[baba_banana]

Hi

is it common practice for hobbyist/mechanics to purchase tools during seasons like Black Friday (and when is it even?)?

It's been at the back of my head for awhile now and I know I would like to purchase basic tools like ratchets, spanners, wrenches, screwdrivers, electric screwdrivers to heavy duty items like power drills, jack lifts (2 of either ProLift or Powerbuilt), car vacuum cleaner, AC/DC transformer/inverter, solar panels, tow equipment, soldering kit, raspberry 3b+ etc

Also what about online discount sites like harborfreight, wish, aliexpress etc?

Also, what are the tools you guys swear by? all opinions/comments/brand recommendations are much appreciated

P.S. even though this seems like an inane post but it would help me understand better and also save some $ along with frustrations that come along with inefficient tools.

[cgrey8]

My tool-buying practice is probably not ideal, but it works for me.

Note, I'm starting from a standpoint of having a good number of generic tools such as sockets, wrenches, jack stands, various air tools, work bench, etc etc. So at this point, I typically buy a tool when I know I'm going to need it for a project. Obviously this is the more ideal condition. But so often I'm in the middle of a project and realize there is a special tool required that will either save me time or make completing the job possible. Had I known about the tool prior, I would've gotten it. But in the moment, you often find yourself in one of those situations where it's either pay for what you need to get the job done at whatever retailer has what you need or let it sit while something gets shipped to you. In cases where I'm working on my daily driver, I often find I reluctantly pay the retail price just to get what I need in my hands right then, even if the tool could've been gotten far cheaper online a few days later. But I justify the higher price as a "convenience fee."

As for cheap harbor freight stuff vs name brand, it depends on the tool. If it's a rarely used tool or my duty on the tool is within its limits, I'll try harbor freight stuff first and see if it'll function well enough to get me through whatever I need the tool for. If it breaks, wears out, or is a pain to use, then I'll consider upgrading to something that's better...but only if I feel like I'll actually use the tool again.

For example, I've got Harbor Freight Suspension Spring Compressors. They were cheap, worked for what I needed, and as far as I can tell, will work again if I ever need them in the future. My set of 2 and 3 jaw pullers, not so much. Buy something better than Harbor Freight if you want something that is strong enough to do the job and can take some abuse. I should've known when the 3/8" bolts were Grade 5, not Grade 8.

One of my best Harbor Freight purchases has been my 21 gal upright air compressor I got back in 2005 from Harbor Freight for something like $100 on sale. I think they sell for $160 on sale now. It has given me ZERO problems. Buying something more expensive would've been a waste of money. The only time this compressor has ever been insufficient for my needs was when I was porting the heads and intake for my engine. I'd grind away at the metal for a few seconds, then I'd have to wait a few minutes for the pressure to rebuild. To overcome the lack of capacity, I borrowed a similarly sized compressor, T-d it into my air-line, put it on a different electrical circuit and ran them simultaneously to get the flow rate I needed to port the heads without having to stop every 15 seconds to wait for the tank to refill. Even with 2 compressors, I had to stop occasionally, but it wasn't nearly as bad and the pressure restoration time was lower. Had I not been able to borrow a compressor to get that job done, I would've bought another Harbor Freight compressor just like the one I have and been happy to do so.

Now occasionally you find some tools that you use a lot that "cheap" just doesn't hold up for...like those pullers. For them, I've justified the strategy of figure out that the cheap thing is failing me and upgrade at that time. If the upgrade fails, upgrade to something even better. When it's all said-n-done, I have confidence that I truly NEEDED the expensive tool...and I have the experience of using the others that failed.

Granted, this works for me because I'm only an occasional use hobbyist. I no longer use my tools as a source of income. If my tools were my paycheck, my priorities would be very different. I could justify buying higher quality stuff to avoid the "costs" of downtime...even if I bought higher quality things than I really required.