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Are Harbor Freight tools any good?

Dave Farquhar DIY February 4, 2019March 27, 2024

As a longtime homeowner, a landlord, and a train hobbyist, I’ve collected a fair number of tools. Enough tools that I recently had to buy another tool cabinet because I was out of room. A fair number of my tools came from Harbor Freight. So are Harbor Freight tools any good? Sometimes. But definitely not always. They aren’t all junk, but they aren’t all good either.

It’s hard to generalize with Harbor Freight because some of their tools are a good value for the money, or even an excellent value for their money. Others are a poor value. Harbor Freight has a reputation and has started offering better quality in recent years, but many of their cheap tools also remain on the shelves. But if you’re careful, you can do very well at Harbor Freight.

Transfer an image to metal with paper

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 1, 2019February 10, 2019

I’ve wanted for years to be able to transfer an image to metal from paper. I experimented with it a lot in the 2004 timeframe, but I was never happy with the results and I eventually gave up. Until now. Today, the materials you need to transfer an image to metal with paper are readily available, work well, and are inexpensive.

The trick is to print a reverse image on a laser printer (color or black and white) onto paper that the toner doesn’t stick to very well. Apply a thin coat of adhesive to your metal, then stick your image down and smooth it out. Let it dry, then peel the paper back to leave your image behind. Apply a clearcoat and enjoy.

How bad is MS08-067?

Dave Farquhar security January 31, 2019January 19, 2026

If you’ve worked in security, or worked with security professionals, chances are you’ve heard about MS08-067. If the discussion was between security and another department, chances are it was a heated discussion. Just how bad is MS08-067? Are the security professionals exaggerating?

MS08-067, a Microsoft patch released on October 23, 2008, fixed the last really reliable remote code execution bug in Windows operating systems. All Windows NT-based operating systems prior to Windows 7 and Windows 2008R2 were susceptible to this vulnerability out of the box. It was an out-of-band release.

White spots on polyurethane: How to fix them

Dave Farquhar DIY January 30, 2019September 7, 2023

Sometimes when the polyurethane dries on your project, it leaves white spots on the finish, marring otherwise nice-looking work. Maybe that only happens to me, but I don’t think so. Fortunately you can fix white spots on polyurethane. And when you know what causes them, you can prevent them in the first place.

White spots on polyurethane are generally caused by two things: Not stirring thoroughly enough before applying it, or a buildup of moisture. While preventing the white spots is easier than fixing them, you can fix them by sanding down the high spots and then drawing out the moisture. If the spot is small, you can touch it up with a furniture marker.

Organize tool box drawers cheap

Dave Farquhar DIY January 29, 2019March 8, 2021

Sometimes I dig through my toolbox drawers looking for something and find tools I’d forgotten I had. And I might or might not find the tool I was looking for. Sound familiar? You can spend hundreds of dollars on organization systems, but you may not want to. Here’s how you can organize tool box drawers cheap, and without blowing your whole holiday weekend.

Toolbox organization trays can help you sort and group similar tools and keep the tools from jumbling into a mess, striking a balance between foam systems that look nice but offer no flexibility, and chaotic junk drawers that hide your tools from you. If some of your tools have instruction booklets, having trays lets you keep them right next to the tools if you ever need them.

How to take the drawers out of a Craftsman toolbox

Dave Farquhar DIY January 28, 2019January 29, 2019

I was organizing my toolbox when two of the drawers jammed. And people wonder why I’m so disorganized. Every time I try to organize, something like that happens. But anyway, it seems like finding out how to take the drawers out of a Craftsman toolbox is even harder than getting organized. Hopefully I can simplify that.

Most Craftsman toolboxes don’t use hand-operated tabs or levers like other brands. Craftsman toolboxes have a drawer stop that you can push in with a screwdriver after you extend the drawer as far as it will go. Push on the stop gently to avoid bending it too far. Once you push in the stop, it releases the drawer so you can pull it out the rest of the way.

Wiring Marx Accessories

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 25, 2019November 19, 2022

Wiring Marx accessories isn’t too hard, and Marx accessories are forgiving. You can just run two wires to them, somehow, and they’ll probably work. But that’s probably not what you’re after. You probably want efficiency in terms of how much wire you use, and you probably want to hide your wires. Marx’s design allows for some clever tricks hobbyists have devised over the years.

The main rule to remember is to use around 20 AWG wire and connect the non-insulated binding post on the accessory to the common post on your transformer, and the insulated binding post to the hot post, using the dedicated accessory terminals if your transformer has them. This allows you to do some tricks when it comes to saving wire.

Make replacement drawers for a small parts organizer

Dave Farquhar DIY January 24, 2019February 11, 2019

I have a couple of small parts organizer cabinets. Over the years several drawers went missing or broke. Fortunately it’s easy and cheap to make replacement drawers for a small parts organizer. You don’t have to throw out a $20 cabinet over some missing drawers. Here’s an illustrated guide showing how I made mine.

To make replacement drawers for a small parts organizer, trace out all of the sides on a piece of thick cardboard. The thicker the better. Leave flaps in each corner. Cut out the big rectangle. Cut one side of each flap. Score the rest of the lines and fold them, then secure with wood glue.

Gigabit USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter on USB 2.0 port

Dave Farquhar Hardware January 23, 2019March 13, 2021

Is there such thing as a gigabit USB 2.0 Ethernet adapter? There is, but they’re hard to find because gigabit runs faster than the limits of USB 2.0. But you can use a gigabit USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter on a USB 2.0 port and it will function.

When you plug a USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter into a USB 2.0 port, it will still work at reduced speed, as long as your operating system has a driver for it. It will still negotiate a gigabit link speed with your Ethernet switch, and you’ll get whatever speeds your system can manage. It will be faster than 100 megabits.

How to block computer scammer calls

Dave Farquhar scams January 22, 2019February 12, 2019

My computer security buddies have been posting a lot lately on social media about computer scammers, giving advice on how to spot them. But what if I told you that you could block them entirely? Here’s how to block computer scammer calls.

Generally speaking, you can block most computer scams by signing up for a simultaneous ring service, installing a call blocking app on your cell phone, and changing the DNS settings on your computer or router.