Episode 2 SHOW NOTES Harbor Freight

Everyday Woodworking Podcast Ep2 

SHOW NOTES 

Welcome 

Hey everyone. I’m Ricky Fitzpatrick with Everyday Woodworking, where we talk about how to help you create woodworking projects you can be proud of, without having a lot of expensive tools, fancy equipment or crazy materials. This is how “the rest of us” do it, every day. 

So our last show was about how you can buy power tools inexpensively but make them last. And that sparked a lot of conversation. Mostly questions about the best place to buy your bargain tools. 

And frankly I think that’s just awesome. Not that I’m a bargain tool expert, but I can definitely pass along some knowledge, at least about where I buy OUR tools. 

And I don’t know how many episodes this will take. Several, I know. And I still want to keep our shows around 15 minutes, so I’ll probably tackle a suggestion or two at a time and break it up. And we’ll just roll with this until we cover it all. 

Let me just go ahead and get the disclaimer out of the way. FYI, I do not endorse ANY of the tools or businesses I’ll talk about in this subject. And if you have a bad experience after following my advice, that’s on you. I’m telling you what works for me, but you have to make your own well-informed decisions. OK? 

OK. So now that I’ve lost pretty much everybody… 

Let’s get down to business. 

So, Today’s Show: Where Is the Best Place To Buy Bargain Tools. 

Lets just go ahead and start off with the biggie. Let me say, if you’re a woodworker…no, if you’re a guy…and you aren’t using Harbor Freight…then we can’t be friends. 

HF is THE place for you to be. I know a lot of folks talk smack about HF, but for a guy on a budget, it is a Godsend. And for a woodworker…man you’ve got to be buying clamps and chisels and bits. They are SO much cheaper there. 

Now for power tools, I confess, I don’t always use HF. But sometimes I do. Their primary power tool line is Bauer. There are also Hercules and Warrior lines. And let’s be honest…are they the best tools you can get? No. But will they be decent tools that you can afford and make last? You bet you can. 

One thing I hate though, is that their power tools (and probably most of their inventory in general) is imported. Lots of it from China. And that sticks in my craw. But if you can live with it, then there you go. But even though I love the company, they sell a ton of imported products. 

But let’s do a quick comparison. Let’s say you buy a Dewalt 20V Cordless Driver. A great drill. That’ll set you back about $100. 

The Bauer is $49. 

Too much? The Warrior at Harbor Freight is just $29. And yes, that includes the battery. 

So for less than a third of the price of the DeWalt, you’re drilling. 

Still too much? HF also has a cordless drill under the name Drill Master. An 18V cordless…with a battery, for…get ready…$16.99. 

Is it a great drill? I highly doubt it. But will it get a guy going who has a tight budget but needs a tool? Absolutely. It has a 90-day warranty to give you a little peace of mind. But hey, for 16 bucks, it’s worth the risk. 

I’d grab that baby, then find me a cheap bag or case, take it home and use it til it gives up on me. I’d bet it lasts a solid year at least if you take care of it. 

Keep it clean. Make sure it can breathe. Put it up every night. Keep it off the floor. Don’t drop or beat on it. It’s probably well worth the money. 

Speaking of tool cases and bags…HF has cases as cheap as $15 and Bags for $6.99. And if you catch them on sale Direct Tools sells Ryobi tool bags for just $5 each…but let’s save that for another show. 

Let’s be honest though. Is work easier with a “professional” grade tool? Most of the time, yes. And as I said in the last show, “Buy the best tools you can afford”. So if you can afford a $100 drill, get it. You probably won’t regret it. But if you can’t, then $20 sounds awfully sweet. 

Another tip for HF. Do yourself a favor and sign up the for the Inside Track Members Club. Right now, it’s about $30 a year, and it will pay for itself the first time you buy a power tool. This week for example, they’ve got a compressor that’s on sale for Inside Track members for $80 off the public’s price. It’s a no-brainer. 

Also, grab a HF credit card and get 5% back on everything you buy. Again, it’s not a ton, but it adds up so fast over the year. 

All this, and amazing prices anyway, that’s why I say if you aren’t using HF for at least some of your shop purchases, then something’s wrong with you. I’m going to make sure I leave a link to HF in the show notes in case you want to head over there and see what you think, yourself. 

OK, that’s all the time we’re going to have today. I’ll keep this going on the next show and we’ll talk about yard sales, estate sales and private buys. Another GREAT place to pick up some tool deals. 

Hey thank you for hanging out with me for a few minutes. I hope this was helpful and I hope you’ll join me again here on Everyday Woodworking. 

If you enjoyed this, there are several things you can do. One, please let us know. Your comments and likes are more important that we can say. Two, leave us a great review. Your reviews are HUGE for us! And lastly, we’d love it if you subscribed to our podcast and became a regular listener. 

Also, we post a video of each Podcast Episode as well over on our Apple Valley Farm YouTube Channel. Definitely check that out and subscribe to us there as well. 

And if you’d like to learn even more about us, you can check out the show notes and head over to www.applevalleyfarmga.com for lots more. 

OK, that’s it. Have a great day. Thanks again. And I’ll see you next time…on Everyday Woodworking. 

LINKS: 

Harbor Freight Tools - https://www.harborfreight.com/

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