Fonson MK1 guide rail square

[arso_bg]

Hi Everybody!

I have certain prejudices against Chinese goods! But this is changing slowly!

Yesterday I received my new Fonson MK1 guide rail square.

Today I had the time to make several cutting tests using the five-cut method. Two out of three times the mistake was 0.0025 mm. on a length of about 540 mm. !!! This is so square that I even  cannot use my large machinist square to check it!!!!

I can highly recommend the Fonson MK1 guide rail square to anyone.

 

[Packard]

The problem with Chinese products to the USA economy, is not that their goods are so cheap, but that a lot of them are very good.

In the early 1970s, India made a push to enter the American market with “Made in India” tools and equipment.  They used castings where they should have used forging; they used nondescript steels of unknown origin, but they plated everything with a gorgeous layer of chrome.

The tools looked great and were priced great, but they fail catastrophically when in use.

A friend of mine bought a pintle hook that was made in India and looked great and was cheap.  But the casting (it should have been a forging) cracked on the first bump in the road.  Luckily he was on flat ground or his stump grinder would have rolled away.

So the problem with Chinese goods for western manufacturers, is not the low price.  It is the low price mated with some pretty good quality.

 

[luvmytoolz]

In machinery they're fast becoming the new Taiwan!

 

[Crazyraceguy]

The issue I have with them in general is theft. They shamelessly steal patented products and reproduce them at a lower price-point. Most of the western world has just gone along with it, just for the reduced cost. Sadly though, many of the copied products are lacking in some way. This is usually overlooked because of the price, but sometimes the frustration is not worth it.

 

[Banana]

I just took a $12 plastic Empire square, sanded it true, shoved it in my Bosch rail clamp slot and never looked back.  Dead accurate or I wouldn't use it.
Outside of Asia we're starting to see a little bit of grab back with affordable 3D print, CNC woodworking, CNC aluminum milling in peoples garages growing exponentially.

 

[luvmytoolz]

The issue I have with them in general is theft. They shamelessly steal patented products and reproduce them at a lower price-point. Most of the western world has just gone along with it, just for the reduced cost. Sadly though, many of the copied products are lacking in some way. This is usually overlooked because of the price, but sometimes the frustration is not worth it.

You're absolutely right, and while I don't condone theft in any way, I do in some circumstances find it hard to have much sympathy for some of the bloodthirsty and greedy manufacturers putting themselves in the ludicrous situation they sometimes find themselves in.

For example most of the IT vendors started shipping all their manufacturing to China decades ago (before there were methods to redress stolen IP and copyright infringement in China) to deliberately use slave labour, and the end result was they increased the profit margins exponentially, but kept the local sale prices insanely high. Highly profitable but disgusting ethics.

 

[krudawg]

The problem with Chinese products to the USA economy, is not that their goods are so cheap, but that a lot of them are very good.

In the early 1970s, India made a push to enter the American market with “Made in India” tools and equipment.  They used castings where they should have used forging; they used nondescript steels of unknown origin, but they plated everything with a gorgeous layer of chrome.

The tools looked great and were priced great, but they fail catastrophically when in use.

A friend of mine bought a pintle hook that was made in India and looked great and was cheap.  But the casting (it should have been a forging) cracked on the first bump in the road.  Luckily he was on flat ground or his stump grinder would have rolled away.

So the problem with Chinese goods for western manufacturers, is not the low price.  It is the low price mated with some pretty good quality.

Good and bad reviews on "China Tools" can be found on hookedonwood.online.  Dennis does an excellent job evaluating China Tools.  I don't buy anything less than Dennis's 4-star ratings or above.  And yes, there are 5-star tools as well.  Having said that, most of my tools are name-brand tools with a "salting" of an occasional 4 or 5-star china tools

 

[Mini Me]

It was pointed out elsewhere that US companies were guilty of copying designs as well. Back in the dark ages someone made the first square and others copied it, ditto for hand planes, saws both hand and electric etc etc all before the Chinese became the source of these things which in the end made a lot of equipment accessible at a reasonable price. If you want domestically manufactured machines take out a loan to buy it because the cost will sky rocket, back in the 1960's we had to make a table saw because of lack of machines and the cost was simply beyond reality.