Made in the USA

Anything and everything CNC-Shark-related

Moderators: ddw, al wolford, sbk, Bob, Kayvon

Locked
jeb2cav
Site Admin
Posts: 1524
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 7:04 pm
Location: Kentucky
Contact:

Made in the USA

Post by jeb2cav »

After doing some research with NWA - depending on the model of the Shark you've purchased, it is not only manufactured in the USA - but 85%-90% of the components were also manufactured in the USA. By all standards - truly manufactured in the USA...

4DThinker
Posts: 951
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2012 9:00 am

Re: Made in the USA

Post by 4DThinker »

OK, so what models aren't since you brought that up? I know the base and gantry plastic parts are cuts and assembled stateside. That leaves the motors, thread screws, and the controller (with older models having a stand-alone power supply. What is inside the controllers could come from anywhere, so if you know how about breaking it down. Perhaps the t-track bed parts are made overseas, eh?

jeb2cav
Site Admin
Posts: 1524
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 7:04 pm
Location: Kentucky
Contact:

Re: Made in the USA

Post by jeb2cav »

I don't know how to say it any clearer - but in conversation with Rockler and NWA, I pointed out that the sniping/shark attacks would come. NWA purchases these components because they are made in the USA - this includes things like the plastic, the metal extrusions, the electronics, etc - to the percentages stated.

What is stated about the percentages is what is meant - depending on the model you own - 85% - 90% of the components are themselves manufactured in the USA.

milo30
Posts: 553
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:21 pm

Re: Made in the USA

Post by milo30 »

It sounds like you are speaking in quantity of parts and if so that isn't the standard used by the Federal Trade Commision. It would be the percentage of cost of the parts in the manufacturing cost as well as their importance to complete the item. If for example the motors and electronics were imported, I would doubt that they would then be in the percentages stated. I'm not saying they are. The original post just sounds as if it is being based on quantity of parts.

I found this out recently researching parts that I was producing in order to make the claim " made in the USA"

jeb2cav
Site Admin
Posts: 1524
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 7:04 pm
Location: Kentucky
Contact:

Re: Made in the USA

Post by jeb2cav »

Well - I guess another thing to just remove as it just isn't worth answering questions here for some folks. I'm willing to bet that both NWA and Rockler understand what the requirements are by law or regulatory guidance when making a statement like this. So they made it. Yet, we just can't seem to get over it. I'm speaking in terms provided by Rockler and NWA. I assumed that they meet the regulatory requirements here in the US.

We have members who expect their older Sharks to be upgraded - yet I don't think we have the same expectation of Delta, DeWalt, Dell, HP, or Ford for that matter.

We have members who complain about lack or quality of documentation - yet I'm aware of at least one 'higher end' CNC manufacturer/family who doesn't field a manual with their product - and the Shark has an Owner's Manual. There are probably other CNC machine vendors in this boat.

We have members who complain about the proprietary nature of the control software and/or electronics - and complain about a price being applied to the upcoming SCP 2.0. Yet, don't mention that the SCP that comes with the Shark does get updated and bug fixed as well. Yet, a number other more expensive CNC machines also have proprietary control software. In some cases if a new version of that software comes out - whether it is proprietary or not, the end user has to pay for the upgrade (similar to VCarve or Aspire) - it just doesn't come with the 'original' purchase.

I recently spent a week in Colorado attending a workshop and I was the only Shark owner. They seemed to grasp that upgrades had a cost, and didn't seem to hold it against their manufacturer that this was the case. In their case, they had 2 different control software packages running around - the preferred one by the way was not Mach 3 - and you just couldn't bolt a new function onto your CNC machine in many cases (sound familiar?). Had a few different versions of both of the control software packages in use as again, some chose not to pay to upgrade to the 'latest'.

And none of these are 'homer comments'. I have the same list of wishes about construction, performance, etc. At the same token, I also have found I got my $4K worth - and don't have a mantra with every single post about how things suck or how this can't be true.

Locked