Chinese Tools, who makes or carries good ones ?

[SGropp]

There's always lots of discussion on this site on the pros and cons of Chinese made equipment. Usually this turns into people ranting about the generally poor quality of Chinese tools, you get what you pay for, buy American, etc. etc. Someone usually chimes in with the comment that the Chinese can and do make high quality equipment if people are willing to pay for it.

My question is ; who makes them? who carries them in the US ? and how do they compare in general ? Mostly I'm curios about compact commercial duty machine tools; mills , mill/ drills and lathes suitable for the small one or two man professional shop.

[Spears]

I haven’t started my own machine shop yet but I can speak some pros and cons about machine tools and what’s available or where to find them. I first would have to know a bit about what you intend to do with it. Not that I care but there is a difference between drilling plastic circuit boards and tool steel parts machining. If you were planning on making small aluminum parts for compound bows it of course will be different than parts for farm machinery.

Decent imported machines for universal machining operations (lathe, mill, bandsaw, drill press etc) can be found at stores like ENCO, Northern tool, MSC, J&L industrial, Grainger etc etc. Brand names like Grizzly, JET, Wilton, Dayton, Smithy, Rong Fu, I believe are all import and have something to offer depending on what you’re doing. Biggest advantage was they hit the market with more small size machines utilizing home power (i.e. 115V single phase) which is king for the hobbyist. I owned a Smithy Lathe/mill/drill combo and it proved very useful for certain work. Although I would stand beside anyone who claimed no substitute for the 3 Phase industrial powered USA made machines of brand names like Bridgeport, Clausing, Cincinnati, Leblonde, Index, Hardinge etc. Anyone who worked for years in shops with those machines knows that even when they were half worn out you could still do precision machining (i.e.within .001”) with enough attention and expertise. Good luck finding what you seek! Spears.

[arftist]

Never mind the quality issue(seriously), where are you going to get parts? Sure, you might be able to get parts for your Rong-Fu mill drill for a year or two after you buy it, but what about ten or twenty years or more from now? My Bridgeport mill was built is the late 30's, yes, thats right, my milling machine is almost eighty years old, and new ones are almost identical. When Bridgeport went out of business a few years ago (no comment as to why), Hardinge simply bought the company and continues to make, and supply parts for them. If you know anything about machine tools you have probably heard of Hardinge. Additionaly, there are so many bridgeport milling machines in existance that multiple companies make after market parts for them. The same can be said about NO asian mills.

Here is my point. I paid $600 for a round ram, J-head bridgeport, with a 30" table, about half what an asian mill drill cost at that time, with double the power, triple the capacity, and quadruple the rigidity. A couple years later, I found a 1974 dovetail ram, 48" table w/bridgeport power feed minus the head for three hundred at a junkyard. I took the head off the round ram and bolted it to the dovetail machine. Now I have a bad to the bone milling machine for $900.
Lately I have seen nice machines going for 700-1000. What do you think is to be gained by buying "good" asian machinery?

[Mainely,Bob]

I`d like to stand with Arftist on this one.With so many of the old machines going for pennies on the dollar or being sold for scrap prices why even think about rolling the dice with imported machines?
The old iron has the readily available support parts and manuals as well as knowledgeable first hand support thru either factory trained techs or highly skilled self taught forum dwellers.The compatible tooling is there and the metalurgy and tolerances are a proven commodity backed by both past performance and a long and successful history.
There has probably never been a better time to buy high quality machines for these kind of prices(sometimes for scrap prices).Why look anywhere but at the surplus sales and auctions in our own cities?
Even after you pay someone to tune it up for you it`s still going to be cheaper now and far cheaper to maintain further down the road.

Remember too that every hour that machine is down for maintenance or waiting on parts it costs you both money and time,especially if you are paying employees to do things like tear down the tooling and set it up in another machine or when you have to pay overtime to get that order or job out to meet a deadline.
Those free replacement parts or even a replacement machine that has to be shipped in and set up again doesn`t look so attractive under that light now does it?

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

My small home lathe is an 1946 18.5" x 54" Monarch that weighs around 5,200#.

There are lots, and lots of tools on the market. I know some guys who walked away from a big EDM, and a 36" Bullard because they didn't have a forklift big enough to move them. Even the Taiwanese machine tools are decent for the price. I use the Acra more than the Bridgeport at work.

[CurlyGeorge]

Just a thought. Is there a "good" brand Made In China? ;)

[Mainely,Bob]

Just a thought. Is there a "good" brand Made In China?

They`re all good,for the Chinese. :rolleyes:

[Ratel10mm]

I have heard that Bahco are made in China, at least some of the stuff available here in Oz. I don't know if that's true.

Spyderco now have a factory in China producing a knife or 2 for them. The Glessers certainly wouldn't harm their brand by using a factory they didn't fully trust, regardless of the country.

Anyang power hammers. Although I'll admit that they benefit from a bit of valve improvement.

Other than those, I have no idea. Most of the once-good tool brands I have used in the past, are pretty poor made in China. Even if the steel is good, the fit & finish is often rubbish compared to the older stuff.

Let's face it - we all want Rolls Royces for Skoda prices. :P