Credit Due Harbor Freight

I didn't say there wasn't. The key point is that both have been steadily improving.

20 Years ago much of the stuff from Taiwan was crap, now much of it is quite good. 20 Years ago damn near all the stuff out of China was crap, now there is a growing amount that is pretty decent.

Since progress seems more exponential than linear, in another 10 years I expect that Taiwan will be producing stuff on par with the best "big name" countries and China will be up to where Taiwan is today.

Since the quality target is somewhat static eventually it won't matter which country an item was produced in, there will be comparable quality available from all.

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.
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After the pending re-unification it may not matter much...

As long as buyers chase the cheapest carp (sic) around the world, there will always be a place for stuff that's a bit cheaper and a bit lousier. Bangaladesh, Nigeria etc. However, rising commodity prices might work against that. The old communist economies were impressive in that they could take perfectly good raw materials and degrade them into shoddy manufactured goods that were unsalable anywhere an alternative existed.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

I think it's pretty unlikely that we will see any change in the status quo anytime soon. I expect there will be plenty of posturing, but neither side has the will to make a move given the inevitable consequences.

Folks in Taiwan are fairly happy with the current situation so they aren't likely to change much. China will posture up a storm, but they know it would be disastrous to invade Taiwan.

Even if the US did not assist Taiwan militarily, a US embargo on China trade would pretty well implode their economy.

True, but the point is that the differences in quality are steadily shrinking. In the not too distant future you may well be able to buy an item made in China or Taiwan or wherever that is cheaper than one made in the US or Germany or wherever, but the quality will be comparable.

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.

Yes, the status quo is benefitting everyone at the moment. Including a lot of influential Americans as well as Chinese on and off Taiwan.

Some more than others. Most business people that I know in Taiwan would like to see closer ties and fewer restrictions, while there are others who are pushing for independence. There are so many Taiwanese living on the mainland now, and so much of their investment money flowing there.... and the interdependence (more like dependence) is on a sharp uptrend. Mainland China is their largest export market, by a substantial margin, as well as the location of a lot of their factories.

I really doubt they will ever have to. The way it's going, it will fall into their hands anyway, in time. Perhaps in a similar way as Hong Kong and Macau have, with two (human) generations of disparate economic systems promised.

Assuming the US could afford to sustain an effective embargo on China. There may come a time when it won't be worth it. They are a lot more motivated on this matter, and they have a certain amount of support inside Taiwan (including inside the military and police as well as the business community), and a lot outside due in part to their growing economic clout. And it's very early days yet, they are still rather weak in almost every way.

I suppose that's inevitable provided trade barriers are not a strong factor. The good should push out the bad.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

Well, my experience today contradicts that.

I couldn't resist buying an assortment of 10 metalworking chisels and punches from them when they were on sale for less than $5.00.

The chisels are the standard "cold chisel" style, with blade widths from

1/2" to 7/8" and there were a few flat ended round punches and a couple of cone pointed round ones in the mix. The longest chisel was the 7/8" wide one, at 9-1/2". All stamped "China".

Today I had to replace a brick in the bottom riser of our front steps. Water must have gotten into it and frozen last winter, 'cause a big chunk about half the length of the brick was missing, leaving an ugly hole that kept catching my eye every time I walked toward it.

I didn't want to use one of my "good" chrome plated chisels so I grabbed one of the HF ones and a hand sledge to knock out the rest of that brick and its mortar. It was a PIA to reach, being only one course up from the front walk. I was stuck with lying on my side most of the time so I could see what I was doing.

When I was putting the tools away I looked at the business end of that HF chisel and it was barely dulled. The striking end was a little mushroomed but 30 seconds at the bench grinder had both ends looking fine again.

I think I got my money's worth that time.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Wisnia

Indeed the quality of a lot of the Chinese stuff is clearly working it's way up. Probably part of this is because first tier manufacturers have been putting huge investments into factories in China and are driving the quality levels up. Yesterday I was looking at a very nice Dewalt 14" chop saw ... sure enough, Made in China. Funny, the price is still $200 :).

I still have some cheap Fuller brand Made in Japan combination wrenches I bought for next to nothing back in the early 1970s. At the time I thought I would need to soon replace them with some good 'merican ones ... and they are still working perfectly well after 30 years of use and abuse.

The Taiwan stuff is now mostly of very good to excellent quality and China is moving on up.

John

Reply to
John Horner

Way cool. Are there any published how-to plans or articles for building such machines full sized?

John

Reply to
John Horner

Hello, John.

I am assuming that you probably already know about the Gingery shop-from-scrap series, though, just in case you don't, here is the link:

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Just to save some time, I've been thinking about doing the casting by using the thermit process:

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I can buy all of the chemicals to make thermit from Skyliter, though that would be an expensive way to go, so instead, I plan on purchasing all of my materials locally. I will be able to get the iron oxide at my local ceramics supplier, and then process it with a homemade ball mill. Now all I will need to do is to determine the most efficient means of pulverizing the aluminum. Any suggestions?

:-)

Mike Mandaville Austin, Texas

Reply to
MikeMandaville

It could be "Still $200, instead of $240".

Reply to
Rex B

Japanese stuff (well, some of it anyway) has been top quality for a lot of years now.

John

Reply to
JohnM

The problem that I see is inconsistency of product. Although you can get Chinese chain and sprockets (example we use a lot of) that are as good or better than some of the stuff made elsewhere (including the USA), you never know if you are actually getting the good stuff or not. SOME manufacturers in that neck of the world are variable in quality but the problem I see most often is the distribution end. Like Americans, the location you purchase from is chasing maximum profitability so often substitute cheap rather than quality.

If you can get the product directly from the manufacturer, quality is fairly consistent. However, there are LOTS of resellers posing as the manufacturer of the goods. Big money as the middleman. After shipping goods this way, not many of them either have leverage to correct problems or willingness to give a rats ass.

Actually, it's getting to be a similar problem in the US. One competitor of ours has a fixed policy of NOT taking care of problems. They figure that most purchasing agents change jobs about every 2 years and it's cheaper to start all over with the new guy who doesn't know about the problems than take care of the current problem.

Koz

Reply to
Koz

I am new to the metalworking thing, though I am a long time woodworker and DIY auto mechanic. Thanks for the reference, I have ordered the books!

I've long thought how great it would be to be able to do some small part casting. Hmmm!

John

Reply to
John Horner

woodworker and

Hello again, John.

Welcome to what has been dubbed "the Gingery journey"! Here is our mailing list:

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We are more than two thousand strong now, and growing. Your woodworking experience will put you in good stead, because, of course, it is necessary to build a wooden pattern for each cast part, and I think that it would probably be fair to say that the patternmaking is the main part of the work.

I was only joking about the thermit. On the other hand, I have seen precision steel casting done with thermit, so it is definitely possible. For example, one fellow I know cast a steel link for a chain. The amazing thing, however, is that he started out with a link which was already cast, and then he cast the second link so that it interlocked with the first link!

Mike Mandaville building a test stand for my first (storebought)radio-controlled model airplane engine (I'll build the next one myself!)

Reply to
MikeMandaville

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