When I consider buying tools from HF, I ask myself: "Will I use this tool more than once?" If it's more than a $10 tool and the answer is yes, I buy a quality tool from a real tool shop. For cheap disposable crap, HF is great. That said, I have a few HF tools that have lasted me years... air grinder, impact wrench, MC lift (though it started leaking hydraulic oil in year one). I've bought many tools though, that broke on my first attempt to use them.
There is a different value available there: cheap chinese steel. I considered buying the english wheel they sell, bracing it and upgrading the bearings. Instead I built my own. In the end, I spent about as much on steel to build it from scratch, and had to do a LOT of work. Granted, mine looks cooler, but still... I could have been wheeling parts much earlier. The bearings on the HF product were crap, but it is really a decent buy just in the weight of steel alone.
