Thread: The Chinese experience

I've got brand name and Chinese measuring devices and they both work equally as well for me. The brand name is invariably better finished, and the slides feel smoother, but they seem to measure just as accurately within the tolerance levels I work to - 0.001 ".

So no complaints from me. If you can buy good stuff second hand, then it's a wise purchase, but with the Chinese stuff you don't have to feel nervous about dropping it.

My brand name stuff is NSK, Mitutoyo and a bit of old Pommy stuff in the big micrometer range.

I certainly wouldn't rubbish the Asian stuff.

Rob

Sorry I don't really see the point in this. Some people buy things simply as they were inexpensive, then spend the rest of their time trying to justify in their own minds how it is "just as good" as a quality, well made brand name. They're not as good, know it, live it, and move on.

Most people would not argue the fact that an S series Mercedes is a better quality car than a Great Wall POS or similar, yet both will normally get you from point A to point B in exactly the same time ie functionally they're the same, but the experience while getting from point A to point B is vastly different. So it is with tools. If I take, say a Tesa or Mitutoyo caliper I can be assured that straight out of the box it should work, and it should be accurate ie I can trust it, if not they're faulty and can be repaired. In contrast I bought 3 Aldi calipers, I've only bothered unpacking 1, it was rubbish. The problem is it skips, so is unreliable, so can't be trusted. The finish on it was crap, and I won't even use it for its intended function of parts. So that was some $65 (as I bought 3) that is now wasted. So is the same old story with so many cheap Chinese products I've bought, it's the tooling equivalent of buying a lotto ticket; maybe they'll work, maybe they won't work. That's a chance that we take when buying them.

Pete

Originally Posted by Pete F

Sorry I don't really see the point in this. Some people buy things simply as they were inexpensive, then spend the rest of their time trying to justify in their own minds how it is "just as good" as a quality, well made brand name. They're not as good, know it, live it, and move on.

Most people would not argue the fact that an S series Mercedes is a better quality car than a Great Wall POS or similar, yet both will normally get you from point A to point B in exactly the same time ie functionally they're the same, but the experience while getting from point A to point B is vastly different. So it is with tools. If I take, say a Tesa or Mitutoyo caliper I can be assured that straight out of the box it should work, and it should be accurate ie I can trust it, if not they're faulty and can be repaired. In contrast I bought 3 Aldi calipers, I've only bothered unpacking 1, it was rubbish. The problem is it skips, so is unreliable, so can't be trusted. The finish on it was crap, and I won't even use it for its intended function of parts. So that was some $65 (as I bought 3) that is now wasted. So is the same old story with so many cheap Chinese products I've bought, it's the tooling equivalent of buying a lotto ticket; maybe they'll work, maybe they won't work. That's a chance that we take when buying them.

Pete

Often, and almost all the time if you buy the right chines products you will have something just as good for the same prise or sometimes even more then half prise, and china is getting better with there things, but hay, who am I to change your ways?

Well I’d have to say that is absolute nonsense, Pete F, but like Alaks says – who am I to try and change your thinking. Your response does raise a question though, if you don’t see the point in it, why bother replying, I don’t see the point in that - Know it, live it, and move on. I had a similar experience to you with TVs, except that the TV in question was NEC, within 3 weeks it was in for repairs and that continued on for another 12 months so I replaced it with a Soniq, haven’t had any problems since. Most of the brand names in anything are now made in China, so where does that leave us?

Originally Posted by Alaks McGREGORE

Often, and almost all the time if you buy the right chines products you will have something just as good for the same prise or sometimes even more then half prise, and china is getting better with there things, but hay, who am I to change your ways?

What would be the "right" Chinese products?

If you honestly believe that a cheap Chinese product is "just as good" as a quality western made product, then knock yourself out. I honestly have no dog in this fight and couldn't care how much crap other people choose to surround themselves with. I mentioned as much on the indicator thread, please nobody buy a Compac indicator or any other quality used western tooling, instead buy a cheap POS Chinese indicator then spend the rest of the time justifying to yourself how it's "just the same", how smart you are, and how stupid I am. That way the used market won't go through the roof, driven up by people who don't appreciate quality when they see it.

Pete

Edit: Incidentally, I think a lot of people don't seem to get the point that just because something has a brand name xxx on it, it doesn't necessarily mean it's good quality. MANY companies are currently cashing in on their names by moving their manufacturing to cheap countries of origin and the quality is definitely decreasing. The devil is in the detail, I said quality western manufacturing, not just something that happens to have a western name stuck on the front.

Originally Posted by Alaks McGREGORE

Whatever, I wont argue.

Then why post again? Incidentally both of you were being quite presumptuous about my buying habits. I'm no tool snob and I can assure you plenty of Chinese tools exist in my workshop, so I don't know what "ways" you were anticipating changing? However when I buy a cheap tool, I appreciate that's what it is, a cheap tool, and don't try to kid myself that it's "just as good" as a quality brand. Very often however it's "good enough" for what I need.

Originally Posted by Pete F

However when I buy a cheap tool, I appreciate that's what it is, a cheap tool, and don't try to kid myself that it's "just as good" as a quality brand. Very often however it's "good enough" for what I need.

Yes - I bought one of those Bunning special circular saws. I needed to cut a lot of roofing iron and didn't want to bugger up my good saws.

The saw was horrible, noisy, vibrated badly - but it got the job done and when it dies, I'll shed no tears. $40.

OTOH when my Metabo angle grinder died, I was *not* happy. So what if it was 15+ years old and had been thrashed.

PDW

I think it is rather simplistic to judge the quality of any item on its' country of origin.

If I read the above correctly when I buy a car I shouldn't buy a cheap Chinese made Great Wall, but instead buy a car made in a country that knows something about engineering and making quality cars.

So I should go out and buy a Volkswagen, Skoda or Audi shouldn't I.

They stand behind their products and if something should go wrong they will recall my car and make sure I am safe, won't they?

But then they are so well made and by a reputable manufacturer, what could possibly go wrong?

Come to think of it, I did once buy a car made in the UK, by a very reputable manufacturer and quite frankly even the Chinese couldn't make a car as bad as that Rover! In fact with the money I spent on repairing that "luxury" POS I could buy a Great Wall and have quite a bit of change.

Disclosre:

We own 2 cars, one made by Holden in Australia (well assembled at least, 80% of the bits come out of God knows where) the other made by Hyundai in Korea.
Let me tell you that the Koreans seem to know more about putting a car together than the reputable manufacturer in Australia.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Come to think of it, I did once buy a car made in the UK, by a very reputable manufacturer and quite frankly even the Chinese couldn't make a car as bad as that Rover! In fact with the money I spent on repairing that "luxury" POS I could buy a Great Wall and have quite a bit of change.

Amen. I once owned a Land Rover then a Range Rover. The 2 worst vehicles I have ever owned in my life. Never, ever again.

For sheer reliability I'd give the prize to my old 1970 Datsun 1600 sedan. I bought it at 60,000 miles on the clock, drove it for over 100,000 miles and did no mechanical repairs at all, just changed the oil, brakes etc. Sold it for more than I paid for it, wish I still had it. Though my 22 year old Subaru 4WD sedan is much more comfortable.

However let's not lose sight of the fact that H&F, Bunnings etc do in fact sell a lot of total crap. The sad thing is that if you weren't buying a suspect quality new Chinese lathe, you wouldn't be buying a new lathe at all, not in the hobbyist price bracket. With all their shortcomings, I think we're still in front.

PDW

Yes, places like Bunnings do sell a lot of crap, but mainly because we keep buying it.

We can't blame the Chinese entirely for that either, Bunnings contribute their fair share to the situation.

My son works for an iconic Australian company and Bunnings used to buy a lot of their output.

Bunnings then decided they could make a few more dollars and sent one of the main products to China where it was copied to the last bolt (including 2 design faults!) and Bunnings then imported these by the container load.

That Australian factory is no longer manufacturing.

Wow, your really fired up there Pete F, you must have had a really bad day. I must apologise for starting this 'no point' thread, tell you what, why don't you make up a list of subjects that you think do have a point and post them here, that way I can restrict my threads to something that is pleasing to you and avoid aggravating your sensibilities. Can't be fairer than that!

Originally Posted by Big Shed

I think it is rather simplistic to judge the quality of any item on its' country of origin.

If I read the above correctly when I buy a car I shouldn't buy a cheap Chinese made Great Wall, but instead buy a car made in a country that knows something about engineering and making quality cars.

So I should go out and buy a Volkswagen, Skoda or Audi shouldn't I.

They stand behind their products and if something should go wrong they will recall my car and make sure I am safe, won't they?

But then they are so well made and by a reputable manufacturer, what could possibly go wrong?

Come to think of it, I did once buy a car made in the UK, by a very reputable manufacturer and quite frankly even the Chinese couldn't make a car as bad as that Rover! In fact with the money I spent on repairing that "luxury" POS I could buy a Great Wall and have quite a bit of change.

Disclosre:

We own 2 cars, one made by Holden in Australia (well assembled at least, 80% of the bits come out of God knows where) the other made by Hyundai in Korea.
Let me tell you that the Koreans seem to know more about putting a car together than the reputable manufacturer in Australia.

I would skip the VW. They are getting a bad name at the moment with car recalls that they are very slow in offering.

I have heard a lot of bad publicity about UK cars. A lot of the must have cars like Rover and MG are crap cars to drive.

Good post

Dean

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Bunnings then decided they could make a few more dollars and sent one of the main products to China where it was copied to the last bolt (including 2 design faults!) and Bunnings then imported these by the container load.

That Australian factory is no longer manufacturing.

Are you saying that the Australian made product had design faults before the Chinese copied it?

Originally Posted by PDW

Amen. I once owned a Land Rover then a Range Rover. The 2 worst vehicles I have ever owned in my life. Never, ever again.



PDW

Land Rovers are still being made in Solihull, Birmingham, to this very day . They must have done something right to be in continous production from 1948 to today , with well over one million made .

I use a 1950 Land Rover as a tractor/workhorse, it is unrestored and original, still starts first pop . All I did was replace the points , clean spark plugs, and new oil etc. Not bad for a 63 year old car . The Aluminium body panels don't rust away like the Jap crap does . The LR has a PTO too , with a belt , you can run any number of farm machines or implements off it .

BTW , I can remove the LR bonnet in 30 seconds flat , it is hinged on heavy galvanised hinges , you lift the bonnet, slide it sideways a few inches and it is off , try doing that in any other car . The top is either a soft top or hard top ... with many other body options. The front guards come off in 5 minutes too .

Mike