Park Tools made in China :(
 

I'm bummed. All my older Park Tools say, "Park Tool USA" - I thought that was their dang NAME...

I just ordered a large kit of Park Tool products from Jenson and all these new tools only say, "Park Tool" on them now - did they change their name?

Well, it seems the "nicer" - (more expensive) stuff I got are Made in the U.S.A., but this SBS-1 Socket and Bit Set is Made in China!

I've personally had very bad luck with Chinese Tools, and vowed many, many years ago to never go down that road again, so I stick with trusted brands, like Snap-On, or (so I thought) Park Tools.

Anyone have any experience with their Chinese line? Should I just instantly return this set? What a bummer. I guess Caveat Emptor, even with trusted companies!

LOL look most everything comes from overseas some place or materials.
Now when it comes to brand name stuff even if its made in China as you are so concerned about, brand names are over seen by the brand company and they are required to meet certain specs for a give brand and if its not met it will be rejected by them.
Now that stuff you get from cheap tool houses is another story they are not made to specs of a branded name and can do what they want, some are good most are not.
So even made in China if the company contracting them out to make it is doing their job and checking quality it will be of good grade still.
Yes its sad that all the work is going overseas but thats business and not much we can do about it in the end.
I'd like to see it made here but not much I can do : )

USA pretty much makes nothing these days. Why pay a union guy a good wage when you can get a Chinese laborer for $1.00 a day? They tell you it is because they need to compete in the world market. All about the profit. Even if it says "Made in the USA" it probably isn't. If the parts are made someplace else and then "assembled" here, it can be labeled as "Made in the USA". And the Chinese are well know for fudging on specifications. Look at the recent issues with lead paint in childrens toys, dishes, etc made in China.

Ah yes, good ol' China bashing. As if the rest of the countries in the world have never produced crap or made a mistake or told a lie. A lot of people like to forget history as well. It wasn't that many years ago that the US was the land of the sweat shop/child labor (pre-union days). It's a form of evolution that countries seem to go through. It might do you some good to think about it a bit more.

The US was one of the first countries to have strict food purity laws. You might ask why? Was it because we were so concerned with health, or the safety of the population? Not quite, it was because there were so many unscrupulous sellers marketing impure foodstuffs that the federal government felt the need to intervene.

I gave up on looking for things that are not made in China for 2 reasons:

1) Pretty much everything is made in China these days
2) Quality of Chinese made stuff had improved dramatically - they had realized long time ago that they make a lot more money by producing better quality things as opposed to "cheap chinese crap" of olden days.

Well the chrome on these Chinese sockets is nicer than the Chinese tools I had when I was fourteen - I decided to keep them, and I enjoyed using them... I figure as long as Park Tool honors any warranty issues, I should be all right.

But seriously, I just never noticed they actually removed the "USA" part from their Brand Name. I thought I had been shipped "fakes" at first. These are most definitely the nicest tools I've ever handled that weren't "made in the USA" - I don't care where they're made, but ever since I was a kid, USA - made tools were the ones I would choose, and it's just that I thought that's what I paid for, but I digress...

No offense, joejack951, I don't think anyone is "China Bashing" - I simply was asking for opinions on my new Chinese toolset, as I only have experience with the USA stuff. I'm sure you'd happily pay a premium for a nice Chinese frame bike. To each his own. I prefer Made in Tawain. :P

And that profit doesn't accrue back to workers, but rather to shareholders who tend to have little interest beyond dividend performance.

Also because US citizens organized themselves and insisted on food safety standards. I doubt the government would have acted if the people hadn't made it clear it needed to act.

Dan: You should know that Snap-On has started sourcing tools from China now too! Many are USA but you are not guaranteed. You have to check every tool for origin. Same for Craftsman. Im not China bashing, Ive visited some of the companies this year matter of fact - very good people that have the same desires as we have in the states. My issue with "Made in China" is that I pay slightly less or the same as that tool cost when it was made elsewhere. When it says "Made in China" I expect to pay harbor freight prices. Snap on and Sears can stuff their asian tools if they think they can source tools for 1/4-1/2 the cost and 2-4x profit margins! Same goes for park etc.

Live by the motto - buy the best tool that is reasonable for your situation and buy it once!

Sorry, my comment wasn't directed at you but at post #3. I should have made that more clear by quoting the post.

One interesting current development being reported from China is workers in some plants striking for better wages and working conditions. As this trend continues, and I expect it will, companies will have to pay more and give better conditions and benefits. This will obviously increase production costs and raise prices.

Eventually, China's production costs will rise to equal those of the West and developed areas in Asia and the current glut of low price goods will be over. It happened to Japan decades ago and to Taiwan recently and China's turn will come.

Dang, I always thought they were made in Korea.

:innocent:

I'm old enough to recall when "made in Japan" was used in much the same way that "made in China" is used now. Cheap, copied goods of inferior quality. Now, "made in Japan" is generally a sign of excellence.
I suspect it will be so with China as well. Try to find a bicycle in the entry-to-medium level price range that isn't made in China these days. The lads over there are fully capable of making quality products.

Do Koreans make tools? I don't think I've ever seen one from there.

What do you mean by "nicer"? It is my impression that the specialty bicycle tools are made in the USA while their general purpose tools are made elsewhere. It doesn't make sence to have a sockets custom made by Park when thay can just gat a manufacturer who already has tooling set up (and can meet Park's quality requirements) to just stamp their name on it.

You're right - it really does make sense... By "nicer" I meant the specialty tools, yes. The headset tools - crown race puller, crown race setter, headset press, headset cup remover, bottom bracket tool and star nut setter were all made domestically. They are extremely heavy duty and "nice".

It may seem like that to you, but it's incorrect. The USA is still, by far, the world's leading manufacturer of goods. I can't find last years stats off hand but in 2007 it was $1.6 trillion (which is 2.5 times what China produces).

...and once the chinese workers unionize and stand up for themselves, their jobs will be outsourced to africa, india, or wherever there is the cheap labor of powerless poor people.

The USA has 6% of the world's population and makes 21% of the world's manufactured goods.

tcs

Who will then realize a better standard of living is possible and the process will repeat.

Buy VAR tools, they are still made in France ;)

Can we still get VAR tools?

I try not to be prejudiced against Chinese-made goods. Some of it is absolute crap, but not all! I'm a computer consultant, and Apple products are some of the best in the industry. They're made in China. As has been said, if the company specifies clearly what the product should be, it can work very well.

Tools are a special thing, because they not only need to be made precisely, but they have to use good, hard steel. I haven't seen any such tools made in China yet, but they may exist now. If they don't yet, I expect them to come out soon. They'll have to find a good source of iron.

Back in the 1980's I learned that Japanese tools were well made but they were not made from the best quality steel. They didn't have access to the best iron as the US and Europe did. I haven't followed things closely since then. I recently bought a combination wrench set from Harbor Freight. I have mixed feelings about it. The set is made in India. It's well made enough, and they probably won't break on me, even though I'm sure the steel is not as good as on my old US-made Craftsman wrenches. The wrenches are too short, though, so I'm a little annoyed. On the other hand, the price difference is huge.

I was watching a show, I think it was on the Travel Channel, and they were talking to some Chinese workers. The workers were concerned because they feared their jobs were going to be outsourced to Vietnam.

That's what they've always done. It's just that until fairly recently, they used a US manufacturer. The logo changed late 2008, which is presumably when they started charging a premium for Chinese crap.