How Do You Decide? - Asian or American Tool

With the exception of cutting tools, I go the cheapest route possible (Chinese) on any shop item that tends to get beat, lost or destroyed during regular use. That includes things like parallels, pin gauges, shop grade gauge blocks, and consumable items like soft jaws for the vise, or expanding collets. Everything else is new or used American made. The one big exception is my vertical mill. When I bought it, Bridgeport had just been acquired by Textron and they were producing absolute junk. I decided on the Taiwanese (technically not mainland China) made DoAll because I had heard from several people that it was a well made machine. They were right; it's served me well for many years. Oh, and my digital calipers are Mitutoyo, in my opinion no one makes a better pair.

With cutting tools, I generally buy name brand (as Paddy suggested) American, European or Japanese. They cost about double the import stuff, but the improved geometry and metallurgy pays off in better performance and it lasts MUCH longer. In the end it's the way to go. The only way I would recommend the Chinese made stuff is for someone early in the learning curve who is going to be breaking and burning up cutters for a while until they get the hang of the whole cutting speed thing.

Tom
 
All good replys, but i will add all you have to do is to retire and thats how deep the pockets are. Going from $700
a week to $700 a month for all that. And then this shop is seasonable meaning usually bushings shafts etc for
farm stuff , landscapers boat shafting tapering and threading. So for years I lived with this lantern even made a
new one. eeks so off the deep I got the whole thing from Wholesale tool for 150 bucks. I knew what it is before
I bought it, but anything is better than I had. Turns out to be 100% improvement way more ridged than what I had
so, I simply applied a yellow "USE CAUTION" sticker where it says made in China.
" made in usa"
whats the man say quote "made by a barefooted kid with a dirt floor out of Shlitz beer cans" maybe true, what do we
make? Refrased here (big name plants) gone, gone, burnt down section 10 housing. This lites me, my area was
Silver City capitol, knitting mill capitol, Paragon Gear works Raytheon, Anderson Aircraft, NJ Rubber, Firestone,
tannerys, bleaches,crystal glass mfg. die plants, right here local-they all went over the pond and burnt. I wrote this
somewhere, but it all started in 1941 the sleeping giant, step by step equils payback. My old man always said, take
down a big man with his pocket . I have vented Still to figure out how brick plants of the turn burn. Oh I just
heard on tv evacuating a school house for a bead of mercury. We use to flip that stuff at each other in science
class. Trouble ya got into was the school buget to buy more. thats whats it all about
 
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