Author Topic: Chinese plan for failure?  (Read 3280 times)

Offline mklotz

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Chinese plan for failure?
« on: December 14, 2016, 06:57:01 PM »
I don't want to abuse my good metalworking drills by using them on jobs around the house so I keep cheapies in my "house tool" bags.  These well-abused drills kept falling out of their plastic holders and sifting to the bottom of the bag which made finding the desired size a pain.

So, when I saw a DeWalt 18 piece set with a really secure container on sale for a good price I bought it.  Good American name although, of course, made in China, it has the 1/2" drill with a 3/8" turned-down section so can be used in 3/8" electric drill.

It wasn't until I looked closely that I noticed it had space for two 3/16" drills!  I presumed it was a labeling error but, upon measurement, there really were two 3/16" drills in those slots.



Recently, Lowe's had another sale and I bought a 21 piece set in a nearly identical container.  Even more surprising, this one has two 1/8" and two 1/4" !  And yes, I checked the sizes; they really are duplicates, not mis-labeling.





None of this bothers me.  I was most interested in the secure cases plus having some sharp drills.  I have plenty of drills to cover whatever sizes are missing and I'll probably never need those sizes around the house.

What puzzles me is why they are doing this.  Does DeWalt and/or their Chinese partners think that these more common sizes will be used more and thus dull/break enough that backups are in order?  Is it a clever way to save a few pennies by advertising a 21 piece set that, in reality, only contains 19 distinct sizes? 

Whatever the reason, check the actual sizes included when buying cheap drill sets.
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Offline Gas_mantle

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2016, 07:06:05 PM »
The set in your middle pic also has 1/16 and 5/64 duplicates too.

Are they differing lengths ? The 1/16s seem to be.

Offline 10KPete

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2016, 07:10:07 PM »
And no 7/16 ???

Pete
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Offline mklotz

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #3 on: December 14, 2016, 08:04:26 PM »
The set in your middle pic also has 1/16 and 5/64 duplicates too.

Are they differing lengths ? The 1/16s seem to be.

And two 3/16" as well !  So that's a 21 piece "set" with 16 unique sizes.

The other set has doubles of 1/16", 5/64" and 1/8" as well as the 3/16".  An 18 piece set with 14 unique sizes.

And neither one has a 7/16".

Ah, well, I never was a DeWalt fan.

They are different lengths.  Probably so as to deceive the eye of the casual observer.
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Offline Gas_mantle

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #4 on: December 14, 2016, 08:13:04 PM »
And no 7/16 ???

Pete

Just a thought, but if we add up the extra 1/16. 1/8 and 1/4 that's the missing 7/16th  ;)

Offline Gas_mantle

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #5 on: December 14, 2016, 08:20:00 PM »
It seems that if you order one of these DeWalt screwdriver sets you get what look to be duplicate sized heads in certain sizes too  ;)

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-35-Piece-Screwdriver-Bit-Set/1207097

Offline kvom

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #6 on: December 15, 2016, 12:23:01 AM »
The phillips screw bits wear out with a lot of use.

Offline mklotz

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #7 on: December 14, 2016, 10:56:57 PM »
The phillips screw bits wear out with a lot of use.

Yeah, chewing up those !@#$%^ Phillips head screws really takes its toll.
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Offline MJM460

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #8 on: December 15, 2016, 12:35:46 PM »
I have a set, 1/16 - 1/4, bought in Houston some years ago, Craftsman brand, proudly claiming to be "the same Drill Bits used in American industry"!  Black oxide finish, and it has two 1/8 bits.  I keep it for home maintenance jobs.

But to be fair, those 1/8 bits get a lot of use for small wood screws.  I have not broken or dulled one yet, but they are just a handyman set, and I thought it a useful inclusion as they would easy to break with a large corded drill, and a real pain if you can't finish that small weekend job.  The smaller ones of course break even more easily, but are also less often used.

MJM460
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Offline Mosey

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #9 on: December 15, 2016, 05:18:19 PM »
The president of Dewalt used to be in my tennis group. This was just when they were buying Bosch, Black & Decker, Altendorf, Apex Tool Group (Gardner Denver), (Dremel, Hawera, RotoZip, Skil),Chang Type Industrial Co., Ltd. ( Delta Machinery), Emerson (Ridgid), Fein, Festool, Flex-Elektrowerkzeuge.and several other big brands. Anyhow, if you look closely you'll see about 10 brands are now one company. I don't see him anymore to ask WTF they are doing!
He is a cool guy and it gave great satisfaction when I beat him. (Left-handed slice serve, hahaha)
Mosey


Offline mklotz

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #10 on: December 15, 2016, 04:02:45 PM »
My objection is not that they included duplicates of often-needed bits but rather with the purposeful deception of their marketing.

To people like us, the appellation "set" connotes a selection of one of each size of a type of tool (drill, wrench, etc.).  If a "set" of letter drills was found to contain two Es but no Is, we would find that disturbing.

Then, to advertise this "set" containing 16 unique sizes as a 21 piece "set" is particularly deceptive.  Yes, it does contain 21 items but the items it contains do not constitute what most people think of as a set.

Had they labeled it as, say, a "jobber's set including duplicates of often damaged sizes" all would be well.

I hate when companies attempt to deceive me.  They're insinuating that I'm stupid and can be conned.  Not the way to ensure my return patronage.


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Offline Gas_mantle

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #11 on: December 15, 2016, 04:43:14 PM »
I agree it does seem like a bit of deception, it does seem  a bit strange when like 10k Pete said there is a size missing - surely the difference in cost of supplying 1 bit of all the intermediate sizes and no duplicate sizes would be minimal.

I take the point of the Phillips head drivers getting worn easily but I'd be a bit miffed to have a set with duplicates in common sizes but lacking the one I need.

Last year when I started this hobby I bought a selection of metric nut, bolts and washers that were advertised as an assortment of 600 parts -  they weren't expensive but I thought they will get me started. To me it seemed fair to expect 200 of each component in a mix of sizes but I ended up with something like 450 washers, 100 nuts and 50 bolts ! As they were cheap I didn't loose any sleep over it but still felt a bit cheated.

I guess with fairly inexpensive items being sold online the sellers know that people won't bother to return something casting a few quid.
« Last Edit: December 15, 2016, 06:56:36 PM by Gas_mantle »

Offline Tennessee Whiskey

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #12 on: December 15, 2016, 06:45:18 PM »
Today's advertising relies heavily on the old P.T. Barnum theory : there's a sucker born every minute and with this new germination of young adults,  he would be tickled.  Just curious Marv; was there also a Prop 65 warning sticker  ( not using emoji out of respect ).

Cletus

Offline mklotz

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #13 on: December 15, 2016, 06:57:59 PM »
Today's advertising relies heavily on the old P.T. Barnum theory : there's a sucker born every minute and with this new germination of young adults,  he would be tickled.  Just curious Marv; was there also a Prop 65 warning sticker  ( not using emoji out of respect ).

Surprisingly, no sticker.  However, I'm working with a guy I know in Sacramento to get a bill introduced to require all members of the legislature to wear the sticker.

It's hilarious.  We've been told that the next three days are no-burn days.  Can't use your fireplace or barbecue because the powers that be are saving the environment.  This despite the fact that there are spots on our many freeways where  a half million vehicles a day pass.  Yeah, keeping those burgers off the barbie is really going to help.

Besides, Angelenos don't trust air they can't taste.
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Offline scroc

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Re: Chinese plan for failure?
« Reply #14 on: December 15, 2016, 07:12:19 PM »
Maybe they, the chinese figure that marketing ploy goes well with the dumbing down of young folks in our public education system.
mklotz, I wish to thank you for your work on the utilites you have provided here. Sorry about the air board shutting you down rather than spending time on true mass transit solutions.
scroc
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