I buy from Harbor Freight if the tool I need does not require precision, reliablility,longevity or smooth function, like one or two time use applications. I certainly don't need a Porter Cable sander for taking rust off of a piece of cast iron. For my machine tools however, I buy used American for many reasons important to me. I have a deep appreciation for machines built at a time when the proper amount of cast iron put into a tool is not regulated by bean counters, when art, design and engineering was manifested in the casting as well as function, when high quality and craftsmanship in manufacturing were a matter of pride, a lifetime of dedication. Consider my Brown and Sharp Vertical Mill, second of only five verticals built between 1953 and 1955. I saved it from the salvage man when a small, local shop had to close down because business dried up and no one was interested in the mill because it was too massive (4300 lbs) , too old, too much hassle. Before shut down, the previous owner demonstrates the mill hogging out a 1/2 inch deep, inch wide channel in some steel over two feet distance in a single pass at some ungodly feed rate, like the proverbial hot knife through butter, smooth as silk, quick and precise. Such a feat would make your new Bridgeport or Grizzly feel like a Harbor Freight mill/drill. Powered knee, rapids on the 4 foot long table, powered quill, all for $500.00 on eBAY. Sadly, (or not) I was the only bidder. I also have a Monarch 10ee, a Sheldon Shaper but I will defer extolting their virtues for another time. I have no qualms about buying Chinese if the need is for low priority, basic quality, and disposablity. I have nothing against those who choose Chinese machine tools, their rationale, their needs and their budgets are their own. For me, tools that have to last me a lifetime must be American from that time when Industrial America was in its premier. Perhaps there are repairs coming in my future but it will be a labor of love and appreciation for these magnificent machines of a long lost era.
