On Monday, January 16, 2017 at 9:42:20 AM UTC-5, Larry Jaques wrote:
On Sun, 15 Jan 2017 17:51:21 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Hi folks,

Please trim your lines to 72 characters. My word wrap is turned on
but your lines all go off the page into the 3rd screen.


I was just looking at some old Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogues from the early 1900s. Here's an example of a page:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/138493...posted-public/

That 20" bandsaw costs $31.65. If you figure out a current equivalent price (multiplier of 27), it comes to around $855. Seems cheap for a 300 lb cast iron machine to me, as do the other machine tools. A Jet 20" bandsaw now costs $3556.00:
http://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/93252591

Equivalents to the other manufactured products in the catalogue are mostly cheaper today (this guy has some interesting examples from the 1970s: http://cafehayek.com/2006/01/working_for_sea.html)

But what about machine tools? If they are more expensive, what's the cause? A rise in the cost of skilled labour, or less local competition among small foundries and machine shops? What do you think?

Yes, your reasons, then add in unions, branding, and corporate greed
(possibly caused by attorneys who are pawning it off as feeding
shareholders). These aren't just price hikes, they're multipliers.

When the Chiwanese knockoffs can be sold for 1/4 the price of domestic
units, it isn't just quality of materials.

Baloney. Look at that Sears bandsaw. It's a frail skeleton of a frame that probably couldn't deliver 1/2 hp -- if it had a motor, which it doesn't. It even has a wooden table.

The Jet has a 3 hp motor and the rigidity to deliver it. Its NET weight is 550 lb. The Sears saw has a SHIPPING weight of 300 lb -- of which 100 lb probably was a wooden crate.

If you want to make a fair comparison, compare the Sears saw with this:

http://tinyurl.com/z47rd7b

Then take off the motor and put bigger pulley wheels on it.

--
Ed Huntress