Harbor Freight Workbench

Thank you for visiting our new website. Today I want to talk to you about the four Harbor Freight Workbenches with light I purchase for my garage/woodworking workspace at our new Southwest Florida home. I want to start by saying that this is not my first garage workspace or woodshop. The choices I made during the design aspect and my choices regarding tools and equipment are directly connected or guided by my previous experiences.

My mom, over the years, has referred to me as the Cuban jew. That has a lot to do with my frugal ways. Yes, I am cheap, but don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind spending an extra dollar on something. It just has to have value. For example, are any Nike shoes over $80.00 worth it? NO, and that is a big NO. There isn’t a single Nike show ever made that had more than $20.00 worth of material in it! That is, according to industry insiders. If we applied conventional markup models to any Nike shoe, let’s say 75% margin, there isn’t a single shoe in the line worth $100.00. With that said, it is also essential that we talk about what I’ll be making or building in my woodworking shop/garage workspace and why the workbench at Harbor Freight fits that model.

When you say woodworking workspace/garage, many in the DIY community will automatically assume you are talking about furniture and other types of woodworking projects. That requires precision and a particular grade of tools “if” you are going to deliver a quality product. While building furniture has always been an attraction, I know my limitations, and that is why I stick to fishing lures, shelves, and small projects like that. After all, that was the driving force in us packing our bags and heading west! Also, know that the Harbor Freight Workbenches were not my first choice or where I first when looking. However, after realizing that what Home Depot, Lowes, Amazon, and other places were offering was the same Chinese made workbench at Harbor Freight, choosing the less expensive option was not only an easy but the right thing to do.

Regardless of what I am buying, I have to admit that I rely on reviews quite a bit. Yes, as a marketing person, I shouldn’t since I am responsible for a good percentage of the many fake reviews and testimonies on the internet today. However, reviews, whether positive or negative, are, in many ways, representative of the quality of the product or service you are purchasing. Nevertheless, when you read comments like “Nicer in the pictures and 100% Disappointing”, “It lacked the necessary screws, nuts, and bolts,” and “Took 6 hours” to assemble, you have to wonder!

I am here to report that Harbor Freight Workbench does not take 6 hours to assemble, and although made from very mild, very soft Chinese steel, its overall quality is not bad! I purchase it on SALE for $69.99, and even when it is not, you can pick it up for $79.99 with the 20% OFF coupon.

The assembly of my first Harbor Freight Workbench took me about an hour. That was due in part to not following directions, trying to take short cuts, and yes, I have to say it, less than stellar instructions. However, the second one only took me 45 minutes and the two after that no more than twenty! That is why I made the YouTube video showing the assembly and mods of the Harbor Freight Workbench.

Can a Ferrari or Lamborghini be made better? Sure, people all over the world do it every day. Perfection is an elusive mirage that we all strive for but rarely accomplish! Can the Harbor Freight workbench be improved upon, sure, without a doubt!

The first and what I believe to be one of the weakest points with the Harbor Freight Workbench is the hardware. I mean, short of just tossing the bag and replacing it with grade 8 “bolt” NOT screws, you can make a huge difference in your final products by just adding a star or pressure washers. As I mentioned in the video, you can also use Loctite, but with over one hundred screws to assemble, that is just not practical.

Second, the Harbor Freight Workbench Mod I would strongly recommend is fastening the deck and the bottom and top shelves. You will not believe what a difference this makes. This one modification makes the bench feel like the steel it was made from was twice its gauge.

The third Harbor Freight workbench modification I will recommend is the additional MDF braces for the bottom shelf and the back of the pegboard. These are functional by keeping stuff from falling out of the back of the shelf and adds weight and rigidness to the structure for very little money.

Last but not least, it the light! They may as well have left it out! It is a  24″ florescent model using a T5 14 watts bulb. I am not sure what the frequency is, but I can tell you that the camera shots look yellowish, leading me to believe it is around 3000K. While you can replace the bulb with an LED equivalent F13T5, I think that a 6 watts 5000K flush-mounted LED fixture is a better choice, and that is what I opted to use. They cost $3.99 on eBay!

The only reason I can’t give a 5-star review to the Harbor Freight Workbench is because of the hardware, as I mentioned above! However, other than that, the overall experience and satisfaction with the final product are perfect! Yes, assembly is required! …and no, it does not take 6 hours! Having the right tools can cut the assembly process to under a half-hour, but even with just a screwdriver and pliers, I don’t see taking an hour after watching my YouTube video, and that is because the instructions are not the best. The Chinese have not figured out why Ikea is the king of RTA (Ready to Assemble) furniture. They are because they have put a substantial amount of resources in putting together instructions manuals that even a ten-year-old can make sense of it! For example, the angle pieces that make up the upright. By now, I have built like six of these things, and three out of six, I got that part placed in the wrong direction! The component should be symmetrical so that they fit every whish way, but unfortunately, it only fits one way. At the end of the day, it is all about ROI (Return on Investment). After considerable research and some due diligence, there is no way I could have build or purchase anything like this for under $100.00