Why Harbor Freight?  Because it’s CHEAP and most of us amateur builders won’t wear out what they sell.  One downside is precision, cheap tools just aren’t as precise as quality ones, but for most jobs they are good enough.  Also, I believe Harbor Freight has been slowly improving the quality of their tools.  To top it off with, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Make Magazine have two full pages of coupons one of which has always been (for the past year atleast) a 20% off one single item coupon.  Every month when my popular science comes I rip out those two pages fold them up and stick them in my wallet.

On to the list!

#1 A Cheap Circular Saw with a Metal Cutting Blade

Armed with a circular saw with an abrasive blade, there isn’t very much that you can’t cut.  I’ve cut cars, doors, made tools, etc…  Next up to this tool is a cheap angle grinder with a thin blade.  Good for slightly more precise freehand cuts without as much lost material, sparks, and noise.

#2 A Set of these giant 15″ crescent wrenches (or the 24″ if you can afford them).

These are some of my favorite tools for a few reasons.  One, you can straighten (or bend) anything with them…  Have a piece of angle iron you need to make a slightly larger angle?  Just tighten the wrences over the edges, and give them a little push.  Have a 2×4 That is warped that you want to straighten,  just secure one end, and attach one of these to the other.  A rash of robberies on your street?  Just tuck one of these under each side of your bed.  Oh, and btw…  They are good for large bolts too.

#3 All In One Screw Driver(s)

You know, you can just NEVER find a screw driver when you need one…  So, I started buying these any time they were on sale or I had some extra change.  We now have 6 of them, and we can always find one when we need one now (although it can take a little looking sometimes).

#4 Reciprocating Saw

These go on sale for about $19.99 frequently, and they are just awesome to have around…  Like the circular saw, you can cut almost anything with one of these.  Putting in a dog door?  Some pipe?  Need to trim a stud?  Cut off a nail?  Severe a rusted bolt?  Cut through a piece of wood without worrying about nails?  Turn your car into a convertible? This is your tool.  A skilled user could destroy an entire house in a few hours with one of these.

#5 1/2″ Chuck Drill

Sometimes you really really need a drill with a larger chuck.  Some drill bits just won’t go into a smaller drill.  This drill also has a gear box, slowing the speed of the drill bit while still applying full torque.  Great for hole saws, wire brushes, Big drill bits, etc…

#6 Pull Stroke Saw

A finish carpenter I knew in Salt Lake let me borrow one of these once, and I was sold.  Miter saw?  Blech…  A sharp one of these guys will cut through small wood like nothing, and larger pieces like a 2×4 without breaking a sweat.

#7 Multimeters!

Multimeters…  If you do much electronics work, you know how valuable a multi meter is.  Usually you don’t even need a good one, just an “Is there electricity here?”, “Are these two wires connected?” capable meter.  Which these are more than qualified for.  Sometimes you can find these on sale for $0.99 each.  I bought 10 of them once, and gave them away, put one in each car, one in the shop, two in the house, and one in my tool bag, and still have a few left over to put with my electronics gear.  A really good value when they are on sale.

#8 Digital Calipers

These are way cool.  This is one of those tools you think you can do without until you have a set…  After that, there is no going back.  These are plastic, but they work great, and are still very accurate, I would say good to the hundredth of an inch.  Building a potato gun and need to find a piece of pipe that fits perfectly?  Need a hole the perfect size? Want to find a piece of flat material that is the perfect size to go under that coffee table leg?  This is the tool for you.

#9 These Carpet Covered Moving Dollies

These things are so useful and versatile.  I think we’ve gone through 4 or 5.  Not because they break, but because they are the cheapest way to get 4 good caster wheels…  You can grab these on sale for about $8 a piece almost any time.  I put one on the bottom of a big scroll saw we have, one under the wire-feed welder, I used one to put wheels on my air compressor, and another to put wheels under a cheap cabinet we got from Ikea that we roll around the porch and garage as a work station and we have another one that we use for moving heavy objects.  So buy two, and set one aside for when you permanently mount the other one.

#10 Canvas Tool Bag

This bag is the perfect tool box.  It has enough pockets around the outside to fit a set of both SAE and Metric wrenches (you just have to double up the smaller wrenches on the ends.  It also has pockets between the outside set and the canvas the handles are attached to, these are perfect for pliers and one of those multi screw drivers and it has enough room inside to drop a smaller bag that contains your 3/8″ socket and ratchet set, a roll of electrical tape, some Teflon tape, a multi meter, and other odds and ends you find useful.  It is also EXTREMELY well put together.  Pictured below is my bag minus the screw driver and pliers we are using inside right now.  When fully equipped this bag alone contains what is required for almost any job (seriously, not just saying that).  Including the wrenches, a crescent wrench in case you need two of one size, or a slightly larger wrench than you have, a 4 in one screw driver, a set of deepwell SAE and Metric 3/8 sockets, a set of spark plug sockets, a few extensions, a 3/8″ drive ratches, linemans pliers, dykes, wires strippers, channel locks, needle nose pliers, multimeter, electrical tape, teflon tape, a set of both sae and metric allen wrenches, and random odds and ends in the bottom collected from other recent projects.

If I could afford it I would buy each of my brothers and my dad one of these bags fully stocked.  Another great thing is that because it is canvas and not plastic you can throw it into the trunk of a car, behind the seat, squish it behind a truck bench seat, hold it in your lap, drop it on a tile floor, etc…  And you never have to worry about breaking or scratching anything.  I’ve had mine for about 5? years now and it has held up amazingly well.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my list.  Now go out and build/fix something!