[TheForge] American tools?

[RIES NIEMI]

I think some of the reasons there are fewer american machine tool companies
are a lot less mysterious and conspiracy oriented than you would like to
think. Sure, greed and laziness play a part, but some of the companies just
plain arent working hard enough at offering what the market needs.
We dont need anywhere as many giant horizontal boring mills as we did during
world war 2, and in fact many of the old cinncinatti and g&l behomoths have
been converted to cnc and are still running. Technological advances allow us
to make things with smaller tools, and a lot of the midwest machine tool
companies just kept expecting to make and sell what they had always made,
but manufacturers didnt need the same tools anymore.

On a happy note- bridgeport, which went bankrupt this year, is back in
production. Hardinge lathe company bought the remains, moved all the
machines worth keeping to their plant in New York, (particularly all the
specialised machines and tooling to make spare parts for older bridgeports-
they will be supporting most of the older models) They then tooled up to
make them on modern cnc tools, and what do you know- they cut the price by
over a third. Last year, a bridgeport mill was creeping up on 20 grand. Now
they cost about 11 grand. Competitive with the higher end chinese and
taiwanese mills. Of course, in the bankruptcy proceedings they dumped
pension obligations, and probably a bunch of suppliers lost their accounts
recievable, but it is still amazing they can make mills here in the us for
around what it costs for a chinese mill where the employees were paid a buck
an hour. You can still buy a cheapie chinese mill for 5 grand, but if you
option one out to be equivalent, its in the same ballpark as the american
made. And a lot of people say the chinese tools are artificially cheap due
to chinese government manipulation of the foreign exchange rates. So they
probably really cost about the same, if the chinese government wasnt
subsidising the economy over there to keep employment up.

Haas, in Ventura Ca, also makes a very high quality competitively priced
line of CNC mills and lathes, right here in the USA. I think it has a lot
more to do with creative thinking and low debt loads than you might think.

And the best fabricating equipment, at the best prices, comes from Italy,
Germany, Japan, Spain and Sweden- socialised countries with high taxes, and
restrictive laws. I am talking about things like plate and angle rolls,
rebar benders, press brakes and the like. Peddinghaus, Amada, Pullmax,
Roundo. If all you want is cheap, yeah, the chinese got that market, but
there is still a way for smart companies to make money making machine tools
in high cost western countries. Its the same way you make a living as a
small time shop- work smarter, not harder, spend a lot of time educating
yourself on the market and technology.