Cool and damp, becoming warm and damp. Yesterday was another wet and dreary day that got nice by the end of the day. Today, it would be great to skip right to the “nice” part. Probably isn’t going to happen though.
Did my pickup after working with my buddy for a while. We’re tearing down a giant 3D printer, original cost about $300K, and it’s a beast. Solid steel plates 3/4″ thick. Solid aluminum 1″ thick. A framework made from doubled 80/20 aluminum extrusion, with additional steel bracketry. Every component is top of the line and heavy duty. A beast. They don’t make them like that anymore.
Lots of things aren’t made well anymore. The chinese disregard for intellectual property rights, safety, and quality, along with other factors, has driven a real race for the bottom. Some of it was driven by financial “engineering” in the US and EU, offshoring, cheap labor elsewhere, lax standards, and a willingness to base every decision on “cost”. But without a supplier willing to provide the cr@p, you wouldn’t have the result we have today, where it’s difficult to find good, when bad drives it from the marketplace. Thankfully, the chinese have not taken over the world yet, and we still have alternatives.
Consider quality in your preps. Longevity, repairability, durability. A chinese red dot sight might give you some extra capability for a while, but it’ll be nothing but an inert lump when you need it most. Cheap tools that break are a similar false economy. If you must buy cr@p, upgrade it as soon as you can. Or you’ll regret it later.
Stack some quality today. There are ways to get it at cr@p prices. (used mainly, but also in the ‘secondary’ economy I’ve been writing about for years.) You won’t regret having solid stuff when you are relying on it.
nick
(sorry this is late, I fell asleep in the chair at my desk and didn’t get it up until this morning.)