Global Components?

[Greg Wease]

A box of 4 Stanley Sweetheart 750 chisels is marked "Made in England with Global Components". Anyone know what that means?

[Chris Vandiver]

Sounds to me like "assembled in England with Asian components(blades and handles)". They're just trying to hide the fact that their chisels are, for all intents and purpose, actually Chinese made

[Stanley Covington]

Sounds to me like "assembled in England with Asian components(blades and handles)". They're just trying to hide the fact that their chisels are, for all intents and purpose, actually Chinese made

That is exactly what it means. Stanley is up to the same damned tricks that turned them from the world's largest handtool company into a fifth rate tool wholesaler. It is in their corporate DNA (pig to its mud, dog to its vomit etc).

[Chris Vandiver]

Probably all that was done in England was to package the completed chisels.

[David Weaver]

Their naming is offputting. Why did they get named things that are more closely related to planes?

I thought for some reason that they'd said their steel was O1, but I just looked, and it's "high carbon chrome steel".

I guess for the price, I'd expect something a little more. Cheaper chisels are made in the united states (price wise), and probably england.

They really don't have any interest in making an involved effort at looking at the competition they have, but if they can sell a set of those "high carbon chome steel international component" chisels for $180-200, I'm sure they're doing pretty well.

[Chris Griggs]

I thought they were 01 too... I also thought they were made in Mexico. Maybe that's their planes. I'd rather have AI chisels... better quality, 01 steel, made in England, less money....

[David Weaver]

I think the plane irons were made in england, with bodies and assembly done in mexico. Compared to the substantial efforts of LV and LN to make *really good* tools, it seems like a lot of the stanley stuff is half-thought out. That's just my impression of it. Like the aluminum lever caps and doggish looking handles.

[george wilson]

Probably the result of bean counters running things?

[David Weaver]

I don't think there will be a public company that makes nice tools for us, there's just too much pressure to skew offerings toward beginners and say "we don't want to sell to the demanding customers, there's not enough margin in it and the price shopper who doesn't understand what does or doesn't make an excellent tool vs. an OK tool will buy on price".

It may be that some of the more enthusiastic producers are a subsidiary of a public company, but it seems like good development has to come from individuals who start something with a serious drive toward making stuff as well as possible and being accountable to the customer first.

[Chris Griggs]

Its too bad they didn't pull of there new planes better. I actually really like the general design of the new #4. Fixed frog, adjustable mouth, double iron, norris adjuster. Its a great design, but the ones I've held at woodcraft seem pretty rough (the WRs are much nicer) and the blocky handle is absolute crap. That said. I like the design enough that I have moments where I think about looking for one for really cheap, and then just reshaping the handle and tuning it up. Sometimes you can polish a t**d.

I bet there designers do a good job and then get pissed when the bean counters turn there work into junk.

[John Coloccia]

As I've said all along about the new Stanleys, they're not terrible tools, but they're terribly overpriced compared to the competition when you consider quality. I really don't understand why anyone buys them, to be honest, especially when you consider that you can buy used LN and LV. When I was working at Woodcraft a couple of times a week, I used to go out of my way to steer people away, and they still buy the stupid things.

[Jim Koepke]

When I was working at Woodcraft a couple of times a week, I used to go out of my way to steer people away, and they still buy the stupid things.

Often a fool can not be shown their foolishness. It is something they can only discover while looking at them self.

jtk

[Greg Wease]

I sent an inquiry to Stanley re. these chisels, specifically the country of manufacture of the blades, and received this reply:

Hi Greg,

The blades on the chisels 16-791 are made in England.

Roberta
Customer Service

I believe the "Global Components" tag means they could source anywhere, but for now, they appear to be English.

[Stanley Covington]

There is a saying in Japan (or maybe it was just Mifune Toshiro): "There is no medicine for foolishness."

There was a time when I worked for a company that had some items produced in China. The following is the Fool's Progress as I have observed it up close.

1. Dedicated craftsmen in "The Corporation" develop a good product in response to an excellent product being sold by a smaller company. Preliminary sales begin.

2. Customer feedback is listened to and reflected in design improvements. A good product at a competitive price is the result. Sales improve.

3. The product posts 18 months of good sales. The sales numbers are locked into cash flow projections.

4. Vice President Michael Harryasshole, a tall, athletic looking man with extensive experience in marketing, bleached teeth, a delicate touch on the green, and no experience making anything but feces, is assigned the job of improving the profitability of the Division in charge of manufacturing the Product. Mr. H needs a bigger quarterly bonus, and so goes to work. Tee time is 3:40.

5. Per VP Harryasshole's direction, a team is assembled to find ways to increase Product's profitability. A list of substitute materials and alternative manufacturing methods is presented, and discussed, the likely impacts of each potential modification are carefully analyzed. Obvious modifications are employed in future production. The changes are called "improvements" and are subtle enough that most consumers don't notice.

6. Mike gets high praise and a bonus for his managements skills and the resulting increase in profitability. Anticipating a raise, and even higher bonuses, he has his staff implement even more "improvements." Michael decides to try a new Big Bertha driver.

7. Repeat step 6 every two months for 26 months.

8. By now the Product has improved to the point of being repulsive, flyblown, and perhaps dangerous, garbage. Only the ignorant and fools continue to buy the Product. The formerly good reputation of the Product, along with that of the Corporation, begin to smell like a Texas landfill in July, and sales drop.

9. An analysis is conducted, and the cause for the drop in sales is determined to be excessively high manufacturing costs. A factory in Guangzhou is contracted to produce the Product. The local workforce at the Corporation's own manufacturing plant (built by the founder right after VJ Day) are "let go." The Mine Worker's Union that formerly represented the now unemployed workers decries low taxes and corporate greed for the shutdown.

10. With manufacturing costs once again under control, the sales price is "rationalized," sales improve as more ignorant fools are duped, and Mr. Harryasshole is proclaimed a hero at the Corporations' Christmas Party. Mike buys another Porsche to match his grey suit. He takes two weeks off to go skiing at Vale with his girlfriend, but tells his wife and family he is going on a business trip to resolve some quality issues at the factories in China and India.

11. A Chinese mid-level manager working at the plant in Guangzhou copies the Corporation's designs and specs, and takes those, along with several tons of stolen materials, to his Uncle Zhan's manufacturing plant in Zhong Shan. Uncle Zhan does not have the right equipment, but enlists the help of his local contact with the "Party" to convince the area Development Committee to give him funding. Instead of the new equipment for which the funding was intended, Uncle Zahn buys used equipment and pockets the cost savings. With this equipment (terribly out of tolerance and very dangerous), and using uneducated teenage girls from the countryside working 12 hour shifts and sleeping in his cockroach-infested barracks, Uncle Zhan is able to manufacture an identical product (at least in appearance) at 1/3 the price of the factory that originally contracted with Mr. Harryasshole's Corporation. Willing to accept even lower profits than the Corporation, Uncle Zhan's product sells very well indeed. The Corporation's product, on the other hand, is no longer competitive and orders drop through the floor.

12. The Corporation determines that, because of internet sales and Amazon.com, sales of the Product have tarnished the Corporation's all-important image, delaying the long dreamed of M&A buyout that would allow the major stockholders to cash out. The Corporation therefore contracts with Uncle Zhan to produce the product for them under the Corporation's new off-brand name of "Sweetcheeks." Uncle Zhan's profits increase and he decides to install new drive belts on his machinery to improve productivity.

Harryasshole has since left the Corporation and shifted his focus to another industry where his genius will yield even greater profits to himself. He buys another house close to his new corner office on the 36th floor, just a tiny thing of 6,800sf with a detached garage for his seven luxury vehicles. Mike still loves his German cars, but a Company policy requiring all executives drive Company products forces him to buy a different car for the commute. The Caddy is alright, but it lacks the elegance of his CL-65 AMG. Tee time is 2:10.

While I can't speak to Stanley's Sweetheart brand, having inspected many Chinese factories personally, and seeing with my own eyes what is being produced for European companies, I can state without reserve that if a product is labeled as "Made in Italy," or "Made in Germany," or "Made in England," there is a high probability it is actually made in China. This is a problem that exists in the US as well, of course. Just ask the people in charge of contract management for the US Navy about the fraud and deception surrounding "US content."

Stan

[David Weaver]

Stan..I love the story. Best post I've seen here in a long time. Fantastic!