Cheap tools.

  Or bargains to help you get where you want to be?

  I used to be a diehard fan of Craftsman hand tools and wouldn’t buy anything else unless, of course, it was snap on or something along those lines.

  However, Craftsman is now made in China as is nearly everything else anymore. Finding quality tools made in America that the beginner or hobbyist can justify affording is nearly a fools errand, it seems.

  Don’t get me wrong, I still look for the made in America labeled tools, but I generally don’t see it anymore. I’m, of course, not saying nothing is made here, only that it keeps getting harder to find and more expensive to buy when and if you do find it.

  The government over taxing businesses has driven most manufacturers to do business overseas in an attempt to remain profitable and with the way things are going I personally don’t see that changing anytime soon.

  An individual still has to have tools, though, and ones that don’t cause buyers’ remorse as you’re checking out are not a bad thing.

  In that light, I had been looking for my mig welder, and at first, I thought someone may have borrowed it without my knowledge or it had been stolen. I have a nice stick welder but I like the mig better. Anyways,  after having given up I found it in one of my sheds, the sides were taken off so I’m guessing I was having troubles and decided to fix it.

  I simply don’t remember even trying to work on it so I’m going to buy another and try to trouble shoot the old one when I’m trying to get things taken care of. It’ll make a good starter for one of the boys if they decide to try their hand at welding.

  I found this welder online on sale for $89, with a new spool of wire, with taxes and shipping it comes in at a little over $129. A similar Miller welder was around $1,000.

  While I’d prefer a Miller or even a Hobart welder, I simply can not justify the cost. If I was trying to run a business with it, then I may, but this is just for my personal use, and I had great luck with my last off brand welder for years. It still bothers me that I don’t remember trying to work on it, but it would have been around the times our world got turned upside down and we ended up going through things I would never wish on anyone else.

  Something else I currently have on my wishlist is a mini excavator. I have several projects I want to do and even a reoccurring task for which one would be ideal. And again, Harbor Freight has something that I believe would work well, and I’ll likely get serious about getting one next year unless I decided to take on monthly payments.

  It’s around $3,000, but the videos make it seem it would be perfect for what I want to do with it. And it would save me that much or more for what someone else would charge me , so I’m convinced I will be getting one unless, of course, I come across something better.

  Overall, I believe the tools from Harbor Freight are a decent value for the money. Of course, they are not all the same, so I’d look for the ones with a lifetime warranty and make sure you can get by with cheaper tools. If you’re running a business, it may not make sense, but then again, it just may.

  Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas.