12-13-2015, 11:51 AM
(12-04-2015, 11:05 AM)Dr Stan Wrote: Browne & Sharpe, BESTEST, TESATAST, and SPI all make very good to excellent indicators. Since Starrett has moved most of its manufacturing to China (and maintain made in the US prices) I'm done with them.
That is SO not true Dr Stan. I have been in their plant in Athol MA many times (and recently) and can tell you they are quite busy employing American workers crafting many of their tools. The items being made in their Starrett owned plant in China which they supervise and maintain quality control are the No.436.1 and No.734 micrometers, No.120M and No.799 calipers, some of the cheaper digital height gauges, razor knives, tape measures, etc.
The overwhelming majority of the machinist tools, from scales to indicators, vee blocks, parallels, squares, etc, are all still made in Athol MA. Only their higher volume consumer oriented and highly price-competitive metrology items that are primarily cost driven are made in their China plant.
I can tell you that with Hexagon Metrology brands (Brown & Sharpe, Leitz, DEA, Sheffield, to name a few) make only the high end custom gauging products here, in North Kingston Rhode Island. SPI has long been a distributor of metrology products from a variety of sources. When they first started it was mostly Swiss and German products, now shifted to China, Brazil and other sources. Even Mitutoyo had years ago moved production of high volume products from Japan to China and Brazil plants they control.
Welcome to global manufacturing, Dr Stan.