Chinesesieum

[Rockindaddy]

Never ceases to amaze me how metallurgy affects our everyday life. My wife loves to sew. She makes the most beautiful things. She has worn out two fine sewing machines. A German Pfaff machine is a real fine machine. But she has managed to wear em out. The other day she was complaining that it is almost impossible to buy a safety pin that actually works. She said the wire used in safety pins is soft and the pins do not work as well as pins from years ago. I just ignored her comments as she said the safety pins sold these days are all made in China. Well I have been a tool maker and gunsmith for over 50 years now. I have made all sort of parts and pieces. My small machine shop keeps me busy and in "beer money". Just finished a set of safety rail splices for a stainless rail system. The material was 316 stainless. Not a real hard material but tough. Finished all the machining and had to cut the newly turned and machined parts in half. Grabbed a hack saw and started sawing. The cut in the stock was barely a sixteenth deep when my hacksaw blade gave out. Removed the first blade and installed another. Same thing! Barely a 1/16" cut and that blade was done as was a third. They all went into the scrap metal bin. Went and looked in the supply cabinet and beside the new shinny blue blades was a Nicholson hacksaw blade. I installed it and proceeded to saw right through my 3/4" piece of stainless. Looked at the teeth on the Nicholson and they still looked good. The blue blades were nicely made and painted blue with MADE IN CHINA marked on them. These should have been marked for wood only not metal. I call any Chinese knife, saw, drill, spring, file, or cutting tool all junk! They are made out of a rare element not even on the Periodic Chart of Elements. The element is Chineseieum. Anything made out of it rusts, disintegrates, bends, breaks, and falls apart! I have made a vow to never buy Chinese tools, cutters, drills, or files. The CCP are destroying out finely made manufactured goods and putting American manufacturers out of business. The middle class working tradesman is suffering because of the cheap china goods flooding our shores. I took a photo of my hacksaw cutting. Three china blue junk blades! Soft as butter.

[Barry54]

See the fine print?

[Winger Ed.]

A lot of folks don't ever, or hardly ever oil their sewing machines. That a major factor for their longevity.
A commercial place that runs them all day, every day will often oil them either every day,
or about three times a week. Like a engine, oil is their life blood.

I have a commercial machine for doing heavy stuff like car & boat upholstery.
I oil it before every project. It's 30 years old, but acts like it is brand new.

[Delkal]

Have you been to a harbor freight store? I walk around with a smile looking at crappy tools I need but don't depend on.....

I totally agree that "any Chinese knife, saw, drill, spring, file, or cutting tool all junk!" but we don't have many options left. I don't believe your Nicholson hacksaw blades are still made in the US and they haven't made a decent file in 30 years. When you replace the hacksaw blades you might find a European made blade in a machinist / specialty catalog that is decent but don't bother looking for one at any retail store.

Its sad but true.

[JDHasty]

Have you been to a harbor freight store? I walk around with a smile looking at crappy tools I need but don't depend on.....

I totally agree that "any Chinese knife, saw, drill, spring, file, or cutting tool all junk!" but we don't have many options left. I don't believe your Nicholson hacksaw blades are still made in the US and they haven't made a decent file in 30 years. When you replace the hacksaw blades you might find a European made blade in a machinist / specialty catalog that is decent but don't bother looking for one at any retail store.

Its sad but true.

That’s not quite accurate about Nicholson files, I was on the phone with Boggs and telling them that I had just bought a 10” Grobet fine cut mill file and it was a total piece of junk. They said that Nicholson has been turning out some real nice files lately, a week later I came home and there was a file on my doorstep with an invoice for $12. It’s a Jim Dandy. I paid north of three times that for the Grobet. I did send it back to the vender and was credited for it. I threw a six inch Nicholson fine cut mill file on a Midway order in order to qualify for free shipping after that experience and that one too leaves nothing to be desired. It was also on sale at the time.

I totally can relate to the wife’s frustration with Chinese safety pins, for me the one that really set me off was nail nippers. My kids have managed to lose most of my American made nippers and try as I might I couldn’t find a pair to replace them with that was worth spit. The ones the kids lost were ones I had owned since the 1960’s or 70’s. They cut clean as a whistle and were as sharp as when I got them. The Chinese ones aren’t sharp to begin with and after five cuts crush more than cut.

Not one to surrender and accept insult gracefully, I went on a mission to find a decent pair of nail nippers. I solicited opinion from everyone and anyone regarding their experience with nail nippers and in doing so provided amusement to friends and acquaintances.

After about six months of looking I finally ask the right guy and was told that the Green Bell G-1205 Nail Clipper (Takumi No Waza) is what I was looking for.

By God, he knew his nippers. They ain’t cheap, but they are sharp as a razor and keep their edge like the American made ones had.

[Barry54]

I’m starting to buy German made tools if I can’t get USA. I really like the Knipex pliers.

So are there any American made nail clippers?

[HWooldridge]

It’s a common refrain - much of what is produced in China is junk. They are capable of better quality but they don’t send it to the USA.

Germany, Italy and France still make good products, and we can certainly do it here if given the opportunity. Japan also raised their game a long time ago and most of their output is high quality - but buyer beware on China, India and their ilk.

[Rockindaddy]

A lot of folks don't ever, or hardly ever oil their sewing machines. That a major factor for their longevity.
A commercial place that runs them all day, every day will often oil them either every day,
or about three times a week. Like a engine, oil is their life blood.

I have a commercial machine for doing heavy stuff like car & boat upholstery.
I oil it before every project. It's 30 years old, but acts like it is brand new.

Boss lady corrected me on the sewing machine wear. She said it took her 50 years to wear em out. Pfaff instructs users to only oil at certain points. A quart of 20 weight oil will last her a long time. The main point was the terrible quality of china goods being brought by boat to our shores. Delkal has it figured out! The Chinese must have a Chineseium mine where they extract this rare earth element to add to their steel products to make junk for the American market!

[Froogal]

We've lived in this house for nearly 26 years and I've been fighting drips and leaks in the drain pipes under the kitchen sink ever since we moved in. Several years ago I totally replaced ALL of those pipes with NEW stuff, but I am still fighting the drips and leaks. PVC all the way, and "MADE IN CHINA" on all of it. I'm ready to replace it again, but I don't know where to get the good, made in USA stuff, if it even exists anymore.

[rockrat]

I have some nail clippers that belonged to my Grandfather. Gotta be at least 50 years old and still sharp.

[Hondolane]

Every dollar we spend on China junk is a dollar to the CCP. Another way to look at it is that same dollar buys another bullet that could/may/will be used against our people someday. We're all guilty of funding them, but next time you buy that thing Made in China think about how that money is going to be possibly used against this nation.

[country gent]

I like the bimetal hack saw blades keep them in 3 different tpi sizes. Starrett is on maker but there are several US made brands. A good hacksaw blade makes a big difference when cutting fine work. Uneven kerfs and sharpened edges will cause the blade to walk. A good frame for the blade is the rest of the system.

[Kestrel4k]

Every dollar we spend on China junk is a dollar to the CCP. Another way to look at it is that same dollar buys another bullet that could/may/will be used against our people someday. We're all guilty of funding them, but next time you buy that thing Made in China think about how that money is going to be possibly used against this nation.

That ^^^ x2

[Rapier]

Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Ain't going to be fooled again.

[imashooter2]

Hardly a thing exists that a man can’t make it a little cheaper and sell it for a little less.

[JDHasty]

I’m starting to buy German made tools if I can’t get USA. I really like the Knipex pliers.

So are there any American made nail clippers?

I don't believe so, and the German ones weren't what they had been advertised to be. It was Japanese that stand out.

[JDHasty]

I have some nail clippers that belonged to my Grandfather. Gotta be at least 50 years old and still sharp.

A half dozen of mine were given to me by my mother and grandfather. If they have lost anything since new it surely wasn't apparent.

[MaLar]

A lot of folks don't ever, or hardly ever oil their sewing machines. That a major factor for their longevity.
A commercial place that runs them all day, every day will often oil them either every day,
or about three times a week. Like a engine, oil is their life blood.

I have a commercial machine for doing heavy stuff like car & boat upholstery.
I oil it before every project. It's 30 years old, but acts like it is brand new.

That's what the sewing machine makers suggest. I have some machines that are a hundred years old, They run great keep em oiled.

[john.k]

German tools are nice......but the prices .....$600 for a set of combination Stahlwille wrenches ...........Knipex tools are all around $100..........Im old enough to remember when there were junk German tools too,and junk Japanese stuff....................as to hacksaw blades ,I wont use anything but 'all hard' HSS blades .......but I hand the saw to a young person ,the blade is broken in five seconds .

[M-Tecs]

I love quality tools. Most of my personal tools are high end. US made if possible. That being said some of the Chinese imports are 90% of the quality but 25% or less in cost. For low usage or loaner tools they have a place for me.