[TheForge] Vise grip moving

[ries]

This has been kicked around a bit on some other forums.
If you only use a few pairs, garage sales may be viable.
Me, I have probably close to 40 or 50 pairs in the shop- we frequently  
use a dozen or two in a clamp setup before welding.
I probably buy ten every year or two- and most of the ones I like,  
such as the big throat 6R or 11R, or the ones we call "whale jaws"  
which Vise Grip calls a 12LC, I have never seen a single one of at a  
garage sale, much less the 8 or 10 at a time I buy.
So I will be stuck buying Irwin brand, most likely, no matter where  
they are made.
I have bought a few LOCKJAW brand lately- these are self adjusting-  
they will clamp on at the same tension no matter the thickness.
They cost MORE than vise grip brand, and are made in China- and, as  
far as I can tell, they are equal to Irwin brand in quality-  
certainly, if you didnt know they were made in China, you would never  
guess by looking at them, or using them. They bear no resemblance to  
the $3 harbor freight specials.
But, as mentioned, they cost 30% or so more than the equivalent Irwin  
brand vise grip.

I think long term, Irwin will not make much more profit- chinese wages  
and expenses are going up rapidly, oil prices directly affect  
container shipment prices, and not being US made means other chinese  
made brands, like LOCKJAW, will be just as desirable if they are made  
well.
Its true that vise grip has a brand name and reputation, but I will be  
buying based on the quality of the product- hopefully, the Irwin brand  
will stay high quality, as there is NO US made alternative I know of.  
I hear some Snap On brand locking pliers are made in the USA, but some  
are also made in Mexico, as far as I know, and they do not offer the  
same range as Irwin, and they cost roughly double the price of the  
Irwin Vise grips- more than double, if you buy your Irwins, like I do,  
ten at a time from someplace like Dynamic Fastener.

Ries



On Sep 12, 2008, at 10:39 AM, dann at wctatel.net wrote:


Moving Vice Grip production to China may make the company some  short  
term
bottom line profit, provided they are able to maintain the quality of  
the
tool.

Vice Grip always did have a lot of companies  that tried to copy the
design, but none of them came close to the quality.  I damaged a few
knuckles using some cheap knock off's like "Globe Master" which used to
produce theirs in Spain.

One thing to be sure of now, it will back fire on Vice Grip.

The tooling and quality of Vice Grip brand will leak out the back door  
of
their Chinese factory, and there will be vice grip knock offs in plenty
that will be close, "almost" as good as the original vice grip pliers
produced in Nebraska.

Guess I will work at adding to my hoard of quality tools:  the next vice
grip pliers that I buy will be from estate / farm auctions.

Dann




> What a surprise  Bye bye xxxxx jobs, see you in the shoe isle of  
> KMart.
>
>
>
> williamsiron at comcast.net wrote:
>> All,
>>
>> The parent company of Vise Grip is shutting down the plant in  
>> DeWitt, NE
>> and moving it to (Drum Roll!) China.
>>
>> Mark Williams
>> Snow Hill, Maryland
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Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist
http://www.riesniemi.com/