Grrrrr...Milwaukee, what a con.

[Keith Cocker]

However, Adam has a point and I agree with him. We in the west have sleep walked into exporting jobs to China and created a dependency on them, seemingly not caring that it is financing a communist regime that allows or enforces worker conditions that are not acceptable in western factories. There is no meaningful IP protection either. I agree it is difficult to avoid goods that don't have some Chinese components, but at least making an effort is laudable if we wish to protect our own economies. Well done Adam I say.

Yes, it’s been going like that for years. Thanks to Thatcher, Reagan and their acolytes. Most Tories still believe it’s a good idea!! Global Britain eh!!! My ar.e eh!!!!

 

[Keith Cocker]

I’m old enough to remember when “Made in Japan” was regarded with scorn. Then taken over by “Made in Hong Kong” as a mark of cheap stuff.

 

[stuart little]

I still have a working Philips iron bought in 1970, "Made in W,Germany."

 

[stuart little]

I’m old enough to remember when “Made in Japan” was regarded with scorn. Then taken over by “Made in Hong Kong” as a mark of cheap stuff.

When in business I had a customer who was ex-Merchant Navy, he would NOT allow anything made in Japan to be fitted to his car/cars. I always used NGK plugs, but he insisted on using other makes. Reason was the Japanese had sunk him twice!

 

[Adam W.]

I've got some stuff which has "Foreign Made" on it. I guess that's the equivalent of today's "made with global parts".

 

[Yojevol]

Have you had one too may shandies?

How may sandies have  you had?

 

[Cantungman]

Between 1999 and 2005 I made several trips to China to work as a consultant for mining companies. I was fortunate to be able to fly in business class. I was always amazed to meet engineers on the way to or from China that were helping to set up name brand factories in China. It was never lost on me what that meant for the future of manufacturing jobs. After all, I worked in mining and was used to getting chased out of rich countries by the NIMBYs. On one trip to South America in the 1990s I was offered a Time magazine on which the headline read along the lines of: Where Have the High-Paying Jobs Gone? Inside were a couple of articles, unrelated to the headline story about the dirty, filthy blue chip mining companies that we’re destroying the planet. I knew these projects and was certain that the management understood that a big effort was required to mitigate unnecessary environmental impacts. However, the articles were not balanced and you cannot negotiate with zealots. So the headline question struck me as dumb and made me angry. I have never opened a Time magazine since.

 

[Jonm]

Ok then
Bosch advertise their "white goods" heavily on TV here. The ad campaign is "like a Bosch", but Miele is better built , more money, and available from the more upmarket dealers , Liebherr is less available. The one I avoid now is Samsung , I have one of their fridge freezer combos doing duty as a tool cupboard , only 3 years old when it stopped being cold in either part at all suddenly, ventilator motor runs, as does compressor , but not enough compression ( ice forms on the expansion vanes ) or bad signaling between the various boards.Compressor is guaranteed 10 years, but the labour of replacing it and recharging the refrigerant is not covered, nor is the call out. Not being a registered heating refrigeration engineer, I can't get my hands on the refrigerant. Total repair would cost about what we paid for it, so ( it died one day in the heat of last summer, with the freezer full of meat ) we bought "non big brand" separate freezer and fridge units and plugged them in the same day.

They only have two years guarantee, but after that initial two years, for €90.00 per year they are both then ( and any other "white goods" stuff insured against breakdown with full parts and labour or replacement in 24 hours ) Another €30.00 to €50.00 covers TVs , computers ( we have many ) etc, cameras ( again many ). Another €25.00 or so covers tools.

I think the guys who write the policies don't know the cost of tools, or computers and cameras

The insurance policy is interesting. Would you mind telling us if it is part of your house insurance or a separate policy.

 

[Jonm]

When in business I had a customer who was ex-Merchant Navy, he would NOT allow anything made in Japan to be fitted to his car/cars. I always used NGK plugs, but he insisted on using other makes. Reason was the Japanese had sunk him twice!

In the 1950’s my mother bought some kitchen scales, got them home and found they were “made in West Germany”. Very disappointed, would not have bought them if she had realised. The scales were very good, lasted a long time. Many years later they did buy a VW car.

 

[G S Haydon]

I was going to buy a new saw and was looking at the Milwaukee one, but I'm now looking at the Mafell one and thinking about taking out a second mortgage.

Which Mafell were you looking at Adam? What's the difference in cost between the Milwaukee version and the Mafell version?

 

[graduate_owner]

I think AJP Temple has it spot on - we have sleep walked into a dependence on China, based on getting cheaper products, and now it would be impossible to escape form the stranglehold they have on the UK consumer (and probably the EU consumer too) without a massive change and immense disruption. Of course the process is not just one way - if the West decided to ban Chinese goods (with all the resultant disruption and inconvenience), perhaps as a response to China invading Taiwan or similar, then China itself would find itself losing a huge market for it's goods. They would have to accept a massive economic blow.

I do think however, that the UK should wake up and start to prepare for times when we might need to be more self reliant, perhaps re-investing in the essentials such as steel, wter, energy production, communications etc. You never know wht the future will bring, as evidenced by the invasion of Ukraine - who could ever have imagined full scale war in Eastern europe in this day and age? And who knows what the full extent of global warming might bring, with instability to food production and the resulting instability of governments?

K

 

[mwinfrance]

@Jonm no, not our usual house insurance , But offered as a product by a retail chain here name of Darty FNAC.
A recent thing that they began about a year ago, when you buy something from them they promote their insurance ( repair and service, replacement etc ) or you can take out a contract with them even if nothing you have was bought from them but in that case each item not bought from them has a registration charge of €70.00 on top of the yearly contract charge which covers all the items.they have massive spares for everything from American fridge freezers to printers and high end cameras, and their prices are very reasonable. the FNAC side of their business is books, records, concert tickets and "cultural" items ..weird marriage of companies , but such things happen here.Both groups were huge before the merger.

 

[mwinfrance]

No one "sleep walked" into the "China deal", the management ( C Suites ) of major western companies went in with their eyes wide open and their minds fixed on the increases in profit and thus increases in their bonuses and stock options.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

No one "sleep walked" into the "China deal", the management ( C Suites ) of major western companies went in with their eyes wide open and their minds fixed on the increases in profit and thus increases in their bonuses and stock options.

I think Adrian meant the public rather than the companies. Companies knew perfectly well what they doing but Joe Public didn't really notice.

 

[Adam W.]

Which Mafell were you looking at Adam? What's the difference in cost between the Milwaukee version and the Mafell version?

Its the MKS 165 Ec and I don't think Milwaukee make that anyway, but I was interested on their 235mm saw for its retractable riving knife for plunging. I do a lot of re-sawing and the festool one I have has a fixed riving knife which pushes the saw base off of the beam surface that I'm sawing.

​

 

[frankendoodle65]

I think a couple of my Festool battery chargers are made in Poland or the Czech Republic, but I wasnt aware that any of their drills were/ are....?

Yep I checked this afternoon and my CXS does indeed state that it's made in the Czech Republic. All of my other Festool tools say Germany, though I have a feeling some accessories said made in China on the packaging, though it's possible I'm misremembering... We're talking centrotec drill bits here, the sort of things you don't keep the boxes for so I can't check!

 

[benitod]

I had the same problem when I bought my Triton TRA001 router.
The machine works just fine but you never know when it will fail.

 

[Daniel.l]

There is a YouTube channel of a guy who fixes power tools and he has very good recommendations for the best brand and how to fix almost anything he seems to have a lot of experience. Milwaukee do come in a lot for repairs. His channel is Dean Doherty

 

[niemeyjt]

Bosch Professional have a factory in Hungary as well - so a shift to Eastern Europe is not uncommon. I do not mind this. And I prefer European or US always - but for computers look at MSI who are Taiwanese.

I avoid Chinese items like the plague, but it is hard. Unless the West wakes up very fast about China, we will be funding the next big war. I cannot understand why politicians are giving China so many passes. If Taiwan kicks off, and the West actually does something, Ukraine will be like a walk in the park.

 

[Adam W.]

There is a YouTube channel of a guy who fixes power tools and he has very good recommendations for the best brand and how to fix almost anything he seems to have a lot of experience. Milwaukee do come in a lot for repairs. His channel is Dean Doherty

I'll take a look at that, thanks.