Harbor Freight

If you just need some basics, this isn’t a bad place to drop in — they’ve got some of everything, but perhaps not everything you are looking for. For instance, the other day, I had a home painting project that I needed some sand paper for and they certainly had that, as well as a limited assortment of painting tools (brushes, etc). However, they had no paint thinner? Bummer. Although I do appreciate their prices, it often seems I have to go to other stores in addition to theirs in order to finish my list of project makings. And another stop is sometimes more than this handy woman can afford in a busy day. On the up side, staff is always nice and the store has decent hours.

Need a tool or hand-​held machine to get the job done, but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to complete the task? Enter the short, Harbor Freight guy jumping into frame, pulling the buttons off the top of his cheap twill jacket, exposing his chest-​laden, lower-​case «h», trying to look sexy. Be there no bones about it, this place is designed to put no-​frills, inexpensively made, bathed orange tools in the hands of project-​bridgers. No offense to you all — when a job needs done, you do what you need to do. And that’s specifically why this place gets 3 stars. Cheap stuff to get stuff done. Want lifetime? Flag down a Snap-​On truck and pay that price. They will support you, and your choice. No dig here to the higher quality purveyors. This is a niche vendor, at least for most. Angle grinder used once? HF. Steering wheel puller? HF. Want an air compressor for your automotive painting business? Go elsewhere. Need to fill a spot in your toolbox that might be used sometime in the future? Go for it. Just prepare to make future purchases as replacement.