Buying wood lathe

A Certificate Suitable for Framing.

If the factory has a Process and follows the Process and meets the pre- announced inspections, they can meet the standard. The standard says nothing about the actual quality or longevity of the product.

Leo,

Harbor Freight does sell some Brand Names such as DeWalt, primarily reconditioned. HF also sells their House Brands such as Central Forge, Chicago Electric, and Pittsburgh. The key differences between a Grizzly or Delta made in China and a HF Brand made in China are the specifications of the product and who is doing the quality control. Typically the Name Brands have tighter and better specifications while the HF Brands are specified by the Chinese factory that churns them out. Also, the Name Brands have QC inspectors on site and/or do their own QC when they receive a shipment. AFAIK, HF is at the mercy of the factory QC and I'm pretty sure they just put the stuff on the shelf when it arrives. Some of the stuff HF sells is cloned. I have a Makita 3612B Router clone that I picked up for about $25.00 (not from HF). The manual and parts list are nearly identical, and I suspect both were made in the same factory but to different specifications and quality standards.

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Correct

However, by following the standard, they have a greater level of consistency.

Ah, from my talks with people invovled, Grizzly no more owns the factory then Harbor Freight or Mastercraft does

Which in many, many cases means they consistently produce junk. :o)

Hi Lobby

Yes that's the way I see it too, and it is as usual " buyer beware " but I rather buy a reconditioned name brand than a grizzly. I sure was not trying to say that al the Harbor Freight stuff was high quality, just that if they where selling, and took an example, a Oneway lathe, it was still a Oneway lathe, and did not mean a knock off.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Yep. If they were selling a knock off using the same name, they'd get slapped down pretty quick.

Hi Ralph

I think Grizzly is an extension of the factory just like most car dealers. Still they only sell their products. Harbor Freight and Sears can go and buy somewhere else if the product does not meet demands, I think.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Delta sued a Taiwan outfit over 14" BS and saw clones which were painted the same color as the Deltas. Must have won, because the competing products were subsequently painted a darker blue.

It might help if you actually looked at one of their catalogs and knew what you are talking about, ie wrong again

ShopFox, Dewalt, Robert Sorby, ShopVac, SteeleX PorterCable, Cambell Hausfeld, Sata, Milwaukee, Makita, Oldham, Forrest, Jacobs, Kreg, Incra, Jorgensen, Irwin, Bessey and Dremel all come right to mind

Hi Ralph

I have looked at their website often enough and never saw another machine but the Grizzly's So now I asked for the other makes by name, and yes you are right, they do sell them to. Guess I was wrong all along, something new learned today, thanks Ralph.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Shop Fox is also sold by other vendors

ed-Mini-Lathe.html Now, I don't know who owns ShopFox, but I don't think it's Grizzly. Also, Shop Fox appears aimed at the hobby market, while Grizzly goes all the way deep into the "Pro" end (like their $7000-plus table saws)

Not a problem

Could be... but (unlike Grizzly) other people sell Shop Fox

I'd say that most of the equipment Grizzly sells is made in China. As is common in China, anyone who buys from the factory can negotiate price/feature/performance. So it may look like the same item, but details, quality, etc vary for each retailer. One factory (Sieg) sells to Harbor Freight, Grizzly, Micro-Mark, Enco, Northern Tool, Machine Mark, Busy Bee, ROTWERK Elektrowerkzeuge, and maybe more.

They may look the same, but there can be subtle differences in features and/or quality.