[AirChunk]

What brand tool bits and end mills are made in the USA ? Such as Micro 100 , Attrax , Accupro , Metal Removal etc.

I want to keep my money in the USA......

[anddsn]

Garr carbide cutter, good quality/ prices
Robb Jack carbide cutter, great quality
Harvey Tools (carbide cutter)
Krav Precision Tool Corporation,excellant quality,and price. http://www.tool-precision.com/

Talon vise jaw grips (low profile vise jaws)

[AirChunk]

OK , I will contact these guys for my next purchases , I think MSC sells Robb Jack .

The way this country is going , we need to buy USA and keep our money here .

We need to stop buying foreign goods !!!!!

[Geof]

...We need to stop buying foreign goods !!!!!

Yep! And all the people in Asia and Europe who buy Caterpillar, and John Deere, and Case, and Haas machine tools, and GE jet engines, etc, etc. should stop buying foreign goods.

How much did you spend on US made goods in the past 12 months? I spent somewhere in the region of $300,000 on Haas machines.

Perhaps you should also stop buying foreign oil and natural gas.

[USMCPOP]

There are quite a few if you look around. Here are some smaller/specialty outfits: http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/tools.html

Garr has a good reputation. MariTool makes some nice end mills. Niagara Cutter makes their stuff here, as does Melin Tool and Weldon Tool. I'm sure their are many others. Some are global manufacturers and may make things here or anywhere, like Kennametal.

[AirChunk]

Geof ,
I asked about tools , and hear we go --- another pissing match ! That is not what I intended.
An open mind is is a virtue...so long as all the common sense has not leaked out. You said it .
I don't use natural gas , but yes I buy Diesel.

Ya know waht ? I am not going to bite .

Lets keep it to the question .

Thanks anddsn and USMCPOP

[fuzzyracing1967]

If you want USA made taps reiff & nestor is a good choice,not to far away from me so my preferance.

Now not out to start anything but, I know where Geof is coming from with his post.My take on that is I can drive 15 miles to buy whatever for say $10 or I can walk 3 blocks and pay $12,(I don't care where it's made) I choose to walk 3 blocks becouse then I'm helping someone in my town earn a little money.200 years ago you could only sell something you made within walking distance,150 years ago it was where the train went,100 years ago was how far you could drive,today the world is overnight.The point is if you have something to sell why not sell to the whole world,i can't beleave you would turn down work if it was to go to a foreign country.

My 2 cent's but the way things are going I might have to charge you 3 cent's soon

[AirChunk]

Fuzzyracing1967,
I understand what you are saying . What leaves a bad taste is when company x is making a product , here in the states , and employs 20 people or so . Then he figures out he can get it made overseas for less , so he does so he cane make more $$$ , then he lays off his employee's , and has even more $$$ in his pocket . This guy is a sell out of sorts.
Our economy is bad, and so many people have lost their jobs in 2008 , why not buy USA made and keep our people working?

I do not know how the economy is in Canada --how is it geof ?

I make a few specialty tools for the M/C industry . My competitors are now selling a very similar product for what the material costs me !

[mc-motorsports]

My competitors are now selling a very similar product for what the material costs me !

200 years ago you could only sell something you made within walking distance,150 years ago it was where the train went,100 years ago was how far you could drive,today the world is overnight.

That's about the best answer your going to get. I use the term "global economy" and I get my ass ripped every time. (argue amongst yourselves, I'm out)

Your almost better off finding a line of work that can't be or won't be outsourced. Have a decent sized shop with ISO certs? Hit up Boeing, I hear they are awarding big contracts. Just read about one in the news paper that went to a local company, something about titanium, worth millions. And Boeing won't outsource those jobs.

If your making parts that every shop on every corner can make, that's what you get. I think the term is "the umbrella effect", correct me if I'm wrong. I've ran into the same problem. Sit still in this economy and your a sitting duck. You've just gotta keep moving and try to stay ahead of your competition. And my advice is don't compramise price for quality. Charge what you need to charge and keep the quality up, or just move onto the next thing.

I lost a couple of customers last year because they went price shopping. Guess what, they're back! And yes, it hurt at the time, but I could be making those same parts for half my labor rate if I didn't let them go fishing.

Good luck to you!

That's my .05$

[Geof]

I stick behind the meaning of what I wrote but I should have phrased less combatively, sorry; it is a bit of a trigger point with me being an exporter.

I agree it is often a sell out to outsource stuff and many times it is stupid because often the quality is not there and the parts have to be brought back home. In between time, however, a lot of lives have been disrupted.

Unfortunately the answer does not lie in 'buy American' or 'buy Canadian' because whether you like it or not the Global Economy exists and if this type of action is put in place at a government level it is likely to trigger similar responses all over the world and then we go down into a depression like the thirties.

My slogan if you want to call it that is; 'buy quality'. How many times do you see comments here on CNCzone about getting something cheap; not what is my best quality for money? It is the W** M*** mentality; keep buying cheap crappy junk over and over again in the mistaken belief you are saving money.

Many times buy quality is equivalent to saying buy American particularly in tooling and machinery; especially if you qualify it as 'best quality for the cost'.

Having said that I think we are all in for tough times during the next (few) year(s) here as well as down there. Right now the US is beating Canada in the percent unemployment figures but we are doing our best to catch up. And we are going down the same path of propping up bloated, over-payed, inefficient, and in many cases, poor quality, companies in the auto industry. And bailing out the people who mainly caused the problem; because there is not much choice, if they completely crash and burn they will take everything much further down with them.

[AirChunk]

"Having said that I think we are all in for tough times during the next (few) year(s) here as well as down there. Right now the US is beating Canada in the percent unemployment figures but we are doing our best to catch up. And we are going down the same path of propping up bloated, over-payed, inefficient, and in many cases, poor quality, companies in the auto industry. And bailing out the people who mainly caused the problem; because there is not much choice, if they completely crash and burn they will take everything much further down with them. "

Geof,
Now you are making sense. You hit the nail directly in the center..

[veggiedog]

It is reasonable to take the counter position: rather than restricting your buying to a specific country (e.g. USA), instead avoid buying from countries with a proven track record denying their citizens basic freedoms like free speech. Quality is now global, and it is often naive to think that only the USA provides quality: in some cases USA made is of lower quality (it all depends). Additionally, in some cases, USA producers outsource manufacturing to foreign entities, and in some cases foreign producers build their products in the USA.

Instead of only buying locally in a world that is clearly going global, I recommend, when reasonable, only buying from countries with a proven track record defending basic freedoms like free speech. Unfortunately, even the defense of basic freedoms is waining across the globe, including in the US.

However, the position that it is best to buy locally clearly has benefits with regards to keeping your money, even after you have spent it, closer to home to increase the chances it will come back to you. I just think it is best not to complicate the issue with unsupportable aspects like 'quality', or, for that matter, putting quality ahead of promoting freedom.

Sadly, determining what is 'Made in USA' and what is not, is becoming more difficult: manufacturers are going global, and distributors are often not indicating where items are made. Your quest to determine where an item is made is admirable, and I too share in your desire to keep my money closer to home, I just try to do so while keeping in mind that reality is not very simple.

[dertsap]

determining what is 'Made in USA' and what is not, is becoming more difficult: Your quest to determine where an item is made is admirable, .

unfortunately there are too many loopholes as to what needs to be in place to call a product made in " "
i worked for a German company that wanted to break into the north american market , we (in Canada) did ALL the manufacturing r and d etc , we also had a plant south of the boarder , this was the assembly plant where they put the product together and put a little sticker that said made in USA ,we sent them everything , we would even send down the bolts

eventually they packed up and moved the manufacturing to the US after they extinguished every single government grant they could get their claws on , so at least now they can truely say made in US