Mick S Posted June 1, 2019 Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 Wow! No surprise (for decades) but the European technology for wood shops is blowing us away. Felder at Ligna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted June 1, 2019 Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 Certainly some impressive technology. With pro shops here wanting to increase productivity it's puzzling that technology like this isn't coming from any U.S. tool manufacturers. It's not like Felder is cheap and we can't compete with their pricing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted June 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 2 minutes ago, Chet said: Certainly some impressive technology. With pro shops here wanting to increase productivity it's puzzling that technology like this isn't coming from any U.S. tool manufacturers. It's not like Felder is cheap and we can't compete with their pricing. This was the arena I spent most of my career in prior to retirement. It always puzzled me why US companies were so reluctant to compete, You go to the US wood industry trade shows and it's all European and Asian equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted June 1, 2019 Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 This doesn’t surprise me, especially after recently learning about the rare earths that China controls. And I don’t mean for this to get political. According to a recent news report, others, including the US, have this product but not the processing knowledge to refine it. Ours must be sent to China for processing and they send it back to us. How friggin scary can it get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve B Anderson Posted June 1, 2019 Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 I see the same situation in the metal working industry. These days there are very few American made machine companies. Back in the day Cincinnati Milacron was a leader in US CNC Lathes and Mills and now Japanese and German machinery rule the roost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted June 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 6 hours ago, Steve B Anderson said: I see the same situation in the metal working industry. These days there are very few American made machine companies. Back in the day Cincinnati Milacron was a leader in US CNC Lathes and Mills and now Japanese and German machinery rule the roost. Yep, and the woodworking machinery industry is 20 years behind the metalworking industry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bankstick Posted June 1, 2019 Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 Interesting. My father was an ME in the appliance industry for over 38 years. I used to read some of the manufacturing and appliance magazines he had. I'm almost 72 and recall that so many machine tools were made in the northeast, particularly Bridgeport, CT and other places in that area. Now we are looking at Made in China or elsewhere. I'm thinking that labor costs and environmental regulations can play a big part in foreign manufacturing. I have a Ford Ecosport which was sold in Europe but now sold in the US as of last year. Found the window sticker in the glove box and read it. Engine was made in Germany, transmission was built in Mexico and final assembly was India! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coyote Jim Posted June 3, 2019 Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 There is always these guys: http://www.northfieldwoodworking.com/ It's my understanding that they still use some of their casts that are over 70 years old. I drool over that site from time to time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnG Posted June 3, 2019 Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 Everyone says they want Made in America things, but few are willing to pay for them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted June 3, 2019 Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 When I was a trucker. I use to pick up rolls of denim in North Carolina, haul them to El Paso,Tx drop them , and pick up an equal load of Levi's just over from Mexico, and take them back to NC to get the tags sewn on the pockets. It's not just woodworking or metal working, it's damn near everything. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 4, 2019 Report Share Posted June 4, 2019 Hey Rick, how long has it been since you hauled denim? I used to work in a prime fabric producing area of the state, we may have crossed paths before diving into the sawdust pile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minnesota Steve Posted June 4, 2019 Report Share Posted June 4, 2019 My father was an engineer at Zenith back in the 1960s. He told me once they had this meeting between the engineers and the marketing department. The engineers wanted to start building equipment in black boxes like they were seeing coming out of Europe and Asia. The marketing department assured them that people wanted stereos and televisions in walnut enclosures that looked like furniture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bankstick Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 The third generation furniture manufacturer said it is cheaper to have furniture made in China, pay shipping and import duty than to make it here in town. Speaking of precision and manufacturing, my father told the story of a group of Americans who sent a drill bit the size of a human hair to some engineers in Switzerland. They sent the drill bit back with a hole drilled in it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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