LocostUSA.com

I can't believe I've never seen this thread. Since my garage is full of HF I consider myself an expert on their crap, er tools.

I have a bench top mill/drill model #33686. I love the thing expecially now that I converted it to CNC. In standard form it did need some adjusting but nothing I wouldn't do to a mill costing 5x as much. The biggest problem was the slop in the trust bearings on the leadscrews but any experienced machinist can deal with that. Overall I'd give it an A- as some of the castings are alittle rough compared to a Rong Fu or Enco but still quite a bit cheaper. Actually lots of machine tools out of China and Korea are esentually the same as they are all based off of plans distributed by the government to boost the manufacturing economy. The foundry that poured the iron and the color are the biggest differences.

7x10 lathe #93213. Another great piece of machinery sold under many different lables. Its alittle small for some projects but still extreamly useful. After cleanup, adjusting, and lubing I give it an A as well.

horizontal/vertical bandsaw #37151. (older green model. new red one has some changes.) Had to do some work on one of the blade pulleys as it would woble and throw the blade. The stand is junk. HF blades suck. Other than that its been a great tool. Quiet and good cuts too. I no longer use my HF chop saw now. Bandsaw B-. Chopsaw D. (Vibrates about every nut and bolt out, noisy and messy.

Dual Mig 131 no longer sold. Added gas and its been real good to me. Welded lots of aluminum with great results. Its the only HF tool I have that has totally paid for itself buy welding intercoolers and aluminum oil pans for other people. My only complaint other than I wish it had more umff is the low duty cycle on full power. The fix is a large heat-sink and wire in a fan (already had the opening for one). B

4 1/2 angle grinder. years of use and hasn't died yet though it did make a horible screaching sound for awhile. B+

Now having said all this I will say that I like tools so I do take care of them. You can ruin an expensive tool just as quick as a cheep one by using it as a hammer when you can't find/reach one. I also bought just about all of it on sale or with the 10,15,20% of cupons they used to e-mail me. Does anyone know if they still do these cupons or did they catch on that I'll only buy from them when I'm getting a deal?

Not all of their stuff will give as good of service as the stuff I've bought from them. A word of caution about their stuff, If it feels like a cheap piece of crap it probly is. Look very closely before you take it out the door. Just look at their taps if you don't know what I mean.

Good review Motive. It's good to see another Dual Mig 131 owner here. I have it and the 220v 151 model I got for thicker stuff and so far in the first 6 months of ownership I have spent more time working on the 151 than I have on the 131 over the last 4-5 years. They appear to share the same case and the 151 has a fan. I didn't like the noises my wire feed motor was making on the 151 so I called customer service and gave them the part number. They quoted me $12 for the entire feed mechanism. I'll bet you could order the fan for the 151 and bolt it right up to the 131, whether it would run or not I don't know, I'm no electrician.

I'd be interested in hearing what your 131's setup is for aluminum as I have an extra 20cf tank I was considering using for Aluminum. Will it weld cast Aluminum? How thin of Aluminum will it weld?

_________________
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

I just used a generica electronics enclosure fan but it is good to know that the 151 shares some parts. I might have to look into it as I was thinking about wireing in another transformer to try to get alittle more heat out of it. Maybe the 151 part would work. I have a wireing diagram somewere for the 131 and I got to say that there is not much to a welder like this.

For Alu. you need pure argon. There is also a special teflon liner for the wire feed that your supost to use but I have never been able to find a HF part # for it (owners manual talks about it). The alu wire is so soft that if it has too much resistance in the gun then the rollers will make a birds nest. that is why you can buy guns with the wire feed at the gun. What I do though is keep the gun hose as strait as possible with no loops in it. Use a tip one size bigger than you would for steel.

Alu disipated heat away from the weld very quickly so almost all the welding I've done it at max heat and be prepared to move along the weld quickly. Preheating the parts with a propane torch helps ALOT. The wire melts back very fast too so the feed speed has to be set high. The parts to be welded also have to be much cleaner than steel and the oxidized layer need to be ground, sanded, or acid etched off just prior to welding. Those HF flap sanders work great for this. Also the wire needs to be snipped off after every time you stop welding as well as regrind the weld if you are going to continue were you left off.

I have welded both cast and sheet Alu from 3/16 to maybe a 1/4in. with great results. One thing to note is that on some of the cast stuff I've done like VW oilpans with cracks in them, there is junk/oil in the cracks that causes trouble in the weld. A welder friend once told me that alu is easier to weld than steel but ANY impurity on the alu will ruin the weld. I have found this to be true.

I also wanted to mention that there are several yahoo groups dedicated for HF tools that have tons of great modifications and stuff to really turn them into good tools. There are groups for the mill/drill, lathes, bandsaws and several others. If anyone has these tools I highly recomend checking them out.

If you are looking for a better bandsaw blade, consider the Starret bi-metal blades. Also, I have used these from Grizzly. They are a bi-metal and one blade lasted me through my entire buggy build. I have cut some 3 1/2" diameter round stock on my grizzly 4x6 (same as HF) with these blades, along with 1x4 solid bar. Actually, I still have one new blade at home, because I bought two after the stock one died and it has been on the saw for two years now. You will like these blades.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/64-1-2- ... lade/G5114

It's ALWAYS good to buy two blades. Nothing worse than finally getting time to work on the car and having a blade break on the weekend when the stores are closed.

Also, even good blades can jam and kink. After that happens you may as well replace it then, since the kink causes mischief when cutting, and the blade will eventually break there.

_________________
Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

Starlett does make some good stuff, including some of the best bi-metal hole saws for those fishmouthing round tube.

I got some e-mailed coupons from HF the other day that reminded me of one of the best buys there... 1/2 in torque wrentch. Its only $9 with the coupon. I know guys that have gone through several craftsmans before switching and have never had a problem since.

Always remember to set your clicker wrentchs to zero when not in use to maintain its accuracy.

Save $80 on HF metal bandsaw!

_________________
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Now, that's not fair! Why is there no HF equivalent here in Quebec !

-S.

I think the HF equal in Canada is Princess Auto from what I understand. Same chinese tools, just a different name.

_________________
Build sold to a new loving home. May start another one when I have more time to devote to it. For now I play with my boat, Datsun 240Z, and GS700 motorcycle.

They have some very nice coupons this month.

I should have bought this a long time ago, $69 on sale. Extra large viewing area really helps out of position welding. Adjustable sensitivity, delay, and shade #. Way better than the $200 helmet its replacing.

Rod

_________________
Driving a +442E with 450 Hp Ford 347 v8, T5, 8 stack EFI w/EDIS8 & MegaSquirt ITB Mode.
12,000+ enthusiastic miles as of 1/1/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqvYJlYc4GU
http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p3/beergodrod/
Now building a 1953 Chevy 1 ton panel with Frito Lay truck parts and a Cummins 4BTA
and a 1963 Nova SS

Has anyone else noticed HF is not emailing coupons any more? I haven't gotten any spam from them in half a year or more. I put my email into the website again, but no joy. Can't remember the last time I saw a 15% off coupon show up.

Or is one of the spam filters just being overactive?

-dave

_________________
...nowadays people are so intellectually lazy and lethargic that they can't build ANYTHING with their hands. They'll spend hours watching whiny people marooned on an island, but won't spend a second adding anything to the world. -weconway
Visit my [Locost 7 build log]

I get them monthly.

_________________
Turbo cars are like hot women. A little edgy, every guy wants one, some guys can't handle them, and if you throw a little alcohol in them they'll rock your world

I get them every week or so. Although, it took me signing up about 3 or 4 times before I started getting them.

--JOsh

If anybody gets another coupon for the bandsaw shown above, please post it. I have the handheld. It would be nice to have a floor model.

I think with the greater acceptance of their products, we will see fewer and fewer good deals.

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12