Well, it sounds better than the "Dark and Stormy...." phrase people use.
Currently 54* and drizzling. We've received about 1/4" of rain, with more to come. SO....no antenna work today! I (finally!) dropped the mast my FM Broadcast antenna is on, and mounted the GPS antenna at the top of the mast. I ran the cable for it down through the mast, making a tidy appearance. I ran those two cables, plus two spares, through the 3/4" hole I'd previously bored through the foundation, secured them to the post and fence, and then packed the hole with good old "Plumber's Putty" so rain drops and critters can't get in.
I'm quite pleased with how this Harbor Freight Demolition Hammer works. It will operate as a hammer drill for boring concrete, or just as a hammer, which is how I installed all those ground rods.
Say what you will about Horror Fright, some of their products have gotten quite good. Their "Hercules" line of power tools are definitely one of their good products. I also have the Hercules 1/2" Drill/Driver, and it's an amazing value.
Paired up with a 5AHr battery, and it goes (for me) all day, and usually still has enough juice to keep going.
They also have a very nicely made 1/2" breaker bar, that's about 6" longer than my Craftsman bar. It has a nice finish, looks to be well-made, and has a great non-slip grip on it.
As for the rest of the night, I'm either going to stoke the fireplace and drive some of the chill out of the house, or retreat to the nice, dry, toasty basement workshop, and do some cleaning up and a bit of tinkering.
Maybe both......
Actually, my impression has been that Harbor Freight has definitely been upping their game over the last 3-4 years. Quality of much of their stock has improved, and the stores are well organized.
ReplyDeleteI'd say more like 5~7 years, since I first noticed it in 2017 when we moved here.
DeleteNice tool report. We will keep Harbor Fright in mind should we get back into the do it yourself mode.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the seasons are changing - it only got up to 96 today and when we were watching the ISS fly over this evening at eight-ish, it was only 88 degrees. Time to get out the woolies.
I was surprised at how well the 1/2" driver/drill worked, so when I decided to buy the rotary hammer/demolition hammer I went to them first. Anything else, like a Makita, was twice as expensive.
DeleteI do little mechanic work now but my motley collection of tools mainly came from pawn shops. Random tools thrown into bins.Harbor freight is good for tools you may use only once of twice like servicing GM Mass Air Flow sensors with their weird size and shaped bolt heads. I like their snap off razor tool and their cheap flashlights. I usually buy a handful on the rare times I shop there.
ReplyDeleteThey still carry an inexpensive line of "throw away" tools, but even most of those seem better made now. I bought a hand axe from them years ago, and wasn't very kind to it. I compared the edge on it to the edge on the Estwing hand axe I bought, and tried to duplicate it on the HF axe. I was surprised how good the steel on the cheap HF axe took and edge, and held it. Once I ground and polished it to look like the Estwing it worked MUCH better than when I first bought it. So even 14 years ago, some of their stuff had "good bones", but needed some additional work.
DeleteHorror Freight is not a place I frequent... Too many 'bad' memories.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when I avoided them, too. Some of the stuff they sell, like cable ties that snap before you've put any tension on them, and cheap garden and air hoses that leak like a sieve, is still JUNK, but many of their other products have greatly improved.
DeleteA few years ago, I found out I was talking to a "district" manager for HF. I asked about the quality of the tools and my fears of buying things from HF. He said that he was reasonably new in the position and was aware of the history of HF products. However, he said that there was a push to bring in higher quality products. It looks as though they are doing that with some reflection in the price.
ReplyDeleteBTW, that rotary hammer tool is great for driving ground rods in, especially in the rocky conditions we have here in the Texas Hill Country with shallow limestone and caleche.
DeleteI heard mention that their "Hercules" brand was made either in the same factory as Makita, or by Makita, I forget which. I bought a Bosch ground rod driver at Home Depot to use with it. I use a 36" "Deep Watering" spike to make a pilot hole first, and then I can just push the first 3' of ground rod in by hand, and use the driver on the rest of it. Makes it MUCH easier!
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