hand tools from China

[jimmy-hand-tools]

Chinese hand tools will be popular as the low price and good quility. do you think so?

 

[Blister]

My opinion of tools made in China

Made to a price / Not a standard

Never had or seen a Chinese tool I could rave about

But that's just my opinion

 

[Anonymous]

i see some spamming coming on?!

 

[Vann]

...good quility...

Hmmm, that just about sums it up. (hammer)

Cheers, Vann.

 

[markturner]

I agree with the spamming comment Mark, but in case he is genuine.....here is my reply: Most of what the chinese make is pretty crap if you ask me. I would not waste my money on it when there are other economies that need supporting more.... like ours and America's.

Why don't you look at Japanese tools? Many of these are very well made and excellent value for money.


Cheers, Mark

 

[ac445ab]

Hi,
Generally, I agree with you about low quality of many chinese hand tools.
However some exception exists. I have a couple of Mujinfang planes and I find them good with a right quality/price ratio.

Giuliano

 

[Pete W]

I think it's fairly obvious that the Chinese could make pretty much anything to pretty much any standard. If most of what we see here is second-rate, it's because British and American and European 'manufacturers' are commissioning Chinese companies to make it to a low standard and a low price. They do that because they believe that most western consumers like it that way.

I know that none of us, individually, is to blame for this state of affairs but to blame the Chinese for it is not only dumb but racist.

 

[bugbear]

I think it's fairly obvious that the Chinese could make pretty much anything to pretty much any standard. If most of what we see here is second-rate, it's because British and American and European 'manufacturers' are commissioning Chinese companies to make it to a low standard and a low price. They do that because they believe that most western consumers like it that way.

I know that none of us, individually, is to blame for this state of affairs but to blame the Chinese for it is not only dumb but racist.

Seconded in all regards.

BugBear

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Hmmm. Except the last.
Let's not mix up xenophobia with the R word. Prior to Pete's post, all references to "China" and "Chinese" quite clearly applied to the geopolitical unit, not "chinese" people. We're far to eager to bandy about emotive terms to try and close down debate.
We should be debating issues of trade with the new economies, since their effect at least in the mid term is most harmful. Unfortunately, our political masters find it convenient to disregard hidden costs at the moment.
There. That's three posts that should probably be removed as OT.

 

[Anonymous]

the chinese now have the money and experience to make products of the highest quality,but as said they only make to the buyers specification.

10/20/30 years ago they bought second rate machines to churn out work and the quality wasn't there, now they have machines that put the rest of the manufacturing world to shame.

as an example

My parents bought an extendable dining room table, that was rightly or wrongly being marketed as british made, upon closer inspection on the underside there is chinese markings which indicates that it was made in China, this piece of furniture really is of the highest quality and a high(ish) price was paid for it which was 2 grand you could bet that it was more than likely imported and landed at the dealers depot for a lot less than a grand where it was bolted together; hence they can get away with the British made tag.

 

[studders]

Hmmm. Except the last.
Let's not mix up xenophobia with the R word. Prior to Pete's post, all references to "China" and "Chinese" quite clearly applied to the geopolitical unit, not "chinese" people. We're far to eager to bandy about emotive terms to try and close down debate.

Well said that man.

 

[Pete W]

I'm all in favour of debate, but it would be better without xenophobia, "the R word", or any other euphemism, regardless whether said euphemisms are applied to the geopolitical unit, socioeconomic unit, manufacturing unit or simply the people.

 

[markturner]

Apologies if I came across in any way offensive, that was entirely opposite to the point I was trying to make. I just think that with China poised to become the worlds superpower both economically and perhaps politically, it's a shame that they do not put more emphasis on making quality products. Personally, I have many experiences of chinese made electronic computer components breaking very quickly and I have never actually seen anything made there apart from old antiques etc that is of good quality. With such a huge market for quality goods in the west, you can't tell me the Chinese would not try and take advantage of this? Or are they keeping all the good stuff for themselves? I do fully agree that they do have the skills and capacity to make anything they want at the any quality level, its just that twe don't seem to see anything except the low end stuff. I think they are in the same situation as Skoda, when Volkswagen took over. Perhaps in in a few years we will start seeing some quality stuff. I still think that we should support other economies in preference to theirs, after all, its not as if they need it and I am sure they will be ruling the world in 50 years time anyway....!!!!

Sorry if this veered too much into the spectrum of politics...

 

[jimi43]

From an engineering point of view I think that the Chinese passed the West years ago...they have a space programme for satellites and they are moving towards and economic boom...rather than the meltdown we have been experiencing recently.

I think comments about building to our specification (low) are spot on. The case in point is Matthew's feedback regarding the Quangsheng development. Many here....almost without exception, rave about them. He is aiming for a hi-spec...they deliver! QED

China is fast becoming the world's leading economic power....and we in the West should welcome this and join in this prosperity rather that constantly trying to reject it.

FWIW I find nothing polically incorrect with anything said on this thread...it is an important issue and warrants discussion.

Jim

 

[woodbloke]

If we're looking at China, it might be worth considering a lesson from history in that the Chinese were the pre-eminent technological nation centuries before the West assumed the mantle (really only from about say 1700 or so onwards) so it's little surprise to me at least that this current re-assurgency will be set to continue and that the nations of the 'Pacific Ring' will once again be economically dominant. What that means for the West though, is slightly worrying 8-[ - Rob

 

[jorgoz]

So, Quangsheng or Harvey Industries are rubbish ? Clearly not. But then again, these are not your cheap chinese tools. How about Makita, Bosch, Milwaukee. You're not buying because they're having tools made in China ? The clothes you're wearing, where does most of it come from you think.

Strange these pre-conceptions and generalisations about a country most of us know so little about. Well the then there a lot of truth in the saying 'unknown unloved'.

+1 on the production on low Western standards. But that's not an inherent Chinese trait. Western companies will also produce at the customer's specs. Doesn't matter what you want because sadly it is a customer driven market, pricing and quality wise.

Personally i don't care where a tool comes from, i care about the quality and price to match/budget available. If that means China/Taiwan/Japan/Hungaria... I'm from Belgium and there a little (well none) woodworking tools made locally so that makes things easy when choosing tools.

Also the use of the tools dictates what's price range you're buying at. If you only use it a few times, it's understandable to buy el cheapo. If on the other hand it's meant to be used on a daily basis, then buy the best you can even if it's made/assembled in China.

Sorry for drifting of a little.

 

[tomatwark]

I think the problem is here that it is not the quality of Chinese products, as others have said there is some good quality stuff made in China, the PC you are using is probably made there or certainly bits of it will be.

The problem is in the the West we have got use to the buy it now and throw it away society, until that changes the East will keep making things to a price.


Tom

 

[Scouse]

From an engineering point of view I think that the Chinese passed the West years ago...they have a space programme for satellites and they are moving towards and economic boom...rather than the meltdown we have been experiencing recently.

It's also worth considering, however, that the bulk of Chinese prosperity has been down to the Chinese government maintaining an artificially low exchange rate in order to make their exports appear cheap, but at the expense of western manufacturing jobs. If Chinese goods were being traded on an even playing field, I would have less of a concern with their expanding economy, but they are not, and therein lies the difficulty for me, and indeed for Western economies who are becoming increasingly reliant on a clearly dishonest and ethically questionable regime.

Sorry to pick up on your post Jim, I'm not having a go at you, just that your post highlighted an issue for me. :wink:

 

[jimi43]

Absolutely agree Scouse...and I am not worried about your comment whatever.

The issue is that this is driven by capitalistic consumer demand so the real culprits are you, me and everyone who buys something cheaply....either knowingly or unknowingly.

My mother's cousins were tortured by the Japanese in Burma and she would never even consider having a Japanese product in the house...until I pointed out to her that a huge amount of the "British" products she owned were in fact either manufactured in Japan and rebadge...or had components made in Japan within them.

There was in fact a documentary programme on TV a while back that removed everything in a house that was either made in China or had Chinese components in it....the house was virtually bare at the end of it.

I think we are getting into very deep political and social issues here...something I think that is outside of the realm of this type of forum, but I will finish by saying that we must work as a global economy in the future...with level playing fields and fair trade rules. Only then will we all benefit...there will be no slave labour and everyone will share what the world has to offer.

And on that note...may I invite you to my soapbox on the corner of Hyde Park this Sunday...I will be the one with a copy of the Communist Manifesto under my arm!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[studders]

If Chinese goods were being traded on an even playing field, I would have less of a concern with their expanding economy, but they are not, and therein lies the difficulty for me, and indeed for Western economies who are becoming increasingly reliant on a clearly dishonest and ethically questionable regime.

According to a program I watched recently we can thank Western Investors for that, not blame the Chinese or call them dishonest etc.
Many Far Eastern Countries that are heavily in debt are in that position thanks to American and European Bankers. China decided they were not going to let it happen to them: and who can blame them?