# Luckily You Don't Always Get What You Pay For!



## a1Jim

Interesting,it's hard to believe HF or anyone can make and sell chisels for $10 that would be worth having, thanks for your review.


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## RonAylor1760

Thanks, Jim. I'm sure you remember the Aldi chisel craze a few years back. I have a set of those as well and they pale in comparison to this "new" Windsor Design set. I'm sure as the word gets out they will not be $9.99 for long.


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## ScottM

I may have to check those out this weekend. It's the big sidewalk sale weekend!!


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## Planeman40

Hello Ron,

Harbor Freight is far from as bad as some make it out to be. They have some very good stuff if you have an eye for quality and a desire for thrift. The very best saw blade I have ever had in 60 years of woodworking is a Harbor Freight blade. A couple of years I brought a nice Hammer K-3 sliding table saw into my shop. It uses a 12" saw blade and my old saw was a 10" so I have plenty of 10" blades and intended to use those. However, one day I was in Harbor Freight and spotted their rack of table saw blades. Thinking it might be handy to have a 12" blade available should I ever need it, I bought one with 96 carbide teeth for $36. The Hammer saw has an electronic brake to quickly slow the blade down when you cut the saw off. To prevent the blade from unscrewing, they have two pins near the arbor hole to keep the blade from unscrewing as above. So I sent the blade off to Forrest Blades in New Jersey to resize the arbor hole and punch the two pin holes which cost about $35. When I got the blade back, I tried it out on the saw. It cut so smooth and ran so true that I never took it off. Best blade I ever had!


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## RonAylor1760

> I may have to check those out this weekend. It s the big sidewalk sale weekend!!
> 
> - ScottM


Scott, I hope you do. Take the time to compare packages, looking closely at the handles. If you do buy a set, please check back here and let us know what you think. Good luck!


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## dschlic1

I have been using HF chisels for about two years now. My only compliant is that they need to be sharpened more frequently than I would like. However I do not have any basis to judge as these are the only chisels I own. My set the blades are perhaps shorter than some other brands. I can't really fit them into one of the edge clamping honing jigs. But I have a Worksharp so I use the chisel sharpening port.


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## RonAylor1760

> I have been using HF chisels for about two years now. My only compliant is that they need to be sharpened more frequently than I would like. However I do not have any basis to judge as these are the only chisels I own. My set the blades are perhaps shorter than some other brands. I can t really fit them into one of the edge clamping honing jigs. But I have a Worksharp so I use the chisel sharpening port.
> 
> - dschlic1


dschlic1 - You must have an older set of HF chisels. I use a side clamping honing guide …








... found here @ Highland Working for $10.99 … works like a charm!


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## Dwain

I frequent HF. I have several of their 6" and 12" F style clamps and for the most part have been happy. That being said, I believe all HF buyers have a "unwritten agreement" with our HF friends, and it goes as follows:

"You buy it and it works well, well bully for you!... You buy it and it doesn't work so well, what did you expect?"

With this in mind, we are generally happy when something works just slightly more than acceptable. Still, I would never compare my $20.00 trim router to a Bosch Colt. Heck, I don't WANT to compare because I don't want to know what I'm missing. Same is true with these chisels. They work well enough, and until they are compared to something with a higher standard of quality, we will happily work with them, assuming they are great because our expectations are only half set.

Still, I will continue to shop are HF. Regardless of what I said above, I love the place.


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## TheFridge

My first set were HF.

Can't beat them for 10$. It's not Sheffield steel but they're 10$.

I buy them to make turning tools with different profiles.


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## Mike_D_S

For me HF really draws a line under the buyer beware and read the reviews. I like HF for the 'will use once a year' tools that I need. The key I found is to really carefully go through the reviews and look for slightly different versions of the same product.

I bought a big hammer drill from there a while back and they had a red version and a maroon version, almost exactly the same specs and within 10% in price. One had terrible reviews and the other had good reviews. Bought the good review one and have probably put 100 hours of splitting thin slab and drilling holes for rebar with no issues other than the need to keep it well greased.

I've seen this a number of times. One guy buys the light blue widget and it falls apart, guy 2 buys the dark blue widget and is happy for a long time.

Mike


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## RonAylor1760

Mike - I also think a lot has to do with the individual wielding the tool. Do you remember the Yugo? Within nine months of their introduction junk yards across the country were inundated with those cheap little cars. I proudly admit being a Yugo owner. I bought mine in 1987, and unlike most I drove the little thing until 1996. Knowing that it was a cheap little car, I treated it as such. So, as long as you take your time and maintain the proper level of grease, I'm sure you'll get several hundred more hours out of your big hammer drill.


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## WillieMcCoy

I'm pretty new to fine woodworking (lots of home improvement woodworking in my past, but nothing that required a fine-edged chisel). I'm trying to outfit a shop on a budget, so I picked these up when I saw them at Harbor Freight.

They'll work fine…but it's taken a long time to get them there. (I should note that I'm a little OCD about tools; my finish standard for a blade is "can I see a clear reflection of my eye?", i.e. mirror finish.) When my DMT Coarse plate (DuoSharp Coarse-Fine combo) was taking forever to flatten the chisel backs, I broke down and bought a XXCoarse DMT plate. It certainly removes steel faster but when I used it on the bevel I had a heck of a time not gouging the edge. It was as though the XXCoarse plate was digging gouges into the edge. Once I had the 25-degree angle I wanted I switched back to the standard Coarse but it took so long to get the edge gougeless, I wondered if it would have taken the same amount of time with just the standard Coarse plate.

Sorry to go on so long. Bottom line is the chisels will work fine, but be prepared to take a good amount of time getting them to working condition. Of course, HF quality control will mean some chisels will be better/worse than others, so YMMV. Hopefully I got a bad batch and yours will be easier.


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## Grumpymike

I have two sets of chisels, one is a hardware store 'scruffty' set that I use for most anything … Then I have a nice Sheffield set that live in a cabinet and are for the finer work. 
It amazes me how often I have to re-sharpen the Hardware set compared to the Sheffield set.

Harbor Freight has some real treasures and some real junk … and each run of the said tool will differ in quality. So, if you get a good one praise I,t but be aware that next months shipment may not be the same.

And I will say, as I hang my head like a Yugo owner, I own some HF tools and actually use some of them … once in a while.


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## MrRon

Being a HF customer for many years, I have seen good, bad and really bad tools. Their one redeeming quality being their return/refund policy. I have heard people swear at their tools and others have praised them. Recently, I have noticed a gradual improvement in quality. I do believe HF is striving to be more competitive with the name brand tools from Skil, B&D and others. I have noticed some tools that were formerly made in China, now are made in Taiwan. That has to be a positive step in quality. Power tools is one area where there needs to be improvement. I have always regarded their light machines as projects in progress. A little tweaking here and there, filing and better fasteners can turn a piece of junk into an acceptable machine.


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## Planeman40

I too, MrRon, have seen improvement in HF tools. I think China is making progress in that direction on its own. The same thing happened to Japan in the 1970s and 1980. Buying at Harbor Freight needs a critical and experienced eye for quality. You can generally get a pretty good feel of the quality by close examination of the finish and sturdiness of construction and knowing how things should be properly designed and made.


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## TheLorax

I have a set of HF chisels with plastic handles I bought back in 2014. I bought a set of Narex chisels since and honestly I can't tell that much of a difference in steel quality. I spent about the same amount of time flattening the backs and sharpening both sets. The narex set looks nicer and they have longer blades which is handy for some things. I keep the HF set around for when I want to bang on something. I say all this to say. I think sometimes woodworkers are too critical and it impedes new woodworkers from buying something that could get them going in the craft. Even if you have to sharpen cheap chisels a little more that will just give you more practice at sharpening until you can afford a better set.


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## WillieMcCoy

> Even if you have to sharpen cheap chisels a little more that will just give you more practice at sharpening until you can afford a better set.
> 
> - TheLorax


My arms are certainly getting stronger!


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## RonAylor1760

> I have a set of HF chisels with plastic handles I bought back in 2014. I bought a set of Narex chisels since and honestly I can t tell that much of a difference in steel quality. I spent about the same amount of time flattening the backs and sharpening both sets. The narex set looks nicer and they have longer blades which is handy for some things. I keep the HF set around for when I want to bang on something. I say all this to say. I think sometimes woodworkers are too critical and it impedes new woodworkers from buying something that could get them going in the craft. Even if you have to sharpen cheap chisels a little more that will just give you more practice at sharpening until you can afford a better set.
> 
> - TheLorax


AMEN!


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## Grumpymike

*TheLorax
I think sometimes woodworkers are too critical and it impedes new woodworkers from buying something that could get them going in the craft. Even if you have to sharpen cheap chisels a little more that will just give you more practice at sharpening until you can afford a better set.*

How well said Lorax … Here is another example: I bought a set of HF turning chisels right after I bought a mini lathe with the thought that I won't be out that much if I screw them up learning how to sharpen them … 
Fast forward a couple of years … Still have the HF set, and I have replaced a few of them with more expensive tools, but the point here is that I still use some of the HF set … and I did learn to sharpen them, and their HSS is about the same as the high dollar set, the big difference is in the handles.

Thanks for your input Lorax … you are spot on


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## WillieMcCoy

Unfortunately I have to update my earlier "Okay chisels but need a lot of work out of the box" review.

After 20 hours of flattening, beveling, sharpening and honing…I had a chance to use the chisels. It was a simple task: deepen a couple of knife lines with 2-3 taps of the mallet and then pare out about 1/16" to create a groove for the dovetail saw to follow.

I was floored when I looked at the chisel after less than one minute of use. Chips/gouges in the edge that would stop your fingernail in its tracks!










Yikes! The chisels are sharpened to 25 degrees (close to the out-of-the-box bevel, but far enough away to require lots of work) on DMT stones (XCoarse, Coarse, Fine, XFine) using a Veritas MK guide. I was encouraged because they sliced paper easily. But they sure don't hold up to wood. This is the one-inch chisel; I'll try the other ones later and let you know if I get the same results.

I'm going to try to salvage them by putting on a microbevel that will stiffen up the 25-degree bevel somewhat, but logic tells me that's probably not going to do any good. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

Maybe I just got a bad batch


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## a1Jim

I'm afraid it's time for some editing

"You Do Always Get What You Pay For!" One star

It would have been nice if it was one of those HF items that was a real bargain instead of the biggest percentage of HF tools "not so hot" tools.


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## RonAylor1760

I'll assume you DID get a bad batch … I've been chopping on Ambrosia maple and cherry for the last month with no issues at all … Hmmm.


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## kelvancra

I have the usual array of big name shop tools, like an over-arm-pin-router, cabinet saw, edge sander, spindle sander, long bed 8" jointer with a spiral head and so on. I also have fifty to seventy HF bar clamps (older and newer versions).

I like quality for my investment and have found Powermatic satisfies that expectation sometimes, Rockwell Delta or Dela does on others. Grizzly works for that jointer. For the clamps, I see no gain by limiting future purchases to Pony or Bessy clamps, though I have those too. In short, the HF bar clamps I do have have proven themselves up to the job over and over again. Said another way, they aint broke, so…..

Though every electrically driven tool or piece of equipment in my shop was bought based, in part, on the name of the company building it, sometimes, a big name just means more expense. Take, for example, the piece of garbage Starrett angle gauge I bought, which was over a degree off.


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## RonAylor1760

> I m afraid it s time for some editing
> 
> "You Do Always Get What You Pay For!" One star
> 
> It would have been nice if it was one of those HF items that was a real bargain instead of the biggest percentage of HF tools "not so hot" tools.
> 
> - a1Jim


Don't think I'd go that far … I still have a great edge … like I said earlier, been chopping on maple and cherry for over a month now … sorry!


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## RonAylor1760

After paring tenons in the maple sides and the two 22" tapers in three of the four cherry legs of my Hepplewhite stand …










... the 1-1/2" chisel still looks good having maintained the edge from the initial sharpening …










I will admit having knocked the dust off on my pant leg for the photo … but hey, no chips!


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## a1Jim

That's great Ron I hope all of the HF chisels hold up that well, even if they had to be sharpened every day if the buyer is happy with the price and performance that's all that counts.


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