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With all the problems we seem to have with imports from China, I'm wondering if any of you are thinking about not buying products from there.
Ed
Ed
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Do you know about kickback? Ray has a good writeup here... https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...mare-explained
For a kickback demonstration video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/910584...demonstration/ -
very hard not to buy them, they are so ubiquitous.
And for tools, we've discounted the quality already in the purchase price, it's a plus when it turns out to be better than expected.
At least tools are not for the most part fatal like bad pharmacueticals and toxic pet found. It's easier to see feel, or hear the problems with tools.
Loring in Katy, TX USA
If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions -
I'm more worried about the food products, chemicals and additives. There seems to be so little control.Comment
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China
What really bugs me is that if the situation was reversed, China would cut off all imports from the USA. We must send these countries a message, that our policies will be the same as their policies. We should also step up our inspections. This time it was pets that was poisoned. Next time it could be a virus planted in our food supply.
Bill"I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in."-Kenny RogersComment
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To be fair, I haven't really followed the poisoning of food, but I think that China is on the World market to stay. To do so, they will need to adopt better QA procedures and testing. I am sure that they will be getting better in this area, especially in areas that the products are ingested or topically applied. I think you just have to give them a chance. They have been increasing quality on a lot of things. Hopefully better regulations for makers will implemented for them.
Things happen. Mistakes are made. It's often the end consumer that finds the fault and very often it is found out after a tragedy. China is not unique in this respect. I have seen evidence that they are willing to redesign machines with obvious short comings, so I say watch them closely and give them a chance.
I am on my third heat gun from HF. At $8.92 each, it is still a fine tool. I went through 3 Ridgid belt sanders in the same amount of time. I was over working them of course, but at $200 each, it is a much higher cost per hour of tool life.LeeComment
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China's emergence as a manufacturing economy has been a fascinating learning experience for me.
For example, I find it fascinating that it is less expensive to ship apples to China from all around the world, have them processed into apple juice, and then ship the resulting apple juice to the U.S. I wouda thought we'd produce our own apple juice and save one shipping leg. Yet, 9 out of 10 brands of apple juice we found at the grocery store this weekend were made in China.
I would have also thought that Chinese manufacturers would have gone after more high-end lines, especially after they had the low-end lines all sewn up. Example: Router bits and high-end blades. Once you have low-end router bits with C2 carbide, for example, why not sell ones with C4 carbide and finer grinding? Why not make a blade to compete with the WWII? The Forrest/Ridge margins leave lots of room for a Chinese company to come in and clean up.
I go into a HF and examine most any products and realize that if they had spent a little more (time/money) on the design/execution, I would happily buy it. But many of the products are monstrosities that didn't deserve to be manufactured at any cost/price point.
I'm leery of Chinese foods/additives. I try to avoid them. I'm open to Chinese-made "goods" otherwise, but I'm picky when it comes to quality. I'd rather buy a high-end US or European-made (insert item here), but I find THAT is even getting harder as US/European manufacturers are farming more and more out to China.
I guess at least the designs in those cases are a little better and they perhaps do a little better job of quality control.Comment
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It has gotten to where just about anything you buy has been imported. There was a time when I would not buy an imported tool but that has changed because most of them are now made overseas.Comment
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Some of the benefits that Chinese industry enjoys are
1. Lax environmental regulation
2. non-punitive income tax structure ( all the money belongs to the government there)
3. lax or non-existent labor laws ( other than the law of the land is you work hard, very very hard for little remuneration)
4. How many billion people was that again?
5. A population that apparently does not suffer from the same sense of entitlement that the US does
6. How many billion people was that again?
<rant>
Granted, China is still a communist country with a multi-millennia record of oppressing it's population, a large land mass, little regard for the environment, and a determination to rule the world, but I don't mind that I can go to wal-mart and buy a pair of Jeans for $12, who cares if they wear out in 3 days, heck for $12 I can buy 3 pair, and have jeans for at least a week and a half.
</rant>It's Like I've always said, it's amazing what an agnostic can't do if he dosent know whether he believes in anything or not
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Dan in Harrisburg, NCComment
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I agree completely. I would think that the material/labor cost to fine tune a product to a superior product would be far less than the profit margin enjoyed at the high end level. I note that Grizzly is beginning to do this to some degree. Their 12" planer/jointer combo is an excellent example. Setting aside price, I have heard reports that it is superior in build quality to certain highly regarded Euro machines. Of course you cant set price aside when its 1/3 the cost of some of the Euro machines.Comment
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Maybe I should have pointed out some of the problems we've had with imports from China.
1. Tainted food for pets
2. Tainted toothpaste
3. Toys for kids, which contained lead
4. Tainted baby bottles (not sure if this is specific to China imports)
These are the only things I can think of right now, but there are probably others. One little kid died because he/she swallowed a charm that contained lead. If it hadn't contained lead, it probably would have just passed through his system, without incident.
How many lost lives should we deem acceptable before we act?
EdDo you know about kickback? Ray has a good writeup here... https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...mare-explained
For a kickback demonstration video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/910584...demonstration/Comment
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I would personally go out of business if I boycotted Chinese products. There is not a single bicycle available under $800 which is made anywhere else. The next tier up is Taiwanese bikes, then American or European bikes on the top tier. Needless to say, 90% of what we sell is Chinese.
Having said that, Chinese bicycles are really superior to the US made bikes they replaced. The quality contol is actually very good. I think that most bike factories which produce product for export were estabished by Taiwanese companies, which explains the high level of QC.
In our case, the quality of Chinese products is a function of what distributors ask them to build. You can get a horrible department store bike or a really nice off road bike, both built at the same factory.
Worker conditions and environmental impact are a different story. Our distributors claim that both are pretty good, but they'll tell you anything. If we qualify this year, I may get to go on a factory tour to China in the Spring. It would be interesting to see first hand what the process looks like.
EddyComment
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She couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod, and the bathroom. We had to go back for her.........................Twice.Comment
LCHIEN
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