15% off @ Harbor Freight

oh please, don't buy that cheap, poorly made, poorly finished, will never last long, sure to break (and hurt you), made by virtual slave labor, chinese junk.

when you buy, look at the country of origin, come on guys, buy "made in america", this is where you live, work, and the country where your kids will, hopefully, prosper.

keep your hard earned money here in the usa. this is not the easiest thing to do, but the extra effort to find "made in the usa" is worth it.

also, let's hope that we can get some oil drilling started soon, that will keep a lot of money here!!!!

nazgul

Nazgul, well said. I couldn't agree with you more. Chuck

quote:

keep your hard earned money here in the USA. this is not the easiest thing to do, but the extra effort to find "made in the USA" is worth it.

I wholeheartedly agree.

With one notable exception all my cars are USA. I won't even LOOK at an import dealer's lot when it is car-buying time.

I just ordered a new family room sectional, not cheap, but well made in Southern California.

My lifetime, heavy use tools are all Craftsman.

And my F-150 has a custom bumper sign that says:
PROUD AMERICANS - BUY AMERICAN

But when it comes to many of the tools we like to have in a garage/workshop, our choices are often only between China and S. Korea/Japan. The USA is just not making entry-level tools suitable for the Harry Homeowner shop. The option is paying 5-10 times more for a tool I will only use once every few months, and well, the budget just doesn't allow for that luxury.

So guys, Nazgul is right on in urging us to buy USA-made.

But in the day-to-day real world, some imported 'stuff' will find its way into the garage. I figured saving 15% was something worth passing on.

Larry

P.S. - I find it interesting how sometimes one of our posts takes a left turn and runs off with a life of its own, totally removed from the initial posting. Usually, I enjoy the exchanges that follow, don't you?

Interesting post replies, especially since our Panteras are not "made in USA"

quote:

Channellock (Channellock)- USA

Made in Mexico, their plant in Meadville, Pa is no more.

quote:

oh please, don't buy that cheap, poorly made, poorly finished, will never last long, sure to break (and hurt you), made by virtual slave labor, chinese junk.

quote:

US General - Asia (probably china with a name like that)

Air compressor's are Made In the USA, Bellaire brand, the bigger ones that is. I agree with everything else you said.
I recently aquired a needle scaler. Ingersol Rand brand(made in China, found this out after I got it). Over $200, well when I was in HF a few weeks later they had the EXACT same tool no IR name on it for $40!!!
Jeff

"Interesting post replies, especially since our Panteras are not "made in USA" "

Does that mean as a show of support you are selling your Pantera ?


One of the reasons I LOVE my Pantera is the engine is proudly made in my home town.But I would be lying if I did not say that the first thing that made me have to get a Pantera was the absolutely GORGEOUS styling. I sold my phenomenal 73 Trans AM in 1975 to purchase my first Pantera. If a US auto maker made a car with the styling of the Pantera I would have bought it. I challenge any Pantera owner to tell me that the FIRST thing that made them have to have the car was NOT the styling.

Back on thread topic. It is sad that so many great American companies have had to move away to remain profitable. Only time will tell if the quality is equal to previous US made products .I am skeptical that these products coming from China are of similar quality. The Chinese are famous for copying foreign products and reproducing them with inferior materials and quality at far cheaper prices.

I try when ever possible to first buy US made followed by N.America and European products. It is impossible to avoid made in “China” completely. But I refuse to put any part made in China on my Pantera or other cars. This will become harder and maybe impossible in the future.

Sadly even Craftsman is even making some of their first line “Guaranteed Forever” products in China.

quote:

It might look the same but most of the time it's not. Housing, inter part, etc. are change out to make it cheeper

This can be true.

However, it is also possible it IS THE SAME ITEM.

What happens is a USA company contracts with CheapoChina LTD. to make an item. They provide all the necessary drawings, material, specs, heck even the CAD program and tell them to make 50,000 items. So CheapoChina tools up and runs two shifts for three months and ships the 50,000 items to the USA company. BUT, during the third shift, that factory is still churning out that same, exact item with CheapoChina's labeling.

USA firm doesn't know this, but by the time they figure it out, that CheapoChina firm has changed names, maybe even factory location, and the game starts all over again.

Larry

quote:

The USA is just not making entry-level tools suitable for the Harry Homeowner shop. The option is paying 5-10 times more for a tool I will only use once every few months, and well, the budget just doesn't allow for that luxury.

I'm all for buying "Made in USA" too, but I can't swallow the cost of a number of tools that I'll only use once or twice; especially when I have a Pantera and Mustang that need parts and upgrades, kids that need braces, auto insurance premiums for two teenage drivers, a 40 year old house that needs constant repairs and upgrades, kids sports and lessons, etc.

FWIW, I bought a HF framing nail gun this summer for a 3-month shed building project. It cost $60 which was well below the cost of renting a quality framing nailer for a few days, and even further below the cost of buying a name-brand American-made framing nailer. Yeah, I'd rather have the nice professional American-made tool, but can't afford the luxury of buying such a tool to use for one project, only to then store it in my garage for the next 4+ years before ever using it again.

The HF tool is full of short-comings compared to the pro tool I rented for one day (before I bought the HF tool - and before I realized I couldn't scratch build a shed in a weekend), but it got the job done. And for the price I paid, I could afford to throw it away when I finished the project because I got much more than $60 of use out of it. But I didn't throw it away because it still works just as well as when I first opened the case.

But for any tool that I'll use regularly for years to come, I will always spend the extra money for the quality tool - ask me about my air tools, socket wrenches, combination and ratcheting wrenches, most power tools, etc.

BTW - If I buy a Honda, is that buying an import or domestic? After all, they're made in America now.

There are tools made in the USA and tools not. In either case they include tools you would buy and tools which you would avoid.

There are certainly a couple tools Harbor freight which are far better in quality and well worth the money.

For instance, the blue Chicago electric tools are not worth owning but many of the orange ones aren't too bad. I use a hand held grinder almost every day I am in the shop. I have so for nearly 2 car restorations and 100 metal work jobs I have worked on. I have several hundred hours on this orange grinder when my high dolar Makita didn't last half that long. They sell routeenly for $17!!!

http://www.rc-tech.net/cars/panttransam/1905/bw/chan1.jpg

http://www.rc-tech.net/cars/panttransam/1905/bw/pr5.jpg



On the flip side my old neighbor built airp pumps for a Sears portable pump. The pump was Made in the USA. They have a regular and a delux model which is $20 more. He showed me the pump. The SAME pump goes in both the regular and the delux model. The ONLY difference is the delux model has a BIGGER case!