Mark - I don't think it's totally correct to label East and West cultures as being high or low quality. Remember 1950's cheap tin kids toys from Japan? In spite of Toyota's recent issues, the Japanese auto industry is what got Detroit to stop spewing out junk for the masses. Chinese (or Southeast Asian, or Indian, or where ever) quality is all based upon what they'll be paid for the product. Pure and simple capitalism. We rant and rave about cheaply made tools, but still buy the lowest price ones out there. I had a long talk with a major manufacturer's rep about small lathes being all made off-shore. He said they were forced to because no one would pay for one made here. They did hold (at that time it was Taiwanese) the manufacturer to higher quality standards than they were originally going to produce, but they had to cut their profit margin to distributors to do so. Everything has a cost, and there's tons of history of US manufacturers putting out grossly inferior products.
Walt
I think you misread me. I didn't reference the "East" in pejorative terms, merely noted the difference in goals orientation with regard to the end product. Both cultures are equally capable of producing the same quality product.
When the tool-whores first outsourced their manufacturing, they did so to avoid the higher cost of US production, and took advantage of the different cultural bias. They did so by derating the specifications on the products. The stuff was made cheap because it was ordered to be made cheap, not because the Taiwanese, Japanese, or Chinese couldn't make high quality. They all could, but then the price "out the factory door" would begin to approach what it cost to make domestically, and, as you learned from the rep, the profit disappeared.
I remember when the first transistor radios hit the US market back in the 50's and Honda cars hit the streets in the early 60's. I remember the jingoistic jokes about looking on the inside of their car doors to find either "Schlitz" or "Budweiser" still there from the recycled beer cans the Japanese allegedly used rather than the "fine American Steel" in domestic cars.
Nobody jokes about Sony or Samsung electronics, or Honda cars, or Nikon cameras any more. They all learned from us to set their own high standards. JET built its brand by increasing the quality of its specifications, and using real quality control before the stuff hit the "water." Bernie Mathes, the original owner of Serious Lathe, had his machines made in Asia, and they'd match any lathe on the market, regardless of where it was made.
Omega [our beloved Stubby] could skimp on the cast iron alloy they make and use, or the gauge and alloy of their steel components, but Rob and company have chosen to use the best. We have to expect to pay for that choice.
