So I was driving by Harbor Freight today.......

A forum for the proverbial airport bum who just wants to talk about anything and everything related to flying. Introduce yourself here !!

Post Reply
User avatar
bullojm1
Chief Rivet Banger
Posts: 1368
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 6:37 pm
Location: KDMW
Contact:

So I was driving by Harbor Freight today.......

Post by bullojm1 »

Man I hate driving by Harbor Freight. It's not like I can just ignore its there. I have to stop in and peruse the flier and isles for the deals of the week. The fun part is I set myself a budget before I go in every time - today was a $10 day.

I needed some razor blades and a chainsaw sharpener, so with those two things obtained, I had a cool $3 to spend to stay in budget. Nothing really jumped out at me until I saw some automatic wire strippers on sale for $1.79. I never have had a pair, and at this price I couldn't go wrong.

Knowing what I paid for them, I wasn't expecting much. The first test was on some 22 gauge stranded wire. Worked great. Second test was much tougher -- some 20 or 22 gauge tefzel from the chopped wire harness that my avionics came from. WORKED GREAT. Next test was shielded tefzel. Worked great too!

Now I don't expect these to last very long cutting tefzel...I bought them to toss in my electrical toolbox for other jobs. But who knows, as long as it works, I might hold off spending the $40 on the ideal StripMaster!

Here is the link:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=95124

Image
Mike Bullock
http://www.rvplane.com
RV-7 | Superior IO-360 | Whirlwind 200RV
Garmin GTN650 | GRT Dual Sport SX EFIS
Status: FLYING!

Spike
Chief Rivet Banger
Posts: 4013
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:40 pm
Location: Baltimore, MD
Contact:

Post by Spike »

Those are dangerous places to go dude. You should always change your route so you don't have to drive by one. They are like black holes and they will suck you in.

John
http://www.rivetbangers.com - Now integrating web and mail!
Current Build: 2 years into a beautiful little girl

lancef53
Class D
Posts: 376
Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 8:34 pm
Location: Portland, North Dakota

Post by lancef53 »

I hate that store. I can go in there not needing a thing, and come out $100 poorer.
RV 8
First Flight--4-3-2010

User avatar
papakeith
Class D
Posts: 430
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 9:15 pm
Location: Rhode Island
Contact:

Post by papakeith »

I hear ya. I went in last week for a set of pliers. I came out with three sets of pliers (dad could use one :) ), three sets of micro screwdriver sets, a pair of gloves, an IR temperature sensor, a box of rubber gloves, and cleco pliers.

They must pump subliminal adds through the canned music in the store.
-------
RB's #1 heretic
www.bearhawk949.com

Spike
Chief Rivet Banger
Posts: 4013
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:40 pm
Location: Baltimore, MD
Contact:

Post by Spike »

I need some more rubber gloves, thanx for reminding me!!
http://www.rivetbangers.com - Now integrating web and mail!
Current Build: 2 years into a beautiful little girl

User avatar
bullojm1
Chief Rivet Banger
Posts: 1368
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 6:37 pm
Location: KDMW
Contact:

Post by bullojm1 »

Spike wrote:I need some more rubber gloves, thanx for reminding me!!
They had them on Sale when I was there Saturday.

Now the challenge is can you go in there and JUST buy gloves??? :evil: :evil: :evil:
Mike Bullock
http://www.rvplane.com
RV-7 | Superior IO-360 | Whirlwind 200RV
Garmin GTN650 | GRT Dual Sport SX EFIS
Status: FLYING!

User avatar
hydroguy2
Class B
Posts: 1307
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Townsend, Montana

you guys got it made,

Post by hydroguy2 »

it's roughly 3.5hrs to the nearest HF for me.

I got the mail the other day and mentioned to my wife, "hey I got another Habor Freight flyer" She said "you get one almost everyweek, but I throw them out before you get any ideas!"

Oh Well, if it were closer, I'd probably only be allowed supervised visits just like the gun store :oops:
Brian
Townsend, MT

User avatar
papakeith
Class D
Posts: 430
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 9:15 pm
Location: Rhode Island
Contact:

Post by papakeith »

ooohh the gun store. . . another place that likes to take my money.
-------
RB's #1 heretic
www.bearhawk949.com

User avatar
Mike Balzer
Class E
Posts: 147
Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 11:18 pm
Location: Saugus, CA

Post by Mike Balzer »

I purchased a wire stripper that looked just like that at frys electronics. I spent $8 on it and it stripped all sizes of wires flawlessly. I worked in the electronic prop shop for the movie Armageton and stripped over 8,000 wires and the stripper still works great even today.

I purchased an extra cheap pair at osh like the ones from harbor frieght but they did not work as good as my frys electronics one.

Maybe I just got a bad pair. Good luck with yours,


Mike Balzer
It is better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, then being in the air and wishing you were on the ground. N78MB

User avatar
bullojm1
Chief Rivet Banger
Posts: 1368
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 6:37 pm
Location: KDMW
Contact:

Post by bullojm1 »

Yeah, I imagine it is hit or miss with these cheap strippers (just like real strippers :evil: ). I am probably gonna bite the bullet and buy a set of Ideal Stripmasters. My fear is I will be in the middle of wiring, these things will break and then I will be down waiting for a better set to arrive in the mail for a few days. $40 isn't that bad for a tool.
Mike Bullock
http://www.rvplane.com
RV-7 | Superior IO-360 | Whirlwind 200RV
Garmin GTN650 | GRT Dual Sport SX EFIS
Status: FLYING!

User avatar
RV7Factory
Beanpolt
Posts: 522
Joined: Fri May 20, 2005 2:28 pm
Location: Livermore, CA

Post by RV7Factory »

bullojm1 wrote:I am probably gonna bite the bullet and buy a set of Ideal Stripmasters.
Good call. The benefit of the stripmaster is that because of the die it doesn't nick the wire. I got mine, along with a ratcheting crimper, from www.mytoolstore.com.

http://www.mytoolstore.com/ideal/ide11-24.html
Brad Oliver
RV-7 | Livermore, CA
RV7Factory.com
Image

lancef53
Class D
Posts: 376
Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 8:34 pm
Location: Portland, North Dakota

Post by lancef53 »

Well, I got out of HF yesterday for less than $100--kind of a victory.

Too bad for me I went in for a set on $11 dollar gloves and a wheel cart that was out of stock :bang: :bang: :bang:

$91 dollars of one more welding helmet, some allen wrenches, and the above mentioned gloves.
RV 8
First Flight--4-3-2010

Post Reply