Harbor Freight planers

General Discussion
1

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=91062

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=32222

Which do you guys think will be better for shaping?

2

I’m a Harbor Freight junkie, but have to say that their power tools are junk. A cordless drill I bought awhile back is…well, I can stop the drill by grabbing the chuck. If you have to get the China Electric model, get the one with the higher rpm’s. I’ve been pretty happy with my Bosch that blows dust either left or right depending on where you want it.

Save your receipt.

3

Finally someone tells it like it is. Let’s face it, Harbor Freight has some great deals. But when it comes to power tools, I learned the hard way that cheap tools cost too much. Go for quality. It saves headaches and money.

But having said that: Flea markets and pawn shops are great places to find high quality power tools at reasonable prices.

Ouch! I just got hit by something thrown by someone who bought a Harbor Freight power tool and loves it. Nevertheless, I’ll take my Milwakee grinder-polisher and my Porter Cable 4x24 belt sander. No worries. Doug

4

I like the ergonomics of the first one - it also has an ejection chute that be can be switched left or right.

HerbB

5

I like the accessories of the second one. Few of us are ambidextrous so the right/left ejection chute is minor.

I have two similar ebay planers that I’ve used for two years. On the current one the belt is about to disintegrate (it was throwing off little bits during the last shaping session). I hope that locally available belts will fit… I haven’t yet sharpened the blades on either of mine, but the second one notes a sharpening attachment, that should be useful.

6

Just a quick note on buying HF “web sales” items at a walk-in HF retail location: Print the web page w/ advertised price and present that at the register and they will honor the price… otherwise you may have wasted a trip. The web page and the retail stores are operated as two seperate businesses and don’t always run the same sales.

7/10