crazy steel prices - should I import from China?

[Sberry]

I think the people that can tell the difference in most of this stuff would be a smaller number than the popular opinion for lack of better wording at the moment. Cheap China wrenches are now very good and some of the adjustable have performed as well or better than the old brand name and some even have improvements.
I dont know about all Chinese wire but they make a generic they box all over the world and some of the best mig wire I ever use. If 5this is all so bad and true and liability such an issue why doesnt all my stuff fall apart with that tractor supply bolts and why dont we see hundreds of law suits? Rvery forum post of this nature eludes to that but I havnt seen a single one or really any pictures of failed bolts,,, this forum shoukld be littered with pics and failures if it was a big deal?

 

[Sportsman762]

Sberry, generally there is a domestic importer for the chinese products. China can make great items. Proof is that they have a strong aerospace industy. However it is up to the domestic importer to set the standards for the products, and have quality checks to assure the Chinese manufacture is following the agreed upon standards. However importing directly you do not have the luxery of sending over a quality engineer to inspect factories, and a quality department at receiving to check the incoming quality of the product. Also you do not know how many containers of non-conforming products the distributor sent back to China, or rejected and scrapped. The distributor might have changed factories in china several times before they found one that makes good quality. The key is the domestic importer, and the standards they set, along with their quality program. Some importers have low or no standards and they are the ones who create the "Chinese junk" impression.

 

[Sberry]

You ain't got to convince me that this is a brain fart. How much he figure to save for all the work this would involve? As for the quality, we think this is such a highly engineered project it would need qc or matter?
It's really a matter of scale and the complications or logistics it would involve even of the price was near free.
But this **** about soft spots is like a broken record and easy to jump to conclusion and speculation. Bet this is more hype than an actual problem.
Everyone knows someone's cousin broke a wrench and skinned a knuckle. The fact we beat them with a 4# hammer or had 4 men working a HF breaker bar 2 on it at a time doesnt mean much.

 

[rScotty]

You ain't got to convince me that this is a brain fart. How much he figure to save for all the work this would involve? As for the quality, we think this is such a highly engineered project it would need qc or matter?
It's really a matter of scale and the complications or logistics it would involve even of the price was near free.
But this **** about soft spots is like a broken record and easy to jump to conclusion and speculation. Bet this is more hype than an actual problem.
Everyone knows someone's cousin broke a wrench and skinned a knuckle. The fact we beat them with a 4# hammer or had 4 men working a HF breaker bar 2 on it at a time doesnt mean much.

Whether we see imported steels and alloys as a problem may just be our different perspectives. I'm interested in material quality and see a lot of articles and posts here on TBN from people having problems that could be related to imported materials quality.

Expecially posts on things like nuts and bolts. We don't know where the originals are made, but looking at worldwide production figures says that most steel as well as other alloys is coming from China.

Apparently you don't see those same posts in the same way. I'd say that's a function of perspective; it doesn't tell us whether or not those problems exist.
rScotty

 

[Williy]

If I have some chinese bolts and they break I sure as hell am not going to hire a lawyer because they broke just going to replace with some good ones and forget about it and make sure I don't purchase any more. This is probably the reason you don't hear about the broken bolts
the small stuff! Personally I stay away from chinese made
stuff and I don't have the problems! To me the products that I have purchased from china had a very short life and I have had some bolts that you could not tork to spec's but I am not going to make a big fuss over it just don't buy chinese PERIOD AND I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS ABOUT HOW GOOD CHINESE STUFF IS YOU LIKE IT YOU BUY IT AS I DON'T!

willy

 

[Sberry]

Where did you get the bolts?

 

[Sberry]

Get all red in the face if you want but I am always curious when others seem to have problems I don't have using the same basic stuff. Ones I use thousands of.
Seems like we woud see a picture or 2 at least since this is such a regular occurance? Same for the broken tools and skinned knuckles. Since its such a problem on such a scale should be easy to come up with something every day?
I will start, I dont recall what we were doing.

 

[rScotty]

Where did you get the bolts?

Are you talking to me? When a bolted joint matters I usually order them from McMaster-Carr. Or sometimes I talk to the local machine shop or his buyer.
Or I simply over-design the bolted joint so that a lower quality bolt won't be a problem. That's the easy way.

 

[Sberry]

Scotty, I will agree, it doesnt tell us if the problems actually exist and on what scale. I also agree with the perspective but and or seeing it differently doesnt make any of it facts or accurate. How people feel about something doesnt make it real.
No one is telling anyone that they should buy China but I am saying g that the wholesale opinion that all the tools are junk is not accurate. If it's an argument about the to that's one thing but that is usually short lived, it quickly evolves in to all kinds of other opinions. Most simply hot air and little fact.

 

[strantor]

Are you factoring in shipping to/from the port of entry, broker, dock charges, etc? A couple years ago I looked into this for crated finished goods (Chinese CO2 laser table), and the very attractive price advertised online isn't nearly as good once all the extra fees are paid.

I had the same experience trying to order Tellurium Copper in bulk. By "bulk" I mean like 500-1,000lbs. At first I could not find a domestic supplier (I since have) so I turned to Alibaba and wasted a week of man-hours between learning the above lesson, and learning that most of the sellers on there are full of crap and can't deliver what they advertise. Or, well, maybe they technically "can" but they won't. They advertise small quantities but the truth is they're just like the American suppliers in that if your desired quantity isn't expressed in "containers per month," all the sudden it turns out that they were mistaken and actually they don't have in stock the item you're interested in but if you could wait maybe 6 months until someone more important places a large order, they might be able to sweep you some crumbs from under that person's table if they still remember you by then.