i got out the magnifying glass and discovered that my coupon is still good
i may actually use it but it's not for a woodworking implement so i won't mention the item
and i always thought that what the big print giveth the small print taketh away
my faith in humanity partially restored
decided not to get it as i came to an alternative design plus the quality just made me think twice something about chrome plated parts with the size barely visible under the chrome doesn't sit right
anyone want a 20% off H Flet me know
I know my previous post on HFT started a bit of an uproar with some people, but there are still some things I buy there. I just ALWAYS check it before I buy it due to changing quality and specifications. I've got a bunch of
12" bar clamps I got from HFT that I using on my injecting and casting test bench for clamping molds when I test them before I ship them out. I've got 3 HF drill presses (I bought the bigger 16 speed mail order for my current application), 2 mill drills (older better than what they offer now) and 2 HF bench sanders that all see regular use in the shop. They are all adequate, but I always approach anything from HF with a large dollop of salt.With special product coupons, 20% off coupons, and sales you can often get something from them that is worth what you paid for it. You just have to shop a bit.
Heck, I've got two tool carts in my shop that see daily use. One is full of milling machine tool holders, and one is full of end mills and measuring tools.
And yes every one of these tools has seen some wood, so technically its not off topic. LOL.
Ok the new drill press has not seen any wood except from across the room. I mounted a tapping head in it, and plan to leave it there permanently.
I am not one of those people who think just because a piece of equipment say Central Machinery on it that it must be junk, but I do believe that every comparable product sold elsewhere see better QC before being offered for sale.
have you ever seen a casting that was made from a copy of another casting
the definition of numbers/letters diminishes then you take that lousy copy of a copy and chrome plate it
it looks bad and maybe it's not a copy of a casting maybe it's a copy of a machined part that they decided to cast
i just couldn't do it
good to know the coupons are easy to come by
maybe one day coupons discounts and sale price will align and i will find something
yes number of posts goes up as the importance of any topic goes down if it's noting to do with wood then even more so possibly logarithmic
over the years with off shoring and all the other nonsense we've all been burned by low quality at one point but we've also learned that many name brands can have quality issues and so we don't put so much emphasis on the name so i agree with you
chinese engineering: prototype what that
customer buys product that most would call a prototype
chinese: we sold a lot but some customer upset over quality here's the list of complaints
chinese: modify prodcut based on complains and sell
and so on and so forth
the customer is the QC dept. and they bought the product and no salary and volunteered the problems with the product
So you do not think that changing and reducing specifications from a vendor on the same items is important to know, and you do not think tools sold at HFT are used for wood working or that wood workers would be interested?
I just made a post that I thought would be helpful. I didn't expect to start a war between fans and detractors or to see it spin off on so many tangents.
I never read that thread just the original post
sounds dramatic
caveat emptor buyer beware
RE: Subject
Don't hold your breath waiting for "Electric Comet" to buy something.
Lew
"Bob La Londe" wrote
I got a couple of those 12" bar clamps yesterday. I have bought a lot of them. Cheap at three bucks and do the job. I always check them first before buying them. The quality varies between them.
The coupons are nice as are the free gifts. I got a bunch of the FREE HF flashlights. They are scattered everywhere around here. I have them in the cars, all the rooms in the house, in the garage and even on bookshelves. You can never have too many small LED flashlights. They even come with batteries already installed.
Their too selection is limited. But sometimes they have something unique or at least I have not seen them before. Case in point is that I needed to cut up some wire fencing to install on the back of some bean planters. I always had problems getting my diagonal cutters to cut through the fairly solid wire fencing. HF had some "extended reach" cutters. Basically regular cutters with extra long handles. Thereby providing some extra leverage for the cutting action.
I used them a week ago to make up my new bean planters. The missus is very happy with the result. Solid wood with a wire mesh back. I got the nicest bean patch in the neighborhood.
i need to look at these but if i buy online it sounds like i might get a lemon
how much does the quality vary and is it the entire clamp or just one aspect of it
somewhere and sometime i got a piar of mini bolt cutters work great for nails and wire mesh, etc.
they are a one-handed bolt cutter but icannot remember the brand not from HG
The big thing with the bar clamps is how freely they move up and down the bar. Each clamp is different. I try several and get the ones that move most freely. I have destroyed a number of these clamps just because they were in the way of an angle grinder of got welded to something. Even lost one in a blackberry patch while working on a fence. But that is OK. The same thing would have happened to a bar clamp that cost a lot more. And I keep finding uses for the short ones. So I keep buying them.
I have a big bolt cutter and tin snips. The long handled diagonal cutter just worked extremely well for this application. They were small and light weight. It made the job easy and faster. Also, if I need to cut some wire for a wiring job, these will be handy as well.
I've found two different tools that seem to work well for heavier wire. One is a set of linesman style pliers I bought at Wal-Mart many years ago. They notches in the side that line up when you open the pliers. They will cut right through a piece of stainless spring wire even.
The other is a Master Mechanic brand fence tool I bought at my dad's hardware store back when Master Mechanic was still US made. It looks like a combination between a rock hammer and a pair of pliers.
Actually the Chinese are capable of building to any quality we would like. The Chinese build to the American Importers specifications. If you don't like Chinese products blame the importer.
I have many many Chinese built products in my home and they are Superior to American built. Apple, an American Importer demands a higher quality of manufacture.
Blame the importer or blame the consumer? Doesn't the importer simply impor t only what the consumer is willing to pay for?
(BTW...we should probably replace "importer" with "company that requested t he product". As you know they are not always the same. The importer may be just that...a company that specializes in importing items into the US, with no say or stake in the quality of the product.)
Yes, to some extend the consumer is forced to buy only what has been import ed, but isn't the consumer ultimately to blame for the downward spiral of q uality by continuing to buy the cheap stuff instead of demanding/buying the best?
If everyone refused to buy the cheap stuff, there would be no market for it and it would no longer be imported. Doesn't that place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the consumer? As you said, the good "Chinese made" stuf f is out there, consumers just have to be willing to pay for it.
I have found that the Chinese are capable of manufacturing better Chinese p eople than any other manufacturer. They seem to have the process down to a science. ;-)
yes including low quality
they don't sit around waiting for someone to tell them what to make
This is not unique to the Chinese.
Think Oldsmobile, Yugo, PC, B&D the list goes on.
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