No, it’s the link my post. It was a hobby model, pretty good for balsa plane builders and the like. Probably not much different except not quite as sturdy. But it was still plenty good for cutting sheet plastic. I can put a 1/16" blade on my bandsaw, so except for interior cuts that works as well as jigsaw, although that blade has a life of about 1 hour.
I find a lot of classic tools on Craig’s list, but I have more than I need of the bigger stuff now. I got a table saw in January and I still don’t have it set up. Don’t know when I’ll find the time to do so many things.
I hear that. I have a closet that passes for a woodworking shop. I’d kill for just enough more space for a jointer. And maybe a planer. And a drill press.
Also, I’m not at all familiar with Dremel tools, so that was a guess.
Drill press - Probably OK - fine for drilling holes in metal where you center punch locations. I have comparable $35 and $200 Chinese units. Parts probably not available and the bottoms of the tables may be VERY rough if you need to clamp wood or drill fixtures.
Lathe and Saw - no way. You can find better quality older tools with motor and stand for half the HF price. A wood lathe should be bolted to a solid workbench or substantial base.
I agree with Nefario about the drill press. It would probably work fine…I’d go for the larger of he two.
Can’t speak for the lathes since I have never had a wood lathe.
I would not recommend that scroll saw. It is very similar to my first one–in spite of the rave reviews from many, the critical reviews are telling. A scroll saw is first-and-foremost a reliable fine saw for delicate fretwork patterns, intended to be used for long seated sessions. In a pinch a scroll saw can be pressed into service as a regular saw, but they can’t make heavy cuts, nor can they make machine-straight cuts, so it is a saw of last resort for regular cuts.
The one you selected will be terrible and annoying to use at the primary use (fretwork, making toys, etc) and will be mediocre as a general saw.
Agreed the drill press is sufficient. HF has been making those for a long time, it will probably outlast the motor. I’d also be wary of their scroll saw. I’m not making a recommendation, but there’s a similar Ryobi unit at Lowes for the same price, maybe not that good either but probably better than the HF. I think you’ll be disappointed with that lathe. As you already know lathes are largely about chucks, you’ll be best off with units that come with a good 4 jaw chuck and a live center on the tailstock. And you’ll also need some good lathe chisels.
None of them if you get anything of any quality. Even the worse of the Harbor Freight offerings will stand up to what a tinkerer will throw at it as long as you read the instructions and follow them as best you can.
I’m not much for used unless we’re talking industrial grade; big and heavy enough that parts can be found and purchased. Home versions are basically “run till they die” and something used may be on its last leg. Its sometimes hard to tell visually or from a quick test what it has left in it.
If you are looking at woodworking, I would say the scroll saw. Drill presses you can work around/do without. A lathe can take some serious time and skill to get half-way good at and finished turned pieces are too easy to get. The scroll seems to me (judging you by other things you have posted over the last year) where you would get the most bang for your personal buck.
Generally, being cheap when buying tools is one of those things that comes back to bite you. I’d be cautious about HF tools – they generally don’t have a reputation as quality tools. But if you’re not expecting them to be archival, they might be OK. The drill presses seem to have decent reviews. Personally, I reserve HF for tools that I’m only going to be using a handful of times and can’t justify spending a lot of money on.
As far as your selection of tools – a drill press is something you’ll use constantly. A lathe will either become a consuming interest or will sit in the back of your workshop unused most of the time. But lathes are very good for short, one evening projects like pens or tops. The mini/midi lathes may only have a limited capability to allow you to move on to larger projects like bowls. Note that turning is kind of an equipment intensive area of woodworking – there’s always another chuck or chisel or gadget that you’ll want. And you’ll definitely need a grinder for sharpening.
Scroll saws are even more in the area of being a specialized tool that will either get a lot of use or will never see the light of day. I bought one a few years, played with it, marveled at the delicacy of the cuts and then lost interest. If you do get one, make sure it’s one with a quick change blade system.
The one with variable speed is probably worth it. The multi-speed units have some number of pulleys that you can switch a belt to. It always turns out that none of the pulleys give you exactly the turning speed you need. For just pens it would probably be ok but as you expand your turning skills you’ll want the variable speed.
There are a number of ways to rig up a drill press to work as a lathe. I am far from a master turner but I’m sure you’ll find learning on a real lathe to be the correct approach. However, as you can see, a decent lathe can be expensive. You may want to concentrate on your other tools first (unless you just want to learn turning, which is really fun). OTOH if you just need a couple of pieces to make toys then you can buy a lot of spindles already made, and for some simple reshaping chucking them into a drill press and using a file or some sandpaper will allow you to easily turn them to size.
ETA: Great tool discussion here. I had hoped we could get more of this going in that old forum, the Outhouse or whatever it was called.
If you do the individual parts (Google them) all get pretty damn good reviews and ratings and the discount Penn State is offering compared to say Amazon is good. Reviews on Penn State listed on their pages being a little dated I wouldn’t worry about. A lot of sites tend to archive regular products (just update the prices) and lets face it, they probably wouldn’t have included seriously bad reviews even back when the set was new. If that fits what you got planned I would consider ordering by phone and seeing what kind of feel I got from the person taking the order.
I was lurking in some woodworking forums when I wanted to buy a drill press. The overwhelming opinion of the pro’s and serious amateurs there is that the HF drill press is built to very loose tolerances – meaning your drill bit is likely to wobble while it’s cutting and may even miss the mark on its way toward the table. Of course, the pros were recommending Jet, Rikon, and Rockwell brands, but that’s way outside my budget. Some even bragged about their ancient *Craftsman *machines and, while they noted modern *Craftsman *ain’t what it used to be, it’s still built to MUCH closer tolerances than Harbor Freight. So I ended up getting a modern *Craftsman *benchtop model (with a little help from my wife, for my birthday).
And then, when I had “spare” money and was thinking about accessories for it, I stumbled across these two videos. I think if your focus is going to be toys and pens, you’d do well to watch them.
The homemade LOADED Drill Press Table & Fence -Woodworking with Stumpy Nubs #19
Pen and Lathe Turning on a Drill Press (Homemade DP Table P2)-Woodworking with Stumpy Nubs #21
There’s info on plans for the drill press table in the vids, which I’ve bought but haven’t started working on because I discovered my old table-saw needs to be aligned and I haven’t gotten around to that yet.
–G!
ETA: I’m sorry. Was I supposed to bury those links somehow? It’s not risque material.
I was curious about this Harbor Freight place folks keep mentioning and so I looked them up…they have a store on the other side of Trenton from me.
I stopped in today to see what HF is all about and was amazed at the crappy quality of almost everything. I wouldn’t buy a tool there unless it was a one-time use thing. Their prices are amazingly low, but the quality is terrible.
Example: they sell an air powered crown stapler for around $22, while the trusted brands usually go for $100 at Lowes or HD–but I wouldn’t trust the tool to last or be accurate. The story was the same for everything I looked at. A nice looking machinists toolbox for $75 that turned out to be made of warped stapled wood. Everything was rickety and cheap.
With that said, has anyone been satisfied with a HF purchase? What was it?
I did see many cheaper things I filed away in my mind, such as moving dollies or floor scrapers, and I imagine that some of the tools might actually be good. Any happy stories from HF products?
HF produced some decent metal working equipment. Their metal cutting bandsaw was popular. The motor may not have lasted forever but could be replaced for a reasonable cost. They have a mini-lathe that is of comparable quality to many similar models. Many of their basic hand tools are suitable for home owner/handy man use. Anything complicated is likely to have a short life. They use cheap metal in everything, anything they sell of the same size and shape of higher quality equipment won’t be as good. So what they offer is a low entry point for one-off and light duty usage tools, and in rare occasion something that’s inherently a good value.
Funny you mentioned air staplers.
I have several HF air brad drivers, staplers, and nailers.
All have worked flawlessly for many years. I used one today.
I have a rolling tool chest that is not as strong as it looks but still a good deal for the price (stuff goes on sale a lot). I have a bigger tool chest I got there that was a very good deal but not one of the HF brands. I have several screwdrivers and wrenches that are ok. I have some C clamps for welding that are usable but I’ve broken them before by over-tightening. I have one of their demo saws. Perfectly good and so cheap I could buy three more before I hit the cost of quality model.
I buy a lot of stuff at harbor freight. The quality varies from utter crap to quite good.
I’ve been really happy with all of the wrenches, sockets, drill bits, moving dollies, precision screwdrivers, and measuring tools that I’ve bought there.
I’ve bought two multimeters there–one $20 model and another that was free with a coupon. The quality on both is pretty bad–I wouldn’t use them to measure mains power–but for low-voltage/current stuff they are decent.
I’ve bought several pairs of cheap pliers and side cutters there. They’ve held up well, but the quality is nothing like the nicer, more expensive ones I have.
The only thing I’ve bought there that was a total piece of junk was a pop rivet gun. I figured it’d be good enough for a few jobs, but it jammed all the time.
