Hi guys
I've been in Atlanta at the International Woodworking Fair for the past 4 days and haven't had a chance to revisit this thread until now.
First, let me say that I am sorry if I have offended anyone by my previous posts. I had no malicious intent and was not trying to pick any fights, so I apologize if anyone was offended. I have been helped by so many people on these forums, and I just want to give back with knowledge that I specialize in. You will find most of my posts are in the woodworking forum because I spent 10 years as a residential construction supervisor. During that 10 years, I supervised over 250 projects and had the opportunity to become a very competent carpenter. I am a licensed builder in the state of Michigan. A few years ago, the new construction market took a nosedive nationwide. West Michigan was hit very hard and I found myself with less and less work. This precipitated my decision to get out of the construction business and find a new career.
I went to work for a friend at a company called Active Machine and Tool as a sales and service technician. Active Machine and Tool is a company that distributes, manufactures, and services (sharpens) industrial woodworking tools. We manufacture our own line of solid carbide CNC tooling and also fabricate custom tools such as saw blades, profiled inserts, carbide-tipped router bits with custom profiles, custom shaper cutters, and many other custom tools. Active has been around for over 50 years. There are maybe 3 or 4 shops in the entire United States that have the capabilities, knowledge, services, and products that we have under one roof. Our customer base is world wide and includes everything from the hobbyist to 4 out of 5 of the world's largest office furniture manufacturers.
I'm not writing this to shill for my company, but rather to establish my experience and credentials when I speak of such things.
To the OP: I never meant to imply that you were wrong in your complaints. You tool is defective and is clearly NOT working as intended. I meant my comment about the $20/$100 tool as a generalization, and not about you specifically. I acknowledge that it reads as though I am referring to you. I apologize, I should have expressed myself more clearly.
I also did not intend to insult any Chinese members of our online community. I don't dislike Chinese people and believe it or not I have a high appreciation for many aspects of Chinese culture. I apologize if I offended you.
That said, there are some things about Chinese manufacturing practices that are not just my opinion; they are fact. I am not saying these things to pick a fight. These are not my personal beliefs, they are well known and well documented facts.
I just returned from something called IWF2008. That is the International Woodworking Fair. It is held every 2 years and is the single biggest trade show in the world for all aspects of the woodworking industry. My company was an exhibitor in the show and I spent 10 hours a day for 4 days at the show.
At an IWF show a few years back, there were an uncharacteristically large number of Chinese who attended the show. They took many many photographs of the products at the show. A year or so after this happened, a lot of manufacturers found EXACT REPLICAS of their tools appear on the market with one small difference... they had "MADE IN CHINA" on them. (country of origin must appear on all imported products). These were not subtle copies; they were straight up duplicates. In some cases, right down to the packaging and custom cases/boxes that the tools were in. Consequently, photography is no longer allowed at IWF shows.
One of the companies we distribute for, a U.S. company that makes high quality boring bits, was one of the victims of this. The owner of the company told me in person, how a customer had called her and complained that they were breaking bits left and right and were very unhappy with the product they received. She told them to send them to her and they would examine the bits and send the customer new ones. When she got the bits they appeared to be genuine right down to the custom wooden box that this set of counterbores came in. Then they found the made in China stamp and could not believe what they were looking at.
This is just one example. You can find many more with a little googling of your own if you wish. The Ipod example is not a good one because those are manufactured to Apples specifications, using products and components specified by Apple as well. That example is simply subcontracted labor.
What I am referring to is products designed (I use that term VERY loosely) and manufactured in China by Chinese companies that are knock-offs of established products. The HF rotary tool is a clear and simple knock-off of a Dremel; a tool that was designed and manufactured in Wisconsin, U.S.A. When I say that HF is buying them "by the boatload from China", I mean that quite literally. They are made with inferior (cheaper) components to inferior (cheaper) standards so that an ethically-challenged distributor (HF) can flip them to the end user at an inferior (cheaper) price. They don't care if 20-30% fail. They know that even if 20-30% fail, only a percentage of THAT percentage will actually seek restitution. They'll just ship you another one and still be ahead. Why will they still be ahead? Because of low overhead costs such as not spending a lot on marketing and advertising, buying in bulk "by the boatload" to get the cheapest possible per-unit cost, selling direct to the end user and not having to sell at a discount to retailers. Their profit margin is so good that they could probably send you 4 replacements before it actually starts to cost them money. It is simple math to them; and the math says that even with a 20-30 percent defective product rate, they're still going to make money.
Send that rotary tool back because it is clearly defective. Maybe the next one will last 10 years, but it might last 10 days as well. That's the risk you take with a $30 tool that probably cost the manufacturer less than 10 bucks to make. They are betting you'll just say "Oh well, it was only 30 bucks and it's not worth the hassle".
I'll finish the way I started; When it comes to good tools, you get what you pay for. The three biggest factors that contribute to achieving good quality results when constructing something (anything), is to use good quality tools, to use the proper tools for the application, and operator (craftsman) knowledge and skill.