Pony clamps and Jorgensen back in business
#11
In May 2016, Adjustable Clamp Company, the centuryold
manufacturer of Jorgensen® adjustable handscrew
clamps and Pony® brands of clamps and clamping fixtures,
announced the suspension of business operations.
Company reps have recently announced that Jorgensen and
Pony are back in the saddle, albeit under new ownership. The assets
have been purchased by China-based GreatStar International, a
leading hand tool manufacturer. GreatStar’s other brands include
Goldblatt®, Sheffield®, Everbrite®, Miller Falls®, and Safety Pro®.

According to the latest issue of Woodcraft I received.

Leading hand tool manufacturer? First time I heard about it!

Simon
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#12
A brand name has value. To be manufactured in China. Any tooling will go there.
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#13
A #1 Happy Sunshine Clamp Company.
"Links to news stories don’t cut it."  MsNomer 3/2/24
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#14
(07-24-2017, 12:44 PM)Phil Thien Wrote: A #1 Happy Sunshine Clamp Company.


Smile
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#15
Sorry to read about some fine old names like Goldblatt becoming Chinese brand names.  Still, when I was young, "made in Japan" was a synonym for "crap."  Even though many Japanese products were stellar - the Nikon S2 could hold its own with the Leica rangefinder camera - the public perception was formed by all the low-end stuff produced there.  Now, by and large, Japanese products are viewed as high quality, whether it's Makita power tools, Japanese woodworking hand tools, or Toyota/etc. cars.

A similar dynamic may play out with China, though not perhaps in my lifetime.
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#16
The quality of any Chinese tools or products imported does not depend on the manufacturing ability of the makers there. It depends on the spec. that is given to those makers. If they could send people to outside the boundary of the earth and get them back in one good shape, no manufacturing hurdles they could not overcome.

Did you people know that many Taiwan manufacturers have now moved or set up a second production base inside China, because those factories produce the same quality of goods as their own shops in Taiwan at much lower costs? Most power tools today are made in Taiwan or China. Those made in Mexico are not necessarily better in my experience.

The Chinese factories are competitive in many cases because they have very low overheads (not just labor costs) or little costly regulations to deal with as compared to those in this part of the world. I was in China as part of a technological tour five years ago and unless you were there, you could not believe the hi-tech stuff and automation they were spending resources in developing. They were looking at revolutionizing the computer chips. If they succeed, they would send Intel to bite dust. Heck, that was five years ago.

All my Bessey and pony-era clamps are made in USA. I don't know if they are better than the Chinese clamps under the same brand names.

Simon
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#17
Okay Simon Wang. 

J/k. Everything you said is true. 

I actually consider my made in Taiwan tools as sort of high-end these days. They are a true high-end machining economy these days.
"Links to news stories don’t cut it."  MsNomer 3/2/24
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#18
Well yes, and no......
I've been a tai chi student the past 13 years and a lot of goods are imported from China to sell to students of Kung Fu, Tai Chi and other Chinese martial arts.  The cheap tee shirts are about as good as other cheap tee shirts for sale in stores, and the cheap faux silk uniforms are about the same, worth what they charge, but no more.

However, expensive stuff coming from hi quality manufacturers is good stuff indeed. Multi hundred dollar real silk outfits are very hi quality.  Where there needs to be a bit of hand tailoring, it's there. Another good example is swords.  The cheap ones are cheaply made and worth about what they charge.  However, the good ones are quite expensive and very well made.  Not quite like the multi-thousand dollar Japanese swords, or maybe those are just not offered here.  But the $200 to $500 sword is very well made...

So if you buy cheap mass-produced goods, what you get is worth about what you pay for it.  If you buy the good stuff (if they sell it here) then it will cost like Japanese goods do, but be worth what is charged.  I don't know of any importers bringing in hi quality Chinese goods..... yet...
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#19
If the Pony / Jorgensen that is being re-introduced is the same stuff that they had been importing for the last couple of years, then this announcement is a bit of a yawner.  The recent orange screw clamps in particular were lightened-up in construction and even the wood handles were made noticeably smaller, compared to the American-made versions.  Lighter construction means they flex more under tension.  Even the newer alligator claps were compromised.  I don't recall seeing any wooden screw clamps made other than in the states, but those camps were always the standard of the industry with their beech jaws.  They really could regain their position in the industry by just taking the U.S. specs overseas and making a good product there.
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#20
Of the Jorgy products, I really like their steel heavy duty bar clamps, but they are of limited use for furniture building, unless laminated over curved forms. I also liked their handscrews better than the competing Dubuque or Bessey versions, though mine are all at least a dozen years old. I have all I need.

My favorite clamps, are the Universal (Dubuque) aluminum bar clamps. If I do my work correctly, I only need a bit of pressure to hold pieces together until the glue sets (or I run a dozen drywal screws into the stuff!).
Waiting to grow up beyond being just a member
www.metaltech-pm.com
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