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I grew up in a small machine shop. When I was a kid in the 80's we machined parts for all kinds of stuff. High end lawn mowers, motor housings, but mainly aircraft. All that business went offshore by the late 90's except aircraft. And aircraft is steadily headed offshore to Brazil, China, and Japan.
It's a damn shame. But what can one guy do? I was a 4th generation machinist and threw the towel in. |
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Americans insist on buying cheap stuff instead of good american made stuff.
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Quoted: The company I run makes products, and I try very hard to source materials made in North America. View Quote I just got another order of one of my favorite things. An assembly that I make that gets shipped to China. I've made tens of thousands of them. Most of our steel is domestic or western Europe. I just ran some 316 from Sweden, that was nice stuff. I have machines built in my state and machines from Japan and Korea. We try to avoid China products simply from a quality and service standpoint but it's damn near impossible all the time. |
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Buy union made ………and prop up organizations that 100% support Dems.
Seems like we are fucked either way. |
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Quoted: We still do, just not everything anymore. Combination of government regulations, corporations catering to stockholders, and an education system telling kids their losers if they get their hands dirty for a living have shut down a lot of manufacturing plants. We can make things competitively here if we wanted to, but quite honestly we no longer have the leadership in the government and the corporations to make it happen. View Quote Since the late '50s and early '60s we've been discouraging kids from getting their hands dirty. It was a slow process and I was fortunate to have some shop classes. By high school, there was only wood shop and auto shop. No machine shop (which is what I wanted). Now most of the shops aren't around in high school anymore. As for corporate America, in the Reagan era which is sometimes called the decade of greed American Corporations went from long term planning to short term profits for better golden parachutes for CEOs, managers and directors. Then when offshore incorporation kicked in, the corporations ceased to be American and they eagerly outsourced production overseas and enabled them to take great profits (because of reduced labor cost and no OSHA/EPA regulations). Naughty Orange Man tried to steer production back to America but wasn't around long enough to accomplish this. |
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Quoted: My products are 100% made here in the USA. What I don't make in my shop on my own machines, is made at a shop next door subcontract, or bought from suppliers who produce their parts here (hardware, etc.). I bought the product line in 2020 and on-shored the few things that were imported (dial indicators, for instance). But I'm poor as shit for the effort LOL. Anyone need engine rebuild tooling? View Quote ![]() |
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A lot of the stuff the companies I work for for as long as I can remember call out US rolled steel in the bid packets for the petrochemical industry.
However have done some work for power plants. The HRSG industry - heat recovery steam generators - is now moved to the Phillipines and such. When needed they will buy US rolled steel and ship it to Brownsville, TX and then ship via freighter to the Phillipines. Fabricate there and then ship these large structures back on special ships to be hauled to and installed in the power plants. Every so often I have to import an alloy of steel from Europe and mainly that is due to availability since we do quick turn around work. It's a lot of paperwork to do it for sometimes a few things that would have fit in the back of a pickup truck. A LOT of the odds and ends stuff that sometimes have to get from Europe in a hurry is because the original item we are replacing was cast and that industry has left the US so they make it out of a steel alloy welded up now. So much stuff now used in manufacturing that even if you had the ability and money to actually make it in the US you're dependent at least in the start to get those things from Asia or another foreign company. A multi million dollar CNC 5 axis multi head plasma torch beamline made by a subsidary of Lincoln electric is now import to the US from...Canada. |
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Quoted: You didn't buy Serv-Equip from Winona Van Norman did you? ![]() View Quote Nope tooling and hand tools, not machine tools. CCA Racing Products. I make torque/honing plates and other fixturing for automotive machinists, and a bunch of hand tools for engine assembly. New website was gonna go live today but hit a snag... |
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Quoted: Facts and stuff. https://assets.weforum.org/editor/eQeyScvZsQc9Dufdj6-gGbjtaPPIzR4O9mgPOcLMG-g.jpeg View Quote |
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Quoted: A lot of the stuff the companies I work for for as long as I can remember call out US rolled steel in the bid packets for the petrochemical industry. However have done some work for power plants. The HRSG industry - heat recovery steam generators - is now moved to the Phillipines and such. When needed they will buy US rolled steel and ship it to Brownsville, TX and then ship via freighter to the Phillipines. Fabricate there and then ship these large structures back on special ships to be hauled to and installed in the power plants. Every so often I have to import an alloy of steel from Europe and mainly that is due to availability since we do quick turn around work. It's a lot of paperwork to do it for sometimes a few things that would have fit in the back of a pickup truck. A LOT of the odds and ends stuff that sometimes have to get from Europe in a hurry is because the original item we are replacing was cast and that industry has left the US so they make it out of a steel alloy welded up now. So much stuff now used in manufacturing that even if you had the ability and money to actually make it in the US you're dependent at least in the start to get those things from Asia or another foreign company. A multi million dollar CNC 5 axis multi head plasma torch beamline made by a subsidary of Lincoln electric is now import to the US from...Canada. View Quote It's not cheap to send manufactured goods to China. Tariffs and then VAT...those fuckers know how to play the game. |
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Quoted: Nope tooling and hand tools, not machine tools. CCA Racing Products. I make torque/honing plates and other fixturing for automotive machinists, and a bunch of hand tools for engine assembly. New website was gonna go live today but hit a snag... View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: You didn't buy Serv-Equip from Winona Van Norman did you? ![]() Nope tooling and hand tools, not machine tools. CCA Racing Products. I make torque/honing plates and other fixturing for automotive machinists, and a bunch of hand tools for engine assembly. New website was gonna go live today but hit a snag... ![]() |
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If you are blaming unions or greedy companies wanting to maximize profits you are only partially right. If a people are not able to produce necessities locally they will be easier to control when necessary.
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Quoted: Ok when you said engine rebuilding equipment it gave me deja vu because we used to own Serv-Equip and sold it 15+ years ago because even then people just weren't rebuilding engines anymore ![]() View Quote The performance automotive aftermarket had its best year ever in 2020 by a long shot. Components are months out on backorder and all my customers are turning down work. Some of my high end customers took a hit from NASCAR and NHRA/IHRA class racing not really happening last year but they all had plenty of fill in work. Many are expanding. My large quantity (10k plus engines per year) customers seem to be on cruise control or a little slower due to less driving in commuter type cars last year. The thing is most shops are moving over to CNC equipment now and there are a handful of companies that got in early. Rottler and Centroid come to mind immediately. When the hone can run itself while you set up the next block, or cut some valve seats, or get something on the decking machine, etc. you are worlds ahead of the guys that use all manual equipment. The smaller the shop, the more pronounced the benefits... so long as the work is coming in the door to make a $5-6k/mo machine payment. |
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Quoted: Since the late '50s and early '60s we've been discouraging kids from getting their hands dirty. It was a slow process and I was fortunate to have some shop classes. By high school, there was only wood shop and auto shop. No machine shop (which is what I wanted). Now most of the shops aren't around in high school anymore. As for corporate America, in the Reagan era which is sometimes called the decade of greed American Corporations went from long term planning to short term profits for better golden parachutes for CEOs, managers and directors. Then when offshore incorporation kicked in, the corporations ceased to be American and they eagerly outsourced production overseas and enabled them to take great profits (because of reduced labor cost and no OSHA/EPA regulations). Naughty Orange Man tried to steer production back to America but wasn't around long enough to accomplish this. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: We still do, just not everything anymore. Combination of government regulations, corporations catering to stockholders, and an education system telling kids their losers if they get their hands dirty for a living have shut down a lot of manufacturing plants. We can make things competitively here if we wanted to, but quite honestly we no longer have the leadership in the government and the corporations to make it happen. Since the late '50s and early '60s we've been discouraging kids from getting their hands dirty. It was a slow process and I was fortunate to have some shop classes. By high school, there was only wood shop and auto shop. No machine shop (which is what I wanted). Now most of the shops aren't around in high school anymore. As for corporate America, in the Reagan era which is sometimes called the decade of greed American Corporations went from long term planning to short term profits for better golden parachutes for CEOs, managers and directors. Then when offshore incorporation kicked in, the corporations ceased to be American and they eagerly outsourced production overseas and enabled them to take great profits (because of reduced labor cost and no OSHA/EPA regulations). Naughty Orange Man tried to steer production back to America but wasn't around long enough to accomplish this. Great book by Rande Somma called, "Leadershit". Walks through the decline of leadership as corporate execs in the automotive world started rewarding themselves for short term gains, but long term failures. Very similar to what's happening in DC where the same people are shuffled around. |
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Quoted: The performance automotive aftermarket had its best year ever in 2020 by a long shot. Components are months out on backorder and all my customers are turning down work. Some of my high end customers took a hit from NASCAR and NHRA/IHRA class racing not really happening last year but they all had plenty of fill in work. Many are expanding. My large quantity (10k plus engines per year) customers seem to be on cruise control or a little slower due to less driving in commuter type cars last year. The thing is most shops are moving over to CNC equipment now and there are a handful of companies that got in early. Rottler and Centroid come to mind immediately. When the hone can run itself while you set up the next block, or cut some valve seats, or get something on the decking machine, etc. you are worlds ahead of the guys that use all manual equipment. The smaller the shop, the more pronounced the benefits... so long as the work is coming in the door to make a $5-6k/mo machine payment. View Quote ![]() Centroids are garbage. Rottlers are pretty nice. They are just a VMC with a 4th but they have a lot of specialization on the software side that makes banging out block work pretty easy. One of the shops in my world has the Sunnen hone that can measure the tight spots in a bore and it'll short stroke until it evens things out then put the finish hone on the whole cylinder. Pretty neat, and the blocks done with that machine keep excellent compression/leak down. |
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Quoted: Despite what that other dude was going on about, I do. I care a lot actually. I try to buy American when I can. It's impossible with most things electronic, especially computers. That was all I was saying. If you want to argue DeWalt is better than Milwaukee because it's not Chinese-owned, then sure. Still Chinese made. You must either concede at some point or live off the land in the mountains. Judging by your ability to post on ARFCOM, you have made that choice. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: So many here don’t give a shit it makes me sick. Despite what that other dude was going on about, I do. I care a lot actually. I try to buy American when I can. It's impossible with most things electronic, especially computers. That was all I was saying. If you want to argue DeWalt is better than Milwaukee because it's not Chinese-owned, then sure. Still Chinese made. You must either concede at some point or live off the land in the mountains. Judging by your ability to post on ARFCOM, you have made that choice. I’ve always said in multiple threads that you have to pick and chose your battles. My thought is winning enough small ones will make a difference. Avoiding China as a whole is currently impossible. It is however something that can be done way more that most realistically believe. Also buying only American isn’t the goal even though it would be nice to do so when possible. My frustration lies in the purchase of items easily avoided. Even more so when I see postings of “ clones”. I guess calling it a clone vs counterfeit makes people feel better. The “your posting on a Chinese device” is used almost exclusively when these threads creep up. I assure everyone that if China were only making our phones we would be doing much better than what we are. The guys that think they are just saving a buck are going to be the final nail in the coffin. That doesn’t mean they are bad people. I just think they are in denial or feel it’s of no use trying We become addicted to cheap labor plain and simple. We’ve enjoyed it for so long but now the dollar has been devalued and the ride is coming to an end. From my perspective my father died fighting communism from medical complications of Vietnam. All the lives that have been sacrificed for this country and we pay it back only in disrespect. There’s no point in arguing with a lot of people on this website though. They would much rather enjoy dissecting the issues and the points of hypocrisy to ridicule. They fully understand the big picture of fighting the battle you can win but it’s no fun to agree with someone. |
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Quoted: I’ve always said in multiple threads that you have to pick and chose your battles. My though is winning enough small ones will make a difference. Avoiding China as a whole is currently impossible. It is however something that can be done way more that most realistically believe. Also buying only American isn’t the goal even though it would be nice to do so when possible. My frustration lies in the purchase of items easily avoided. Even more so when I see postings of “ clones”. I guess calling it a clone vs counterfeit makes people feel better. The “your posting on a Chinese device” is used almost exclusively when these threads creep up. I assure everyone that if China were only making our phones we would be doing much better than what we are. The guys that think they are just saving a buck are going to be the final nail in the coffin. That doesn’t mean they are bad people. I just think they are in denial or feel it’s of no use trying We become addicted to cheap labor plain and simple. We’ve enjoyed it for so long but now the dollar has been devalued and the ride is coming to an end. From my perspective my father died fighting communism from medical complications of Vietnam. All the lives that have been sacrificed for this country and we pay it back only in disrespect. There’s no point in arguing with a lot of people on this website though. They would much rather enjoy dissecting the issues and the points of hypocrisy to ridicule. They fully understand the big picture of fighting the battle you can win but it’s no fun to agree with someone. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: So many here don’t give a shit it makes me sick. Despite what that other dude was going on about, I do. I care a lot actually. I try to buy American when I can. It's impossible with most things electronic, especially computers. That was all I was saying. If you want to argue DeWalt is better than Milwaukee because it's not Chinese-owned, then sure. Still Chinese made. You must either concede at some point or live off the land in the mountains. Judging by your ability to post on ARFCOM, you have made that choice. I’ve always said in multiple threads that you have to pick and chose your battles. My though is winning enough small ones will make a difference. Avoiding China as a whole is currently impossible. It is however something that can be done way more that most realistically believe. Also buying only American isn’t the goal even though it would be nice to do so when possible. My frustration lies in the purchase of items easily avoided. Even more so when I see postings of “ clones”. I guess calling it a clone vs counterfeit makes people feel better. The “your posting on a Chinese device” is used almost exclusively when these threads creep up. I assure everyone that if China were only making our phones we would be doing much better than what we are. The guys that think they are just saving a buck are going to be the final nail in the coffin. That doesn’t mean they are bad people. I just think they are in denial or feel it’s of no use trying We become addicted to cheap labor plain and simple. We’ve enjoyed it for so long but now the dollar has been devalued and the ride is coming to an end. From my perspective my father died fighting communism from medical complications of Vietnam. All the lives that have been sacrificed for this country and we pay it back only in disrespect. There’s no point in arguing with a lot of people on this website though. They would much rather enjoy dissecting the issues and the points of hypocrisy to ridicule. They fully understand the big picture of fighting the battle you can win but it’s no fun to agree with someone. Yeah, when I don't buy American I try to buy any other country than China. ![]() I agree man. Do I think if everyone on ARFCOM stopped buying anything Chinese made right now and forever, would it even matter? Well, no. That's not why you do it. It's the moral principle. If you have no moral principle then you're a worthless walking husk. |
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Quoted: Americans insist on buying cheap stuff instead of good american made stuff. View Quote There’s a market for good quality Chris Reeve knives sells like wildfire. There are a lot of brands like that. The big box stores have really hurt the distribution for quality though. Look at Cabela’s the last of anything decent they had bass pro has pretty much put a halt to . The Business MBA has a lot of blood on their hands. How many great brands have been ruined like Remington and Gerber. Taking out gigantic loans lining your pockets then going bankrupt seems to be a solid business plan for that crowd. |
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Quoted: Buy union made ………and prop up organizations that 100% support Dems. Seems like we are fucked either way. View Quote I’m not disagreeing with you but I know quite a few union members who are definitely not Democrats. For that matter they don’t care for the union but you’re either a part of it or you’re not if you want to work at those establishments. While it’s tragic money is spent by the union itself there’s a lot of money that goes to members who have conservative values. I’m willing to bet we have a lot of conservative UAW and Teamsters on this board. |
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Quoted: Yep. That's what I'm seeing as well. Those with disposable income, and some without are spending it on toys. The builders I know are staying busy. Racing is mostly socially distant ![]() Centroids are garbage. Rottlers are pretty nice. They are just a VMC with a 4th but they have a lot of specialization on the software side that makes banging out block work pretty easy. One of the shops in my world has the Sunnen hone that can measure the tight spots in a bore and it'll short stroke until it evens things out then put the finish hone on the whole cylinder. Pretty neat, and the blocks done with that machine keep excellent compression/leak down. View Quote Yeah they already have all the bore centers and all that programmed in for most engine families. VERY simple for guys just getting into CNC. Rottler and Sunnen both have hones that do that; it is crazy to watch the cylindricity readout change on the screen in real time. Centroid also has a lot going on for cylinder head porting machines. I'd rather have a Haas (and I will never buy a Haas) than a Centroid but for specialty work like that there isn't much else in the market. What are REALLY cool are the valve seat machines that cut proper elliptical throats/transitions. Single point cutters that are oscillating instead of swinging in a circle. They can make a perfect transition. |
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