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What kind of quality to expect for chinese "Precision" tools and stuff

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chipenter:
I bought two parralel ER16 collet chucks from ARC no problems with them , one morse taper one chuck direct from China not as good but usable , the nut had more play and mutch slacker .

CrazyModder:
I won't judge whether there are good shops somewhere in China.

But it *is* highly likely to get junk when buying overseas for their small prices. There surely are some exceptions; for example electronic parts (µCs, transistors and such). If I buy them local, the only difference is whether my local vendor imported it from China or I did so myself. I expect no difference in quality there. It starts to get wobbly when buying bigger electronic items (like whole boards with a few components). I know of one case where they ran out of a specific kind of capacitor and just substituted another one; the item then worked for a few minutes and then stopped. Thousands were produced, and good luck getting a refund for a 2€ item (including postage...).

Back to the question at hand: while there certainly are exact items to be found somewhere, I would not bother to invest *any* kind of anger or otherwise energy into the process. As you also found out, their customer support is more likely to tell you "it worked for everyone else as well, must be your fault". What do they have to lose? It's not that you will drag them in front of some court. Of course, the locally bought item would likely have been produced in China as well, but with a bit of luck, your local vendor has done some QA, or will at least help you with a refund/exchange if you so inquire.

So, you trade the often absurdly low prices for a certain element of luck.

sparky961:
I consider every insanely cheap overseas purchase to be a "kit" item.  It will likely need cleaning, grinding, filing, polishing, or maybe throwing out half the parts and remaking them. ;)

Anything I want to be able to trust in its use and accuracy I research well before hand and try to buy at somewhere around the 60-70% price range from the short list.  Usually the stuff near the top is way higher quality than I'll ever need, though I've splurged from time to time and rarely been disappointed.

Most of us here who have undertaken any project with difficult pieces or many that must fit together in a precision way should really appreciate how much time goes into making things.  Even with mass production, the time is still there, just spread out amongst the few thousand (or add some zeros) pieces they make.

I don't have a problem paying for quality, within reasonable limits of my budget and intended use.  But I'm well-aware that a brand name and high price don't guarantee it.  It does, usually, give you recourse if you aren't completely satisfied - which takes a lot more considering the price you paid.

PK:

--- Quote from: sparky961 on October 09, 2016, 02:26:59 PM ---I consider every insanely cheap overseas purchase to be a "kit" item.  It will likely need cleaning, grinding, filing, polishing, or maybe throwing out half the parts and remaking them. ;)

--- End quote ---

I think this is the right approach. I've bought everything from electronics components to large CNC machines out of China.  Set your expectations and you'll get a result you are happy with.

I'll add one point. The Chinese are certainly capable of producing good quality goods. You just have to ask them to do it. 
If you don't ask for quality, they will (rightly) assume that you are buying from China because you want the cheapest product.

I say this on the back of spending about $100K per year in China, not millions, but enough to get a good feel for it.

The best example I can think of is our stickers. We get the stickers that go onto our products from China. It took two orders that we weren't happy with to convince them that we wanted the fancy ink and 3M brand adhesive. Since then we haven't looked back.
The stickers are the thing that turns our plastic boxes into merchantable product, so it's vital they be of the best quality and they really are.

ieezitin:
you get what you pay for. expectations on trying the cheap method will always produce low results. cheap tools have a place as other people have mentioned they can be massaged into place but time is an asset, I have both, i use both depending on what i am doing.

I have a set of Helios vernier calipers made in Germany from 1979 and used every day give or take they are still dead on today 37 years of service that price paid then is worth every penny,irony is they were a gift.

Anthony.

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