When Is It OK To Use Products From China? (A Review of a Parts-Carousel from Harbor Freight Tools)
So as you probably know, I am an avid recycler. I am NOT perfect, but I do the best I can to recycle whatever I can - from shipping materials (almost always), to jewelry and fabrics, to furniture (especially for my studio!). But there are times when I simply can not find what I want or worse... when what I want APPEARS to be vintage, but in reality is still from China (reproductions) that still cost an arm and a leg to own.
Case in point - "old" revolving, tool-caddies/parts-carousels.
You would think they would be easy to find at antique stores etc...and they are. But I caution you to look them over carefully! For I have discovered a great many of them are being reproduced from china with a vintage look and have found MANY being sold as true vintage in flea markets and antique stores.
I have a business license and even at wholesale prices, the china reproductions being sold are quite spendy.
I have been looking for a carousel for over 2 years and have had little luck finding one that I could afford...so dear readers, I beg you to forgive me for purchasing a brand new carousel from Harbor Freight Tools. Yes it is from China, and yes it is um... not super sturdy. But, it was less than $20 bucks for a decent parts-carousel.
Having now put it together, painted it, and am using it, I have some tips and pointers for those of you wanting to buy your own:
* The instructions were typical - a couple of picture/diagrams and some directions. If you've ever put anything together yourself, you should be able to figure it out without the instructions.
* The metal is somewhat flimsy - especially the dividers - and some edges are sharp!
* You won't need many tools - although a Phillips-head screwdriver and maybe a small wrench to tighten the bolts.
* If you have big hands, the trays with 6 dividers will be a bit of a challenge to put together! I have big hands and arthritis in my thumb, so this was a bit of a challenge for me - and led to the next item...
* It took me about an hour to put together. Those darned partitions are a pain! They aren't hard to do... they just take time.
*They did NOT include lock-washers.. you may want to get your own, or you may want to add lock-tite to the threads of the screws (unless you want to be able to take it apart later..then don't do that!).
* Some of the screws were NOT machined well... meaning their phillip's heads were not correctly made so my screwdriver did not fit into the slots correctly.
* Harbor Freight did include a couple of extra washers and bolts, which was nice (but no extra nuts, which was not so nice).
* None of the parts were separated, which was a bit of a pain because there is a set of 3 slightly-larger nuts, washers, and bolts which is needed to make the base.
* It took 1 can of spray paint to fully paint the carousel (including the undersides).
* I'd advise coating the carousel with a varnish of some kind. I simply spray-painted the whole thing and then put it together. The paint was easy-to-scratch and I've already got a few nicks on it (which is fine for me since I like the vintage look, but it does take away from the nicely-painted look!).
* Once the individual trays were assembled, the actual putting-together of the carousel was simple and fast.
*It is not a huge carousel and doesn't easily hold larger items, but I find it incredibly helpful for storing the items that I use for making art! I need all my stuff, but I don't need it often. This way they are all out and easy to get to, but the items I need the most, are turned towards me.
FYI - Pink wasn't my preferred color, but it's what I had on hand.. I think it looks pretty good in pink. Next time, I think I'd do a deep purple gloss though.
All in all I'd say that the Harbor Freight Tools Parts-Carousel is a winner. Easily put-together, easily painted, holds a lot of stuff, and inexpensive. And at least I KNEW I was getting a cheap knock-off from China rather than buying something that cost a LOT more and was pretending to be vintage!
Is buying from China OK? Well, I still prefer not to... but there are times when it's unavoidable.
 |
| Antique? (photo per industrialartifacts.net) |
You would think they would be easy to find at antique stores etc...and they are. But I caution you to look them over carefully! For I have discovered a great many of them are being reproduced from china with a vintage look and have found MANY being sold as true vintage in flea markets and antique stores.
I have a business license and even at wholesale prices, the china reproductions being sold are quite spendy.
 |
| The various un-assembled parts |
Having now put it together, painted it, and am using it, I have some tips and pointers for those of you wanting to buy your own:
* The instructions were typical - a couple of picture/diagrams and some directions. If you've ever put anything together yourself, you should be able to figure it out without the instructions.
* The metal is somewhat flimsy - especially the dividers - and some edges are sharp!
 |
| This is the bag of parts |
* You won't need many tools - although a Phillips-head screwdriver and maybe a small wrench to tighten the bolts.
* If you have big hands, the trays with 6 dividers will be a bit of a challenge to put together! I have big hands and arthritis in my thumb, so this was a bit of a challenge for me - and led to the next item...
* It took me about an hour to put together. Those darned partitions are a pain! They aren't hard to do... they just take time.
*They did NOT include lock-washers.. you may want to get your own, or you may want to add lock-tite to the threads of the screws (unless you want to be able to take it apart later..then don't do that!).
* Some of the screws were NOT machined well... meaning their phillip's heads were not correctly made so my screwdriver did not fit into the slots correctly.
 |
| The base of one of the trays |
* Harbor Freight did include a couple of extra washers and bolts, which was nice (but no extra nuts, which was not so nice).
* None of the parts were separated, which was a bit of a pain because there is a set of 3 slightly-larger nuts, washers, and bolts which is needed to make the base.
 |
| Spray painted the sections seperately |
* I'd advise coating the carousel with a varnish of some kind. I simply spray-painted the whole thing and then put it together. The paint was easy-to-scratch and I've already got a few nicks on it (which is fine for me since I like the vintage look, but it does take away from the nicely-painted look!).
* Once the individual trays were assembled, the actual putting-together of the carousel was simple and fast.
 |
| My new, lovely pink parts-carousel holding many of my supplies |
FYI - Pink wasn't my preferred color, but it's what I had on hand.. I think it looks pretty good in pink. Next time, I think I'd do a deep purple gloss though.
All in all I'd say that the Harbor Freight Tools Parts-Carousel is a winner. Easily put-together, easily painted, holds a lot of stuff, and inexpensive. And at least I KNEW I was getting a cheap knock-off from China rather than buying something that cost a LOT more and was pretending to be vintage!
Is buying from China OK? Well, I still prefer not to... but there are times when it's unavoidable.
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