Yes, certainly a lot of HF stuff is just crap, but there are a few diamonds in the rough there. My rule for their electrical items is very simple - only buy their best quality (i.e. most expensive) of whatever tool you need, only buy it on sale or with a coupon, and (this is important) before you even use it the first time take it apart and add lots of good grease or oil to the gears. Chinese grease looks and smells like poop and doesn't do much in the parsimonious quantities that you usually find it. I do this without fail, and guess what, the drills or angle grinders or whatnots run quiet and smooth and keep working reliably.
So far my cheapo HF 1/2" single-speed corded "magnesium" drill has outlasted my expensive made-in-USA Craftsman drill. My HF Dremeloid has outlasted my genuine Dremel (which actually spat its brushes out in a puff of acrid smoke one day!), and because it cost a quarter of the real one's price I don't care if it dies the next time I use it. Buying a brand-name item only guarantees that you've spent more - they all can (and do) die without warning. Would I buy a Harbor Freight pacemaker or Scuba gear or parachute or DIY bomb defusing kit - no, of course not, but for life's less critical things HF can be OK, sometimes.
John
