Team Chevelle banner

Made In Where ?

12K views 78 replies 50 participants last post by  Clint44 
#1 ·
I was in the office at the refinery loading rack the other day and saw a new rigid 14 inch pipe wrench laying on the table, picked it up and the darn thing looks like it is sand cast, very rough finish, bet it is made in china although it does not say, but it does say rigid tool co. USA. bought several vice grip brand vice grip c-clamp style pliers last year at a steel supply company here, didn't look at them when I threw them in my cart, just got the "vice grips" and chucked them in there, got home and dumped them out and started taking them off the card they came on, then noticed very rough sand cast finish, and sure enough "made in china" rite there on the side of the vice grip brand vice grips, about the same time as I hurled them across the shop and was cussin' a line of obscenities that would have made Richard Pryor blush with embarrassment, my wife walked in, stood there lookin at me for a second and says, " china"?, (she knows me pretty well) and I say ********* yes, and go and pick them up and put them in my welding bucket.
about a month ago we decide to purchase a pipe bender so we can get started on cage for race car, look at harbor freight, northern tool and the like, but decided to purchase a Ridgid, (You know, the made in USA tool maker) was over $1000.00 and is manual hydrolic (no motor), WRONG, came in a nice wooden box and clearly said Made In China, , I'm gonna stop now cause yall know what I'm thinkin'. :sad: :mad: :confused:
 
See less See more
#4 ·
I think with the TPP agreement the made in the USA labels is going to get even more watered down. Something about how a cars domestic content is going to be accounted lik the govt accounts money. Even though its not actually made here they can still count it as made here or something sort of nonsense. Jim
 
#5 ·
As many know, I am in the Machine Shop Business, general Job Shop, specializing in Marine Repair and New Construction.

A few years ago, we won the bid for the underwater running gear on two new Ferries for Aransas Pass. These were part of the TARP program, and the contracts specified.......products and materials to be of US origin when possible.

Have you ever tried to by a piece steel manufactured here? Nuts? Bolts? Just about anything.

We had to get a variance on 80 % of everything we did.

Most of the steel we use is manufactured in Eastern Europe. When the Soviet Union collapsed, all of those steel mills didn't stop making steel, they just started making it for everyone else.

It's the same with non ferrous metals, bronze, brass, aluminum. None of it is made here.

For you Machinist. The name Cincinatti Milicron conjures up visions of a great American Machine Tool Manufacture. Only if there is a province in India named America.

South Bend? One of the old stallworths of American Machine Tools. Ha. Try Brazil.

The fact is, not much of anything is manufactured here any more. Sure, "assembled" here......probably by robots.

"Sir, do you want fries with that burger"?
 
#8 ·
As many know, I am in the Machine Shop Business, general Job Shop, specializing in Marine Repair and New Construction.

A few years ago, we won the bid for the underwater running gear on two new Ferries for Aransas Pass. These were part of the TARP program, and the contracts specified.......products and materials to be of US origin when possible.

Have you ever tried to by a piece steel manufactured here? Nuts? Bolts? Just about anything.

We had to get a variance on 80 % of everything we did.

Most of the steel we use is manufactured in Eastern Europe. When the Soviet Union collapsed, all of those steel mills didn't stop making steel, they just started making it for everyone else.

It's the same with non ferrous metals, bronze, brass, aluminum. None of it is made here.

For you Machinist. The name Cincinatti Milicron conjures up visions of a great American Machine Tool Manufacture. Only if there is a province in India named America.

South Bend? One of the old stallworths of American Machine Tools. Ha. Try Brazil.

The fact is, not much of anything is manufactured here any more. Sure, "assembled" here......probably by robots.

"Sir, do you want fries with that burger"?
There should be a comprehensive list of all products country of origin regardless of the name on the product and a "sticky" in TC.
There is a great ruse going on in all industries to give the "appearance" of made in USA. Thanks for providing this information.
 
#9 ·
Rigid Tools has a manufacturing facility in Elyria, OH. I had some "Lifetime" batteries exchanged there. They weren't excited to help me. Nor do they stand behind them anymore. They did have the best "G" rated calendar and it was highly coveted around here. Ain't seen one in years. The guy that headed maintenance was friendly and gave me an air powered caulk to promo for doing a windshield for the company. Where has good old American manufacturing gone???

Steve O.
 
#10 · (Edited)
All of our problems with offshore junk and the disappearance of American jobs can be traced back to the American voter. They just keep voting for the same lunatics time after time, the same lunatics who made it possible for China to export their junk to this country and kill American jobs. You can't blame American manufacturers for jumping on the China bandwagon, they have to show a profit on the bottom line to be competitive in business and to placate their shareholders.

The problems with Congress can be explained with this little story of the 5 Monkeys. It is unclear if this experiment actually happened or not, but again, it explains why nothing gets done that would benefit Americans as a whole....

The human behavior of not challenging assumptions reminds me of an experiment psychologists performed years ago. They started with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, they hung a banana on a string with a set of stairs placed under it. Before long, a monkey went to the stairs and started to climb towards the banana. As soon as he started up the stairs, the psychologists sprayed all of the other monkeys with ice cold water. After a while, another monkey made an attempt to obtain the banana. As soon as his foot touched the stairs, all of the other monkeys were sprayed with ice cold water. It's wasn't long before all of the other monkeys would physically prevent any monkey from climbing the stairs. Now, the psychologists shut off the cold water, removed one monkey from the cage and replaced it with a new one. The new monkey saw the banana and started to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attacked him and beat the snot out of him. After another attempt and another attack, he realized that if he tried to climb the stairs, he would be assaulted and beaten. Next they removed another of the original five monkeys and replaced it with a new one. The newcomer went to the stairs and was attacked and beaten. The previous newcomer took part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, they replaced a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey tried to climb the stairs, he was attacked. These new monkeys had no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they were beating any monkey that tried. After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys had ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approached the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been around here. People do the same in the workplace. How many times have you heard "It has always been done this way. Don't mess with what works." Instead of challenging these assumptions, many of us, like the monkeys, simply keep reproducing what has been done before. It's the easiest thing to do.

So it is with the United States Congress and other groups of lawmakers across the country. "Go along to get along". The way to fix this is to vote in ALL NEW lawmakers every time there is an election, but that will never happen without a 180 degree turn in the mindset of the American voters and we have about as much chance of that happening as we do of living to see the 2nd coming of Christ.

Once in a while, us voters will encounter a new candidate for office who has the spark of wanting to change the system for the better, so we vote him/her into office and expect great things from them. And it always turns out the same way, as soon as the new Senator or Congressman attempts to climb the ladder and secure the banana for his/her constituents, he/she is attacked by the other members of the body and told that if they want to ever have any of the other members of the body to vote for any legislation that will help the new member's constituents, they had damned well better "go along to get along" and the spark dies.

It will not always be this way. These great United States of America, this noble experiment, is on the way out and we have nobody to blame but ourselves. Each new democracy that has flared up on this planet has gone through the same evolution and has ended with a revolution and replacement of the democratic form of government with a dictatorship. So it will be for America.
From Bondage to Spiritual Faith
From Spiritual Faith to Great Courage
From Courage to Liberty
From Liberty to Abundance
From Abundance to Complacency
From Complacency to Apathy
From Apathy to Dependence
From Dependence back into Bondage
Folks who are smarter than I am figure that we are currently in the Apathy to Dependence stage. :(
 
#12 ·
:yes:

IF the American manufacturer would care more about QA/QC and product specs, their "made in China" products could be okay... But in quest for lower costs and higher profits, they seem to skimp on demanding quality from their suppliers...

Save money on materials, save money on labor, save money of QA/QC, pay a little more on shipping... And then hope that most consumers will still purchase your products when you current stuff doesn't work... :sad:



I love how many people bash others for purchasing stuff like Toyotas and Hondas instead of buying GM products, etc, because of the "buy American" mantra... IMO, many American corporations like GM care more about profit then they really care about the American public... Sure, they have to be competitive, but...
 
#13 ·
China IS able to produce good quality-but the demand is for cheap ,less quality lookalike stuff that can be sold in other countries for bigger profits...
When they are asked to produce reliable good quality,their price is as high or higher than similar known brand products.

Remember the times,when you went out to buy something,the quality of things were 'good' or 'better'-
the ,click 3 times and disintegrate' pen was not even invented.Over here,that junk came into play about 40 jears ago:mad:

Arno
 
#14 ·
#17 ·
I'm with Shane on this point. The EPA has caused many manufacturers to move out of the USA. I'm all for clean air to breathe and water to drink but feel the EPA regulations are becoming unrealistic. The same toxic air produced off shore affects the whole planet so the EPA regulation hasn't helped anything but the move to a global economy.

I have 2 NAPA floor jacks. They are excellent, high quality jacks...Made in China, but to NAPA specs and quality. Of course they were not inexpensive either.
 
#16 ·
Just look at the quality of parts for our cars that are made in China. The problem lye's with whoever is having this stuff reproduced is not getting the tooling right in the first place and accepting whatever comes out of it. What I can't understand with all the development of machinery that can duplicate a part to the T why is there so much junk being made.
 
#18 ·
Go to any car show and look closely at the Chevelles which have used import reproduction parts. Damed few of those parts are correct but would be if nobody bought the inferior parts. An example, a '66 grille is a start.
 
#20 ·
A 70 ss dash is another:yes:
 
#19 ·
I wonder if we boycotted all the everyday stuff we use from overseas that put MILLLIONS of Americans out of work would anyone that matters even notice ?
 
#21 ·
That would be about as likely as a fuel haulers strike, somebody would be the "I cant afford to do that" , person, and then most would follow "him", rite back to the refinery, or the china crap.

Oh, and to answer your question,.....Probably Not :sad:
 
#23 ·
AND, now I hear that GM is gonna import so many thousand, (45,000 I think) Buick something or other from, yep you guessed it, china. :sad:

How the h*ll are we supposed to "buy American" if there aint no "American" left to buy. :confused:

Also read or heard something the other day that almost made me kick my dog, seems that companies, in order to claim "made in USA", only have to have ONE of the manufacturing processes done in the USA, and what does that mean, make the crap anywhere in the world, import it to the USA, and print, stamp, engrave, or otherwise mark the product and it can carry the "Made in USA" label, like some have said here the "Made in USA" label does not mean much anymore.
To me, "Made in USA" , SHOULD mean that ALL materials, labor and workmanship be of USA origin and be done IN the USA, PERIOD.
OK, i'm gonna stop now before my blood pressure goes up :)
 
#25 ·
I think it's important for people to recognize there is a gray area here. A few guys mentioned it above that you can get a quality product from China. There is absolutely zero guarantee that a Buick from China will be any worse than a Buick from the USA. The only thing anyone can do is educate yourself or others on what the differences may be.

I currently do this with my 7 year old son. The dollar store is a great place to implement this and show what may be useful and cheap, and what is cheap and not useful.
 
#26 ·
I think it's important for people to recognize there is a gray area here. A few guys mentioned it above that you can get a quality product from China. There is absolutely zero guarantee that a Buick from China will be any worse than a Buick from the USA. The only thing anyone can do is educate yourself or others on what the differences may be.

I currently do this with my 7 year old son. The dollar store is a great place to implement this and show what may be useful and cheap, and what is cheap and not useful.
What you are doing with your 7 year old is an excellent plan. :thumbsup:
 
#64 ·
What would my "American" Racing TT have cost if they were cast by Alcoa? I was BALLISTIC when I saw made in China on the boxes. But not enough to send them back ( rubber already mounted so couldnt) and put the out of round SS wheels back on. $700 worth of rims would have been what $1500-2200 US made?
Well based in this information you guys helped me make the decision to fix the wheels on my 2000 Camaro SS. It has the Chrome Plated ZR1 style wheels which GM acknowledged had a problem with the Chrome Bubbling up and Peeling. Unfortunately once the car was out of warranty..........not their problem. For what the local wheel refinishing place want to fix them, I was considering a set of AR Torque Thrust 2's" Mine actually lasted about 5 years, but now its reached a point where I really have to do something. I was thinking about having them polished, but the may be to damaged for that so just regular Powdercoat and be done with it.
 
#45 ·
#29 ·
We all voted for the loss of American jobs.

How? Not at the voting both, but at the store counter. If there was a product that was made in the US and a similar product that was less money but made overseas, even though it was of inferior quality, the American consumer would buy the overseas version.

"Look how much money I saved!" they all say.

The business man says "OK, I see people want cheap, they don't care about their neighbors jobs, as long as they get the lowest possible price".

He, the business guy, sees this as the market voting for cheap. Walmart, Target, Dollar stores are all based on this concept. He then responds by making all his merchandise follow the pattern the consumer wants.
 
#31 ·
This time last year I went on my usual pre-Thanksgiving Vacation. The only difference this time was I was using up all my Vacation prior to my retirement at the end of the year. When the people that I worked with found out I was retiring, I had an endless train of people wanting to buy my tools, even my beat up old rusty Craftsman tool box. Sure I have some Harbor Freight in the mix, am I going to buy something for three or four times the price when in a very short time I'm probably never going to use it again....I highly doubt it. But I digress....Since I had been in the Aviation business for over forty years, I have a lot of old "American" made tools. I was offered a lot of money for some of my stuff, but I elected to give my Grandchildren first shot. I was a little surprised that most of the people I turned away were approaching or at my age. Very few of the new to the business seemed interested. I suppose that "New" trumps "Quality".
 
#34 · (Edited)
Well, I for one do certainly try to buy American as much as I can especially since I defended this country for 29 years in the Marines.
As what was mentioned, even though something says "Made in America", it doesnt necessarily mean that it is "Made in America". You can buy a American made Harley Davidson but most of the parts come from China. So essentially it will say "Assembled in USA with parts made in China". And from the words of Famous John Winger "That's a Fact Jack".

But I think it is the entire country at fault whether we know/like it or not. Not only from the consumer stand point looking for a better deal in foreign parts but from the American workers seeking higher wages. Just look at your simple jobs that we take for granted. How many of you would be a gardener or work in the fields for the small wages that they are paid? If we did pick strawberries for a living, we would then get our unions to protest to get higher wages driving the prices up and having the American people wanting to buy strawberries from overseas for a cheaper price. I know most of us want to get paid more so we can have a better life style and better provide for our families. (not forgetting to mention fixing our classic cars that we love so much)

I certainly do love my country but we are our own demise. But in some cases, the government is to blame. During the cold war, there was nothing more American than the top secret SR71 Blackbird. Well, 85% of the aircrafts airframe was made from titanium from the Soviet Union. But the US did that due to necessity.

Funny thing that I read in the thread was from Langss when he said "New Trumps Quality". Well, we all know what Trump's campaign is about but I wont make this a political post.

'Murica"

PS, this is IMHO only so please don't jump down my throat.
 

Attachments

#35 ·
To part of your point, I wonder how many people replying to this thread actually work in manufacturing in the U.S.A.? How many of your kids aspire to work in manufacturing? I used to be in machining but no longer work in the field, myself. With the push towards higher education and college degrees in this country will manufacturing jobs even be relevant down the road? Seems to me it's a very complicated picture with very complicated causes and affects.

That said, I like buying quality tools and it's a big plus if it's marked made in America. It's very sad that I can no longer do that.
 
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top