Made in USA brands

[auto119042]

I saw from a 1999 post that Ridgid's EB4424 Belt Sander was made in the USA. Thought things might have changed, I emailed Ridgid, I was right.

"RIDGID Response: (05/02/2005 12:06)

The EB4424 is made in China/Taiwan to the same exacting Ridgid standards that it was when it was made in the U.S. Best regards, Tom C. Consumer Response - One World Technologies, Inc. "

Irritation - they don't reply to your email - they send you a user name/password to use with there 'E-box" on their website - BS. I digress.

Who are the Made in USA power tool makers left? Delta is a mixed bag. DeWalt? Porter Cable?

Pains me to buy the China stuff.

[Never Enough Money]

I suggest you buy stock in Chinese companies. That way you'll be buying American is a strange sort of way.....

[John Grossbohlin]

I've got a bunch of Porter Cable stuff that ranges in age from a few weeks to about 18 years... I don't recall seeing anything but Made in USA on it (course that could be the box that was made in the USA. ;-)).

Seriously, PC is my preferred brand... a local service shop means I can get any parts I loose, wear out or break. For example, the dust collection canister from the random orbit sander didn't survive it's trip through the dust collector's impeller... I was using the dust collector as a vacuum and accidentally sucked up the canister. ;-)

John

[mjwallace]

I'm a free-market person and while it might be hard to accept the export of jobs overseas look at this way.

Everyone is trying to save money. Including companies. In order to compete, companies have to continually stay on top of price curve in order to stay in business. Otherwise someone will come in with an "as good" product at a cheaper price point and put them out of business. That said, Thomas Friedman in his latest series of articles and in his latest book "The World is Flat", gets it right when said that the way Americans compete in this global free market is to offer employers something they can't buy elsewhere. .

(I think a wonderful case in point is Bridge City Tools - they produce some fantastic tools and I think that it would be hard for them to ship jobs overseas - couldn't get the quality. At least not yet!)

We need to fix up our educational systems, our trade schools, etc. This is a crisis in the making and it will bit us in a shorter time then the so-called SS problems that the current president is so fixated on.

The big benefit I see with India/China and elsewhere making our products is that the money that the employees get there is helping to increase the middle class in those countries. It also helps to foster peace by giving those people a vested interest in the world economy.

(Imagine if the disaffected Muslims in Iran/Iraq and elsewhere had a stake in gainful employement, would the terriorist groups have a harder recruiting job? I'd think so. Doesn' t mean that they won't find fanatics, but if there was something they could see happening for their families, I'd think the be relucant to join a group that espouses death).

So, buy US, if you can, if not buy locally, if not then buy what you can afford.

MJ Wallace

[Vijay Kumar]

Sorry to bust your Bridge City nostalgia. Their combination square rules were made in India. I just picked up a closeout 12 inch rule at the WW show for $14.95 with Bridge City markings and made in India. In fact Manny (of Manny's ww) tells me that he buys from the same factory that made some of Bridge City tool stuff.

[Brian Elfert]

I have a P-C cordless drill I bought in early 2001. Made in Taiwan. They make some stuff in the USA, but not cordless.

That damn drill is dying already and I didn't use it all that much. There is a distinct ozone smell every time the trigger is touched. I took it apart and all the internals are one big cartridge. You basically buy a new drill if something breaks.

Brian Elfert

[Vijay Kumar]

Dewalt, Porter Cable majority of their stuff is US made. Milwaukee too although the parent is in Hong Kong.

[Brian Elfert]

In some cases, you simply can't find new stuff made in the USA anymore without looking long and hard. There are no drill presses made in the USA expcet some really expensive Powermatics that I know of. General does maek one in Canada that is still $850 or more, and I did buy one a few years back.

I'm not going to go to five different stores looking for something like kitchen measruing cups made in the USA. I might go to five different stores looking for a tool made in the USA.

Brian Elfert

[John Grossbohlin]

Interesting... I don't have any cordless tools (unless you count hammers, planes, etc.). All my portable power tools have "wires," as my son puts it. (One day I pulled out my corded PC 3/8" drill and my son asked me what it was. I told him it was a drill. He responded with "Oh, I never saw one with a wire." Guess he's seen too many home improvement shows. ;-))

John

[Mark Cooper]

Just bought a Milwaukee circ saw, made in Mexico...too early to tell on quality.

Just bought a Milwaukee vise, made in USA. Also a piece of shit. Never seen quality that bad in all my days. Taking it back this weekend.

Apparently this was the last one they made, too, because I can't find vises offered for sale anywhere on Milwaukee's website.

Must have been too embarassed after making this crap.

You just can't believe how bad this vise is.

[Patriarch]

[e-mail] wrote in news:1115083134.822774.173510 @f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

Not to deny the problems in the schools, but, according to the venture capitalist who spoke at lunch time today, a significant portion of the engineers being hired in China, to do development on a very large scale Asian ecommerce effort, were educated in schools in the United States and Canada.

There is a competitive cost to educating the world, but there are great benefits as well. You live in the Bay Area. Who leads Silicon Valley? Whence come the engineers? And where are they educated?

Patriarch, who just bought a made-in-Milwaukee Delta jointer, and it's only 50+ years old.

[CW]

I have two PC nailers. Both made in Taiwan.

[mike]

I just had a problem with a Makita cordless drill. The reverse switch would no longer function. I sent it out to a factory authorized repair shop that is here in the states. They did repair it but now it will go forward when in reverse position and reverse when in the forward position. What does that say about the quality of the US worker??

[Hax Planx]

I was looking at jigsaws the other day and it was fun to see where they all were made. Top of the line Bosch: Switzerland, second tier Bosch: USA, Milwaukee: Czech Republic, Hitachi: Ireland. I bought the Swiss made Bosch, not because of where it was made, but because I liked it best, mainly because it had the biggest base and I think that will pay off for woodworking. All things being equal, I'll buy American, but things are seldom equal. At Lowes the other day I paid more than twice as much for American made Channel Lock needle nose pliers over generic, because I wanted a tool that was precise and tough. The same day I bought an import Stanley tape measure over the old school American made one because I liked the way it didn't reel in as soon as I let go of the tape. I used to worry about it more, but then one day it occurred to me that none of those people in those factories were doing me any favors, nor were they likely to if they got the chance. I worked for the Japanese for a couple of years. Very polite, soft spoken and modest executives. Can't say the same for very many of the American ones I have known. They can sink or swim on their own merits as far as I'm concerned. But really the precarious state of American manufacturing can all be blamed on our gutless politicians more than anything else. We need our factories to be regulated for pollution, fair business practices and safety, yet they have to compete with countries like China which don't do anything of the kind. Goods that are made in conditions that would be unacceptable here should either not be imported or heavily tariffed. Neither is happening. Blame the politicians. That's where it all begins and ends.

[Prometheus]

Dremel, Ellis and Miller are also US made. Also made in the US: Shop-vac (according to what I found), Campbell Hausfeld, Tecumseh, S-K Tools, and a constantly-dwindling pile of others. I've been trying to get my hands on a good list of them for a while, but it seems like someone is trying to keep it all secret. All I can find is a bunch of BS from the AFL-CIO about how spiffy unions are when I try and find a source for US manufacturers.

Aut inveniam viam aut faciam

[Never Enough Money]

Politicians are only a small part of the problem. Include the greed of Unions, the crimes of CEOs, the failure of the educational system, the decay of the work ethic, child labor laws that prevent 14 year olds from find a summer job so that Nintendo is the only alternative, and hubris.

[John B]

Not only is "Shop-Vac" made in the USA, it says so on the box, unless there is a Town in China named USA. :) but it is exported to Good ol' OZ. I bought one just the other day from Bunnings for $98.99 AU. Thought it was a fair price. The shed hasn't looked so clean in years ;).

All the best John

[John B]

As this thread has gone to hell and almost back again thought I'd add my

2 bobs worth regarding profits, and wages and benefits and all them things that make it no longer viable to make products at a reasonable price in the US and Aust. A while ago a magazine programme on telly had an article regarding just this and used a leather coat as an example. Now I'm working from memory, which aint what it used to be but the equation went something like this. 1 x leather jacket manufactured in Australia costing $75.00 to produce and whole selling at $200.00. Same leather jacket manufactured in China costing $25.00 to produce and whole selling at $200.00. Now, I may not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but it seems to me that the only people benefiting from this are at the top of the pile. My rant for the month.:) have a good one John

[Lawrence Wasserman]

Bass-ackwards?

[Andy Dingley]

There are several. There's definitely a "Sheffield", for exactly this reason.