Guess which countries manufactured my tools

[JayStPeter]

With this thread in mind, I quickly toured my shop. I think the USA wins, followed closely by Taiwan. They are clearly far ahead of any other country. Taiwan is on most of my tools, just not a couple of the most expensive (Unisaw, Oneida).
It's a close race for 3rd between Germany and Canada (my Veritas and Festool investments are similar so far). I thought my Bosch's would give the edge to Germany, but they just added to the USA tally. The Fein vac ... Italy. The only China I could find was my Delta DP (I'll try not to hold that piece of junk against China).

Some quick back of the envelope calculations (based on $)
1. USA 38%
2. Taiwan 29%
3. Germany/Canada (tie) 13% ea.
5. Italy/China (tie) <3% ea.

Taiwan is the clear leader in number of tools, with probably 50%. The US would drop significantly as there are a limited number, but all good expensive stuff

I'm sure if I thoroughly went through all my tools the percentages would change and ties would break, but this is probably pretty close.

In the past 7 months, my percentages from Germany and Canada have probably gone up a little. Veritas and Festool have been my two go-to companies lately. I'm not sure where to count Infinity router bits, but they have also gotten a big chunk lately. I don't think I counted bits/blades in my initial estimates though ... too many brands/too much effort (a number have hit the trash can since then too). Italy has probably broken it's tie with China also as my new HVLP setup comes from there. I didn't keep my calculations, but I expect the percentages would only change slightly (though Italy would now be double China).

Jay

[Lee DeRaud]

Well, my "shop" is about 90+% made-in-USA, mostly because the cost of the laser completely overwhelms everything else. Leaving it out makes things a bit murkier, since most of my woodworking gear is either (1) Chinese-made Delta or (2) Ryobi.

Despite the Japanese-sounding name, Ryobi is a US company. The routers are marked 'made in USA' but I can't find any markings on the BT3000 table saw (my 3rd-most-expensive tool ).

(Just doing my bit to add some confusion to the "cheap foreign junk" vs "quality US machinery" debate. )

[tod evans]

Well, my "shop" is about 90+% made-in-USA, mostly because the cost of the laser completely overwhelms everything else. Leaving it out makes things a bit murkier, since most of my woodworking gear is either (1) Chinese-made Delta or (2) Ryobi.

Despite the Japanese-sounding name, Ryobi is a US company. The routers are marked 'made in USA' but I can't find any markings on the BT3000 table saw (my 3rd-most-expensive tool ).

(Just doing my bit to add some confusion to the "cheap foreign junk" vs "quality US machinery" debate. )

lee, ryobi is not usa! maybe some parts are assembled here but that`s where the affiliation ends.
http://www.ryobitools.com/index.php/about/tti

[Scott Coffelt]

Ken

I agree.....I think we are running out of things to talk about

maybe it's time for some more design critques.

[Lee DeRaud]

lee, ryobi is not usa! maybe some parts are assembled here but that`s where the affiliation ends.
http://www.ryobitools.com/index.php/about/tti

Hmmm...possibly a recent merger/acquisition (like Delta/PC/B&D/Dewalt/whatever). Last time I looked, they were based in South Carolina.

[Alan Burhop]

Personally I really don't care what country made the item as much as I care what country ends up with the profit. An item made in one nation by a company owned by another nation has profits going to that second nation. Profits are what are used to build more assets that increase the wealth and financial strength of the owing nation.

If that profit goes to an american company it is going to someone in the upper class. THe american worker (middle and lower classes) never see any of this profit. As a result the middle class is disapearing into the loweer class.

Do you think that an american company is going to funnel it's profits into assets in this country when they can make more profit from building another plant in mexico?

I would rather give my money to a foriegn company that employs american workers. They are funneling more money into our economy, not the american company that funnels our money into a foreign economy.

[Lee DeRaud]

If that profit goes to an american company it is going to someone in the upper class. THe american worker (middle and lower classes) never see any of this profit.

If by "upper class" you include anyone with a 401K or a company pension fund that invests in the stock market or, for that matter, anyone who owns stock themselves, maybe you're right. Otherwise I think you need to realize that the "Scrooge McDuck" model of corporate economics is a bit behind the times.

Do you think that an american company is going to funnel it's profits into assets in this country when they can make more profit from building another plant in mexico?

I would rather give my money to a foriegn company that employs american workers. They are funneling more money into our economy, not the american company that funnels our money into a foreign economy.

Heh. I had a rather spirited version of this discussion with my next-door neighbor (the sales manager at a local GM dealership) when I drove home my new car. He took me to task for "not buying American" because I had traded in my Canadian-assembled Oldsmobile for an Ohio-assembled Acura.

[Frank Pellow]

Looking at number of tools ](after have eliminated or grouped all tools worth less than $20 (Cdn)), here is the country ranking.

1: USA___________45

1: Germany_______45

3: Canada_________27

4: Taiwan_________19

5: China___________11

6: Japan___________8

7: Sweden__________5

8: UK______________2

8: Mexico___________2

8: Thailand__________2

10: Italy____________1

10: Korea___________1

10: France__________1

Unknown________8

Note: Unlike the value ranking, this one has actual numbers rather than percentages.