Rate the Harbor Freight Tools Thread- Pass or Fail?

[Flyinfool]

How many remember when anything from Japan was considered junk??? But then they got better.
Then anything from China was/is junk, but now they are getting better.

 

[Inferno]

How many remember when anything from Japan was considered junk??? But then they got better.
Then anything from China was/is junk, but now they are getting better.

Are people really that OLD?

LOL
I remember seeing a cool radio when I was 8 or so and it said "Made in Japan" and my dad was fascinated wit it because it said on the outside that it had SEVEN transistors. (For comparison, the average computer has hundreds of millions)

 

[MrWhoopee]

Are people really that OLD?

LOL
I remember seeing a cool radio when I was 8 or so and it said "Made in Japan" and my dad was fascinated wit it because it said on the outside that it had SEVEN transistors. (For comparison, the average computer has hundreds of millions)

That was how you knew how good the radio was. I bought a 13 transistor Silvertone at Sears when I was about 10. It was SO cool!

 

[Larry$]

I'm older than dirt and can remember the first pocket sized transistor radio I saw. Also the first pocket calculator that would only add, subtract, multiply & divide. Cost about $100 in the early ? 60s? I've still got my slide rule! Anyone got their reservation in for a ride to Mars?

 

[hman]

I was in college (1972) when Hewlett-Packard came out with the HP-35 at $400. The engineering school actually had a few (locked down in HP's cradle) for student use. Fell in love with it, but couldn't afford it. I spent a whole lot of time in the next few months, searching for something comparable for lower cost. NO WAY!!! The closest I could get was a Nixie tube Wang, for someting like $800. Truly a tour de force on HP's part!

Then the next year, HP came out with the HP-45 for $400 and dropped the price of the 35 to $300. Didn't take me more than a week or two to "find a way" to afford one! The log function was especially helpful that year, as we had to use logs in a chemistry course I was taking!

Amusing sidelight - the big limitation on those early calculators was battery life - IIRC, about 3 hours for the HP-35. I recall seeing an engineering student on campus one day - an HP-35 on one hip and a slide rule on the other (in case of battery failure, I guess).

 

[rock_breaker]

I'm older than dirt and can remember the first pocket sized transistor radio I saw. Also the first pocket calculator that would only add, subtract, multiply & divide. Cost about $100 in the early ? 60s? I've still got my slide rule! Anyone got their reservation in for a ride to Mars?

I can take you to the spot I heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. $5.00 ball point pens -- 1946? How about having to push a starter pedal on your automobile. And yes I still have my slide rule. Things have certainly changed haven't they.
Have a good day
Ray

 

[C-Bag]

I also am old enough to remember when “made in Japan”=junk. I put myself through college doing work on Toyota’s because of the bad design of the distributor mechanical advance dying and falling into the bottom of the distributor and binding. Then taking out the jack shaft. I could do one for half what the garage wanted and make out like a fat rat. But meanwhile everybody thought if you got 80 to 100,000mi out of an American car and hopefully 10yrs that was fantastic. But that “junk” Toyota could get 2-3x’s that no sweat. Yeah, they weren’t as big and comfortable but you spent way less on gas and repair.

I can’t give HF tools a universal thumbs up or down because every tool is made in a different factory and I think they change suppliers all the time and workers. The QC is all over the map as can be seen in their feedback on their site. But if the basic frame and components are sound I have a chance of being able to have a useful tool that I would never otherwise afford or run into used. My current case in point is a sheetmetal 3 in 1, shear, brake and roller.

This is one of those tools you are best off finding unused as setup is not often right. And trying to use and abuse it as is can make it almost unfixable. I found mine unused on the original pallet from HF. The manual is only good for parts breakdown. I figured out the adjustment of the shear by observation. There is a lot of the usual cosmolene gunk to clean, but it also kept it in pristine shape of sitting in a storage for 20+yrs. After getting it adjusted it sheared 18ga cleanly but seemed a lot of effort. I suspected the cams that basically do all the work in the arms that are the linkage to the main attach points. I pulled one arm and the bushing looked like a 3yld did it. Not really finished, rough, with old paint on the surface. I decided to see if I could find a bearing and found a suitable caged needle bearing on eBay for $25! So made a pin for the attach point to pin the two arms back together and bored them out 2mm on the mill. Now have to fix the key way on one of the cams as they messed the bed setting it up. Probably have to machine a special key.

 

[silence dogood]

I took a college course at the local community college to brush up on my electronics back in 1975(?). Many of the students were able to get a good deal for the HP-35 scientific calculator at around $250. I decided to pass. Nothing wrong with the calculator. It's just that I was proficient with a slide rule and did not want to spend the money. Funny thing is that not only was I faster at getting answer, but it was also more accurate. The slip stick would automatically round off instead of going to the tenth decimal point.

 

[Flyinfool]

Ah yes, I still keep a 6 inch slide rule on my desk at work, Some of the younger people will ask what kind of a ruler that is with aall those markings on it. The head QC guy got all upset that I had a ruler with no calibration sticker on it. I have to explain that it is not a ruler for measuring, it is my old pocket calculator, way back, I kept the big 16 inch calculator on my desk.
Yes I remember paying $100 for my first pocket electronic calculator that could only add subtract multiply divide and percent.

I used HP for so long, Still do, I still use RPN for the calculator I have in my phone, That really messes with people IF I let them borrow my calculator.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I recall seeing an engineering student on campus one day - an HP-35 on one hip and a slide rule on the other (in case of battery failure, I guess).

I still have my Pickett in its hard case. The improvised belt clip is still attached. We were geeks, and proud of it.