China tools

I purchased a 1 5/16 wrench off of ebay for $12.00 , made in China. I had a bolt that would not come loose I heated it cherry red no luck, the 3/4 impact wrench would not loosen it,the 3/4 breaker bar with a 3ft cheater no luck. I put the box end of my cheapy wrench on the bolt and put the floor jack under the other end (tool abuse) and jacked away, did NOT break the wrench and the bolt came loose. So you can say what you want about China made tools.

I have little grief with Chinese tools. It is the commodity items that are compromised, Pipe fittings bolts, and other hardware. Jim

For single use or rarely used thing I have had fairly good luck with cheap wrenches and sockets. If you try and use them everyday then they wear pretty fast.

I have several sets of "cheap" tools that go in the tractors/combines in the field. Not much of a lost if you lose one or they are stolen.

I've got some Chinese-made tools in my arsenal also. They can be hit-and-miss.
Just one thing to think about: On the odd chance that your Chinese tool would need warranty work, how would you go about getting it?

Over the last few years I've been replacing most of the tools I have with Chinese tools. For the most part I find them better.

Jim Odd that you say that. On a trip to China several years ago the group made a visit to a Foundry that made exactly what you are talking about, black iron pipe fittings. The guy stood up and held a black iron elbow, made for domestic use , so many ounces , second elbow normal export fitting, so many ounces, third elbow usa export so many ounces. You want to guess which were lighter. His point was this China will build exactly what the customer wants ,lower price less material.

I never understood why people care so much about warranty or service on cheap tools. You pay a fraction of the cost for the tool. If one brakes who cares? Go by another one. I have saved thousands of dollars buying lower end tools. If one brakes I can replace it and I am still way ahead of the game. Why spend 3 or 4 time more just so you can get service? Makes no sense to me.

Same with the resale argument. I don't by tools to resell I buy them to use. If I buy a $10 cheap tool instead of a $50 high end tool how much money did I loose. The $50 tool is probably worth $30 used so I lost $20. The cheap tool only cost $10 to begin with.

I was going to comment, for the most part Chinese manufacturers build what the customer here in the States asks for.

That's like if a real estate developer insisted that a contractor build houses as cheaply as he could, and then the contractor being blamed for cheap houses.

I never throw away a tool of any kind be it wrench or socket. Even if it's broke they come in handy. If you have a nut you can't get off weld the wrench to it the heat will many times make it come loose and who cares if you had to throw away the busted wrench or socket.

They're getting better, or at least the people who are importing them on this end are getting better at QC.

They still haven't gotten the crescent wrenches right.

Most of what I have at work is imported (except for the crescent wrench). They don't walk off and get the job done.

(quoted from post at 06:30:51 01/17/18) I never understood why people care so much about warranty or service on cheap tools. You pay a fraction of the cost for the tool. If one brakes who cares? Go by another one. I have saved thousands of dollars buying lower end tools. If one brakes I can replace it and I am still way ahead of the game. Why spend 3 or 4 time more just so you can get service? Makes no sense to me.

Click to expand...

But then you get to complain 40 years later when you've had the tool replaced several times over, and the store goes belly-up due to unsustainable business practices like offering "lifetime warranty" on tools, and you can't get your "lifetime warranty" tool replaced anymore.

My experience has been mixed, mostly good, some junk, just like tools made anyplace else.

Fred

I guess I care about warranty, or in some cases, a lack thereof.
I still have my original set of Matco open end SAE wrenches that I bought when I went to automotive tech school back in 1980. I didn't need a warranty on any of them. Compare that to a set of Kmart branded (Yes, K-Mart!) ratcheting wrenches that my sister gave me soon after. I had to warranty them things several times, including having an irate store manager tell me that they didn't have a warranty of them, despite having a "lifetime warranty" printed right on the pouch they came in.
My nearest auto parts store, WalMart, O'Reilly, Autozone, or any other similar place is a half hour away. The nearest Harbor Freight (yes, despite my post, I do have some Harbor Freight tools) is over an hour away. When it's late in the weekend, I don't want to worry about if my tool will break and who is the nearest place that will have a replacement.
"If one brakes who cares? Go by (buy) another one." I guess I care. That's just not the attitude that I have. And once again, those cheap tools are great to throw into a car where you hope you never use them, or if they are shared by a dozen people who might walk off with them.

(quoted from post at 10:21:05 01/17/18) Jim Odd that you say that. On a trip to China several years ago the group made a visit to a Foundry that made exactly what you are talking about, black iron pipe fittings. The guy stood up and held a black iron elbow, made for domestic use , so many ounces , second elbow normal export fitting, so many ounces, third elbow usa export so many ounces. You want to guess which were lighter. His point was this China will build exactly what the customer wants ,lower price less material.

Click to expand...

I read and article from a guy who was having hand water pumps made in China. He said that he ended up going to the foundry after so many loads of pumps were 90% unusable. After talking, through a translator, with the shop boss for a long time, the light went on in the bosses head and he said, "Oh! You mean you only want us to ship the GOOD ONES!"

I still have my original set of Craftsman tools I bought in 1969. Don't remember ever having a defective tool failure. Any tools that failed was due to me using them in ways not intended by Craftsman. They were not returned to Sears for replacement. 99.99% of tools replaced under warranty are not defective and therefore, should not be replaced for free. Just my 2 cents.