Number + Letter punch sets

Harbor Freight has 3 of their number/letter punch sets on sale in the latest flyer. 36 pieces each - they come in 1/8", 1/4" and 3/8". Super cheap. May be useful when painting frames and needing a new serial plate.

No affiliation...


Russ

Harbor freight is the Crack of the tool world. It's a hard habit to break!!! :shock:

Most of Harbor Freight's stuff is cheap Chinese crap FROM the crack of the tool world. You may luck out and get something usable and you may get glorified scrap metal. I'd rather save up and spend my hard-earned dollars on something worth having. Their tire-changer is junk that can't even be saved by adding a bar and delrin blocks from No-Mar. Get the No-Mar in the first place (made right across the river from here in Fenton, Mo.) and get the changer you need.

I have to disagree. I have spent many years buying Snap-On, Mac, Craftsman and Matco tools. I admit for daily professional use you cannot beat the feel and functionality of those brands. But when it comes to speciality tools for at home, I appreciate the value that I get at Harbor Freight. I will only purchase items if they look like they will last, and if I have a coupon or sale price. It makes my dollar go farther. My most recent purchase was their 40# sand blast cabinet. After sale and coupon it was $160.00. It has a really nice light, constructed well and a good size. I would have spent close to $800.oo on a Name brand cabinet. By the time this one wears out, I'll be too old to care. It is the same way for most of the items I have purchased. If you have the money to spend, by all means buy the name brand. But if you want to equip your home shop on a reasonable budget, go for the Harbor Freight. Just my .02¢

bwolfie said:

I have to disagree. I have spent many years buying Snap-On, Mac, Craftsman and Matco tools. I admit for daily professional use you cannot beat the feel and functionality of those brands. But when it comes to speciality tools for at home, I appreciate the value that I get at Harbor Freight.

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I purchased one blast cabinet from Eastwood (back at my parents place) and one from Harbor Freight (that I currently use). The Eastwood cabinet was three times the price for the same functionality.

I agree that some items are a bargain but some are crap. I wouldn't buy power tools there (unless I only need to use them a few times and toss). On the other hand, shop supplies and some hand tools (brass punches, mallets) are just as good as the professional brands.

I do have to gripe about their brand names "U.S. General", "Chicago Tools" being made in China. WTF? Don't hide behind fake names, just call 'em what they are: "China Shang Jiang" and "Beijing Tools". FWIW, I'm not disrespecting China. I've been there. Lovely country.

I actually purchased a set of the small letter/number punches to stamp a magneto id plate. They worked well enough that I used them to stamp my initials on some tools and they did very well on the harder metal. The way I look at it, you just need to be smart about tool purchases in general. For example, I would never buy a lathe that I intended to use every day from Harbor, but I might if I were just going to use once in a while.

I understand no one wants to spend any more than they have to to get what they need, but buying cheap imported stuff is false economy, even if it turns out to be serviceable. Everything goes in a circle, and if we keep buying cheap foreign goods, in a few years, we'll have no choice because the home-grown companies will all be forced out of business and our own wages and salaries will be pushed lower. Some items are already impossible to find made here.

In many cases it's our own countrymen, the millionaire aristocrats who go off shore to get their products manufactured and they are more concerned with the cost than the quality control. I'm sure they could insist on better quality but all they worry about is profit. They bring it back in and sell it here only because they make more money than if they hired us to build it locally and yet we feel guilty? Everyone at the bottom of the food chain hasn't got much choice. I'm amazed at how affordable some of this stuff is today. Things have changed since I last bought any amount of tools 25 years ago (great fun now).

Look at the "perception" of qualiy in Japan and Germany, they are convinced the products made in their own countries are better and they will gladly pay the premium to own local goods, compare that to the US (and Canada on which I have first hand experience), the price is the main deciding factor, no wonder gredy capitalists are cashing in.

Speaking of capitalists, what is more important for them? profit and return on investments so they want the cheapest way to fabricate a product to please the investors which promps them to build with inferior quality or cut costs by having cheap products built by cheap labour in third word countries. So what are we left with? cheap Chinese imports or products we "think" are better? We are all partly to blame for the state of our economies, we demand high return on investments and cheap products, that as Robby the robot would say "does not compute"

BUT when it comes to getting my Norton running, principles go out the window, I will confess to seeking out the cheapest tools that will do the job, after all I am a self proclaimed cheapskate :mrgreen:

Jean

PS I bought a set of numbers and letters years ago, made in India before they found a cheaper source in China and they have held up well for the use I have given them.