Harbor Freight "Pittsburgh" Tools?

Thread Starter

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
Here at Harbor Freight they carry a line of tools called Pittsburgh Tools?

I am sure it is just a marketing gimmick to make you think the tools are made here locally when they are really made in China.

I was just curious if they have "Houston" Tools or "LA" Tools etc in other parts of the country.

I know there are a few fans of Harbor Freight around.
 

someonesdad

Joined Jul 7, 2009
1,583
It's just a brand name that Harbor Freight has used for many years. It is stuff made in China. As far as I've seen, they use their brand names uniformly in the US. Unless you see a brand name you recognize and you know it's made in the US, virtually everything else you see at Harbor Freight is made in China or perhaps another Asian country or the mideast.

10 to 20 years ago, a lot of the Chinese stuff was junk and enjoyed a reputation similar to the stuff made in Japan in the 50's. A lot of their stuff has improved over the years; some of it is still junk. You have to look at what you're buying and try to decide if it represents a good value.

For us home mechanics, some of their stuff represents a decent value. For example, a number of years ago I needed some larger metric sockets (somewhere in the 30-36 mm range, IIRC) to get the engine out of one of our cars. An American-made brand name socket like Snap-On or Mac probably would have been $20 to $30 or so. I bought a whole set of Harbor Freight 3/4" drive sockets (and it included other 3/4" drive junk I didn't need) for less than $50. I've occasionally (a few times a year, at best) need those big sockets, so they were probably worth it.

By the way, here's a tip for you mechanics who want a good tool: the Knipex plier-wrench. I bought the littlest one for around $40 years ago and it is one of the most-used tools in my toolbox. It will handle hex head diameters up to 1.38"; the bigger versions go correspondingly bigger. Whenever I go to fix something, the three basic tools that go with me are this plier-wrench, my Knipex Cobra pliers, and a set of screwdriver bits & handle. I strongly recommend Knipex stuff -- they're not cheap, but they make good stuff.
 

Thread Starter

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
Yeah I knew it was a marketing gimmick, But since I live in Pittsburgh I found it really curious that they had a line of tools called Pittsburgh.

I thought maybe each region had the same tools with a regional label name.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Yeah I knew it was a marketing gimmick, But since I live in Pittsburgh I found it really curious that they had a line of tools called Pittsburgh.

I thought maybe each region had the same tools with a regional label name.
Nope. Chicago Pneumatic tools have nothing to do with Chicago, except maybe some parts are crooked.

John
 

debe

Joined Sep 21, 2010
1,389
I purcased 2 Knipex side cutters abt 25ys ago & there still going, one even survived cutting 240V ac cable!!!:eek: now has a gap for striping insulation off wire.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I bought an Ohio Forge half sheet sander at Harbor Freight. The on/off switch disassembled in less than 30 minutes, and it definitely wasn't made in Ohio.
 
Top