for the part that forms the
bends.