A hardware question

[Randy Rizzo]

I recently went online to purchase some 21"Blum Tandem slides. Used them before and I liked em. About that time my Internet provider decided it was time for a nap! So I called to place the order. After telling the sales guy what I wanted he asked, "Why Blum? Hettich Quadro's are as good if not better and about $8 a pr. less" After a brief discussion on the pros and cons I told him I'd look at the spec sheets and call back. Aside from being $8 a pr less the Hettich was made in Germany, the Blum in the U.S. I decided to go for the Blum's in spite of the higher $. But then I was told the "made in U.S." was a half truth, Blum's manufactured elsewhere, assembled in the U. S. So here's the question, does anyone know for a fact where Blums are manufactured? I try to buy U.S. when possible. But in this case I went for the Hettich.

[Jeff Duncan]

Blum's are IMHO a better quality slide so that's what I use. I honestly never looked to see where they are made, but I do know Blum makes a bunch of stuff here. My first priority is to give my clients the best hardware I can find for the price regardless of where it's made......but that's just me

JeffD

[Michael Moscicki]

http://www.blum.com/us/en/04/10/30/

They make some stuff 100% in the USA. The rest is assembled in the USA using US and Austrian parts. So rest assured these are not cheap Chinese draw slides.

[Jamie Buxton]

Make sure you're comparing apples to apples -- both soft-close, or both self-close. When I did that, I found Quattro and Tandem are within pennies of each other.

[Robert LaPlaca]

I recently went online to purchase some 21"Blum Tandem slides. Used them before and I liked em. About that time my Internet provider decided it was time for a nap! So I called to place the order. After telling the sales guy what I wanted he asked, "Why Blum? Hettich Quadro's are as good if not better and about $8 a pr. less" After a brief discussion on the pros and cons I told him I'd look at the spec sheets and call back. Aside from being $8 a pr less the Hettich was made in Germany, the Blum in the U.S. I decided to go for the Blum's in spite of the higher $. But then I was told the "made in U.S." was a half truth, Blum's manufactured elsewhere, assembled in the U. S. So here's the question, does anyone know for a fact where Blums are manufactured? I try to buy U.S. when possible. But in this case I went for the Hettich.

Blum has a big manufacturing/assembly plant in Stanley North Carolina, about 30 miles north west of Charlotte NC. Wouldn't surprise me if some of the parts do come from Germany...

[Jamie Buxton]

When reviewing the spec sheet they were advertised as "soft self close", I'm assuming that is comparable to "Blumotion", we'll see!

One of my grumps is manufacturers who invent their own terms. Instead of using well-understood terms like self-close and softclose, they call things "Blumotion" or "Eezy-close", or this one "soft self close". I've never decided whether they're trying to win business by confusing the customers, or they know so little about their business that they don't know the usual language.

[Randy Rizzo]

Make sure you're comparing apples to apples -- both soft-close, or both self-close. When I did that, I found Quattro and Tandem are within pennies of each other.

They were advertised as "soft self close"