Thread: Where Machines Are Made

I think I know who Brand Y is and it seems to all come down to the companies quality control ideals in the end. The race of the machine operator and location of the factory really make no difference provided some one is checking that the product meets the companies standards before it goes into the box.

Originally Posted by Felder

2. Brand X - manufactured in Czech Republic, but by having an office in Austria, they're branded "Austria".

3. Brand Y - certain machines (not all) manufactured in China, but proudly claiming "Made in Germany".

Hi,

Not being aligned with anyone in particular I offer the following to those who care / wish to correct me.

Brand X - Holz Profi - I have a holz, its good stuff.

Brand Y - Shepparch (I think) - I have no schepparch nor do i think I would, I considered a schep radial drill press but wasnt impressed, I considered a over/under but again wasnt impressed (2 knives and rubber rollers). I considered a table saw but didnt appeal due to component look feel.

note this is not a critisizm of any of the above - it is however a "big kiss kiss" to my holz over under.

cheers

This might be silly, but a German or an Austrian or an Australian etc can stuff up making equipment just as well as anyone else, so I tend to go more by review or by name reputation than by where it is made. I know that where it is made is a good indicator, but not necessarily the best way to judge quality.

However, this is a different kettle of fish to wanting to support Australian companies (as then I might care how much of it is made in Australia).

Anyway, that is my thinking.

Cam

DeWalt are no longer american. As I recall, my 712 chop-saw was made in Italy and my 744 table saw in Mexico.

I don't really mind where mine come from just as long as they are not assembled using the 'soviet' technique. To meet the Glorious Peoples Five Year Plan Of Manufacturing Excellence and Communist Superiority Over Filthy Capitalist Corruption, they would replace screwdrivers with hammers! Or they'd omit the screws entirely if that was quicker.

I wonder about this stuff too. Of course the country of origin elicits an emotional response. We have been programmed this way by decades of marketing.

Altendorf is one company that is happy for me to believe that their saws are German made, when in fact the affordable ones aren't. Ditto Martin now having some work done in other jurisdictions, and their company motto is "experience excellence". Every Airbus and Boeing that you ride in has components from everywhere, from India to Avalon. Does that make it different in your mind? BMW's from South Africa? Mercedes made in China? How about a Honda made in Mexico?

The problem that I have with any products anymore, is simply that I never know what quality point they have been built to, so I don't know if it's a reliable tool or not unless I spend a couple of hours looking for shortcuts in its construction (Try finding a dealer who will let you take apart a cordless drill before buying it!). The only other option is finding a reviewer that I can trust.

By the way, every time I go to Vienna I also visit Prague, and the two seem to be cut from the same cloth-more alike than dissimilar. The qualities that we admire in the Austrians seems to be typical a few hundred Km's to the east, too.

Greg
(Made in Canada from components made in the former Austro-Hungarian empire* and France, but the passport says "Australia")

*Not so long ago, Austria included great chunks of what we call Ukraine,
and that elicits a different response entirely.

Where a product is made, is the first and most important thing I look for.(Including machinery for the farm, woodworking tools/machines or domestic appliances).
I must admit. I have too look harder these days and sometimes don't get a straight answer from sales staff.
I prefer to buy goods not made in China or India, but sometimes just have too,(due to availability) and have had good and bad experiences.
Thats my 2 bob's worth.

Cheers

Thanks Brendan for starting a good conversation. The marketing arms of a number of companies fight tooth-and-nail any legislation that will clarify the situation. This is particularly so in any industry with a large amount of imported content, or where they do not want it known because they fear they will lose market share.

Recently one supermarket chain has announced they are going to have a "Grown in Australia" section in their stores. I hope people use it, because it will put a lot of pressure on the pollies avoiding passing the legislation to clearly label country of origin of products.

With tools, planes or anything else, the decision to buy is usually the quality of the piece. I don't mind buying a Chinese/ Taiwanese/ Hungarian/ Malaysian or whatever tool provided it is clearly labelled as such. I very strongly object to producers trying to deceive the consumer as to origin because a lot of consumers will pay a few more dollars to support local industries and jobs - especially if the parts are supplied from there too.
Importers know this and that is why they sometimes hide the true origins of products.

I sell products made here and overseas and usually tell my customers it doesn't matter so much where it was made but how it was made. There are many excellent and well made products coming out of China (don't forget these people were craftsmen when most of our ancestors were coming to terms with how to break rocks ). Remember in the seventies when "Jap Crap" cars suddenly started looking interesting? The early seventies Honda engines are now recognised as the jewels they were.

The problem for us purchasing machinery is it is difficult to see how well it was made without taking it apart, as Gregoryq mentions. An even bigger problem is how "older" brands are going downmarket in order to compete. How many have purchased from a so called reputable company only to find a dodgy fence or second rate machining? Perhaps we need to make sure manufacturers maintain their quality by only purchasing their products which display it.

Of course, that means there would be less people getting excited about bargains (witness the number of views/posts to the $199 GMC thicknesser).

Cheers,

Yes indeed, brand names going down-market are a big problem. There was a time when a buyer could hang his hat on a long term relationship with a brand. Remember being a Ford or Holden man? Those times disappeared in the sixties, without us knowing it. That's when companies first started replacing value with the perception of value.

Once, Delta and Powermatic were brands like that. Not anymore. Stanley planes made before the 60's are great, wouldn't have a modern one. In both cases, and hundreds more, decades of reputation were traded away for cheaper manufacturing and clever marketing. I find this particular bait-and-switch thing worse than annoying-I think that it borders on fraud.

Getting back to country of origin, I have noticed that most of the things that I like owning all come from Europe, and one corner of Europe at that.

Greg

Originally Posted by gregoryq

Yes indeed, brand names going down-market are a big problem. There was a time when a buyer could hang his hat on a long term relationship with a brand. Remember being a Ford or Holden man? Those times disappeared in the sixties, without us knowing it. That's when companies first started replacing value with the perception of value.

Once, Delta and Powermatic were brands like that. Not anymore. Stanley planes made before the 60's are great, wouldn't have a modern one. In both cases, and hundreds more, decades of reputation were traded away for cheaper manufacturing and clever marketing. I find this particular bait-and-switch thing worse than annoying-I think that it borders on fraud.

Getting back to country of origin, I have noticed that most of the things that I like owning all come from Europe, and one corner of Europe at that.

Greg

Welcome back Greg. Where you been mate?
Cheers

Hi Mike...

I have been away doing other peoples' bidding, and focusing on way too many other things. That seems to be mostly finished now, so I hope to back on more often. Thanks for asking. How's that tool collection coming?

I think Mike is still waiting for his credit card . . . so he cannot buy anything on Epay

Originally Posted by gregoryq

Hi Mike...

I have been away doing other peoples' bidding, and focusing on way too many other things. That seems to be mostly finished now, so I hope to back on more often. Thanks for asking. How's that tool collection coming?

Tool collection gathering dust at the moment while i make my bench. See my posts re the workbench under woodwork pictures. Builder starts extension on wednesday so i'll be labouring for him for a month or 2.
Cheers
PS: did you make something with the stuff I gave you?

Are you kidding? My workshop is exactly as it was ten weeks ago, even with a pile of shutter louvers waiting to be milled. I have been studying and playing with restoring an old (Swiss) espresso machine in my few moments off. The course that I was doing has wrapped up, and now I begin my global job hunt, just in case evil things this way come.