Originally Posted by
Rodney
The problem with most consumer goods isn't really with the manufacturers but with the buyers. Instead of asking the manufacturers "How well can you make this?" the buyers ask "How cheaply can you make this?". We encourage this sort of logic/behavior every time we buy cheaply made goods.
The Asian manufacturers are every bit as capable of making high quality goods as we are. It's just that no one asks them to do it or is willing to pay for that quality. You can buy new 15 clones for about $20 each if you buy 500 or more at a time. How much precision machining are you going to get for $20?
I've seen a few of the featherweight clones but haven't had the chance to handle one. At $225 I wouldn't touch it. With a little patience you can find a real featherweight for that.
Rodney
This is exactly true. I had a similarly themed "rant" on my blog a couple of years ago. My other life is in IT. My chosen brand of laptops and in many cases, desktop and self built server hardware is by a company in China. They're one of the best and were building of the other companies for years before they brought their own consumer laptop/desktop lines out.
That said, not all companies build this way and if you want better quality you have to tell the companies you buy from that "This is good enough for my customer" is not good enough. Because that's the quality level they're signing off on.
I've laid hands on the AlphaSew machine. It's poor quality. There are things they did - like relocating screws that also makes major maintenance / repair harder, and it "feels" wrong. The finish is poor on most parts - left rough and unpleasant. The bright bits are -too- shiny, if that makes any sense? I'm not even fond of most of their other spare parts - the packaged treadle belts and even motor belts largely come from them, and most feet starting with a "P" are Alpha sew feet.