Thats OK, it was very well put. I just wish more people would take pride in
things and not just things they do for themselves but in everything they do.
I know this is far off thinking but one can still have hope.

Thanks for the insight.

RIch

"Morris Dovey" wrote in message
...
searcher1 wrote:

Yes the projects are beautiful that I do not doubt, but it
dosen't take 1000 dollar tools to do it! It comes from within
the person making the items. One can make a great looking
project with Chinese tools as well as American made tools.
Again it the person, and you just don't find that many people
who work for GREAT COMPANIES that take pride in the work that
they put forth, they just want to do their 8 and get out.

Yes, it /is/ the person. Always. And yes, the location where a
tool (or anything else) is produced does not determines neither
the quality of the tool nor the quality of the product produced
with the tool.

The quality of the tool /can/ be a limiting factor in determining
the quality of the result. Substandard work can be produced with
any tool; but it's difficult to produce great work with a
substandard tool.

I have a Delta Unisaw (from the USA) and a Grizzly jointer (from
Taiwan). I'm well pleased with both. I have an American designed
and manufactured ShopBot with a 5 hp spindle from Italy and a
phase converter/controller from Taiwan that lets me control that
spindle in more ways than a politician has excuses, including
control of motor speed in precise 1/10 RPM increments from 0 RPM
all the way to 24000 RPM. It machines wood to better than 1/512"
tolerances. It did cost more than US$1000; but I couldn't find a
tool that could do the same job for less. Sometimes it's simply
necessary to spend the money.

Great companies are great because they hired great people and
allowed them to do a great job - and rewarded those people when
they made great products. Let me give it to you straight: If you
find that many people who work for a company /don't/ take immense
pride in their work, then that company /can't/ be a great company.

One of my favorite business books makes this point: First class
companies are headed by first class people - and first class
people only hire first class people. All other companies are
headed by (at best) second class people - and second class people
hire third class people who then hire the rest of the company's
work force.

The flurry of acquisitions and hostile takeovers in the past
twenty years was driven by people playing a numbers game. The
thinking was strictly short term; and first class companies were
desirable targets. I've regretfully concluded that those driving
the takeovers were not first class people - and that it's far
easier to turn a first class company into a second class company
than it is to turn a second class company into a first class
company. As in tools, the quality of the company can certainly be
a limiting factor in determining the quality of the product.

I think it must easier to start over with a new company than to
restore quality to a second class company. The US isn't a
particularly healthy environment for starting new companies; but
it would appear that (currently) Taiwan and China /are/; and
that's where the next generation of first class businesses (and
first class products) are growing.

Got pretty far off-topic, didn't I? (-:
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA