[C-10]

Maybe some old news to some. I think the timeline goes, Peterson sold out to Irwin, then Irwin sold it to Newell Rubbermaid which promptly moved manufacturing to China.

I know this is more 'doom and gloom' but it's just not right. It quite frankly makes me sick.

How do we have a voice to directly... "DIRECTLY" stop all this nonsense?

BTW, I was in a 'store' and held a pair of the china-grips in my hand. May as well go buy HF. Vise Grip is now just a moniker. The fit and finish is JUST NOT THERE.

 

[ChevelleSS_LS6]

BTW, I was in a 'store' and held a pair of the china-grips in my hand. May as well go buy HF. Vise Grip is now just a moniker. The fit and finish is JUST NOT THERE.

Go back a couple years and the ones "assembled in USA of domestic and foregin components" didn't have the fit and finish of my dad's 30-40+ year old set. Time to hit the estate sales and ebay looking for good old tools. I think Craftsman brand hand tools are still made here, at least the wrenches and screwdrivers and pliers set I have. Being a 'hobbyist/tinkerer' they've held up very well.

As for you professional welders (who would use locking pliers frequently) I'm not sure how well they'd hold up- but I'm sure better than chinese crap.

-Matt

 

[CrashFarmer2]

Oh great! Now the first time I put a pair on tightly it will become sprung and useless just like all the other cheap vise grip knockoffs I have ever bought.

 

[ChevelleSS_LS6]

Oh great! Now the first time I put a pair on tightly it will become sprung and useless just like all the other cheap vise grip knockoffs I have ever bought.

We should hammer them with emails and stuff and boycott their tools from now on.

 

[MARTINSR]

I have between $500 and a thousand dollars in Vice grips, they are the mainstay of the average bodyman. I am so glad I bought them before they went to China because I would have a very hard time buying them now.

Brian

 

[jaguarxk120]

You will be surprised at what you can pick up for next to nothing at garage sales and estate sales. The last Vice grips I bought was 50 cents. Just picked up a used 6 inch proto crecent wrench for a buck. Just start buying the used stuff -- you know whats good and whats bad.

 

[boatbob2]

chinese vice grips..

Hi,i have 4 pairs of vice grips made in China. they really are GARBAGE,i didnt realize they were made in china,or i wouldve never bought them.im very curious,how can someone (China) take a very simple tool,and screw it up? i try to buy american made tools at flea markets also.i have made some great buys there also.

 

[jaguarxk120]

Start looking at estate sales usually hand tools go for a buck each the first coupla days then go to 50% off. No way of telling whats out there but some of the places may have very good buys.

 

[poncho62]

I bought a "Vice-Grip" brand a couple of years ago....it was pretty crappy then....

I look for used ones at garage sales etc now.

 

[redsdad]

I bought 4 vise grips at last year's swap meet in Chickasha. Three were old stock USA and one was from China. To be honest, I can't tell them apart. The Chinese unit was every bit as good as the US units.

As time goes on, the Chinese stuff will get better and better.

That being said, the FairTax will make manufacturing in the US more attractive to companies. It will put more Americans to work. I know you are tired of hearing it. But it is true. And we can do it.

http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer

 

[61bone]

Bought a pair of c-clamp grips recently. They won't lock if opened over a couple inches.

 

[Oldguy48]

I think the root of the problem is that the manufacturers that have their manufacturing performed in China, have lowered their quality control criteria, and the specifications on their products. If those two issues were held to high standards, as in the past, then Chinese products would be just as good as products produced in the USA. I believe the blame for this Chinese "crap" lies squarely on the shoulders of the American manufacturers who have outsourced their production lines to China. They've obviously decided that it's OK to market junk, and the Chinese are more than happy to comply.

 

[oldred]

Yep this was discussed some months ago and it was suggested then to buy your Vise Grips now while you still can. I ordered a nice set from Enco the day I leaned about the China crap and have picked up a couple more from Lowes recently, the USA made ones can still be found on the rack at a lot of stores but they are disappearing fast! Just a couple of days ago I was looking at them at Lowes and most of the USA ones are gone now but they still have a few types and sizes left, the USA made ones are marked clearly on the paper card they are attached to. I can tell a big difference in the ones I compared side by side, they have that odd rough chrome finish that is found on most China pliers and the pressed areas are not as nearly crisp. Since I have not used the China specials I have no way of knowing (yet) but I would almost bet the teeth in the jaws will strip out as easily as most China pliers and it might be interesting to see what happens when you really clamp down on them, we will soon know. If you want the USA made ones you better hurry they are going fast!

 

[1ownerT]

The fault lies with the people who buy it. (crap made in China)

 

[S10 Racer]

I think the root of the problem is that the manufacturers that have their manufacturing performed in China, have lowered their quality control criteria, and the specifications on their products. If those two issues were held to high standards, as in the past, then Chinese products would be just as good as products produced in the USA. I believe the blame for this Chinese "crap" lies squarely on the shoulders of the American manufacturers who have outsourced their production lines to China. They've obviously decided that it's OK to market junk, and the Chinese are more than happy to comply.

This is exactly what is happening. Manufacturers have to hold them to higher standards to produce a good product. Some of you may disagree with me on this but the Chinese are not well trained or hold alot of knowledge. I know a manufacturer in Alabama that outsources his work to China and he told me that he has to make a trip over there about every 2 months to make sure they are not "short changing" him because they will if they have the chance. The Chinese do not have the same materials as we use in the US. At my job, we use quite a little bit of 1045 steel which is not available in China. To get a good product from the Chinese, you have to supply them with quality materials and quality control or you will get junk.

 

[oldred]

This is exactly what is happening. Manufacturers have to hold them to higher standards to produce a good product. Some of you may disagree with me on this but the Chinese are not well trained or hold alot of knowledge. I know a manufacturer in Alabama that outsources his work to China and he told me that he has to make a trip over there about every 2 months to make sure they are not "short changing" him because they will if they have the chance. The Chinese do not have the same materials as we use in the US. At my job, we use quite a little bit of 1045 steel which is not available in China. To get a good product from the Chinese, you have to supply them with quality materials and quality control or you will get junk.

I know of a case where a fellow was trying to repair a tail-stock from a Chinese lathe and when he kept breaking milling bits he finally cut into the thing with a grinder and found a partially melted spark plug in the casting porcelain and all!

(I knew about this little incident before I bought my Chinese lathe )

 

[MARTINSR]

I have an old friend who owns a foundry. He has lost a lot of business to China. One of his biggest accounts will still come to him when they have a problem with a late or a screwed up shipment. He has shown me casting full of unmelted bolts and crap like that.

It would be so nice to be able to tell those bas-tards to go to hell when they ask for the help. But hey, with business being as it is, he as to lick their boots. It would make me sick to my stomach to have to do that.

Brian

 

[Thumpin455]

It saddens me that a Nebraska guys invention that was quite impressive and used by millions is now turned into junk, just to make a bigger profit. Greed is what is selling our country out from under us, pure and simple. I grew up not far from where they were invented and first made, seems to happen to most things we invent out in the cornfields.

Soon we wont make anything here, all we will do is use junk from everywhere else and everyone will wonder how it happened. Im sick of the greedy bastards who have been running the show and selling our kids future just to maximize profits even if there is no quality left. How many jobs do we have to send overseas before we cant send anymore? Is it a surprise there is a problem with unemployment?

 

[gun4hire]

Its only going to get worse...

More out of work americans => people have less money to spend => prices have to go lower driving some businesses out of competition or to outsourcing => MORE people out of work...and it just keeps going.

Once the doors were opened to a "world economy" and we entered the realm of quanity over quality - places with LOTS of cheap labor like China and India have seen their economic conditions rise. Meanwhile,places like the U.S. fall.

To add to the matter, as India and China become more wealthy and have more disposable income they too will be viable consumers and the U.S. market will be even less appealing to large businesses.

Eventually things will level off with the U.S. being at the short end of the stick unless a LOT of things change.

 

[redsdad]

Its only going to get worse...


To add to the matter, as India and China become more wealthy and have more disposable income they too will be viable consumers and the U.S. market will be even less appealing to large businesses.

Eventually things will level off with the U.S. being at the short end of the stick unless a LOT of things change.

Dead on. Problem is, it is already happening. The US is going to become irrelevant. I got to go to Shanghai in February. I was stunned. I expected to see a bunch of bicycles and carts drawn by oxen. What I found was streets jammed packed with cars. The goal is to own a black Mercedes. On the way up that ladder, you own a black Lexus or a black Buick Lacrosse (first place I saw a Lacrosse was in Shanghai!). We are in deep trouble in this country and moving the wrong direction.