Chinesium steel

[ronan]

I have been turning and machining for a long time now, and i never remember encountering a roke in any steel i was working on, until the last few years where i have encountered them a good few times now. Same with fabrication, i was doing some work and i knew the steel was Chinese, cutting with the grinder what was supposed to be mild steel flat, it was more like wrought iron. It cut different, sounded different when you dropped it, and there was fine black carbon dust everywhere if you cut it. Rubbish.

I was watching this last week, so its not just europe.

 

[Joe_echo]

As has been said you get what you pay for. China makes some fantastic steel, as good as some western manufacturers, but if the buyer only wants the cheapest that's what they get.

For work we buy a lot of Chinese equivalent h13 tool steel, it's rare to have any issues. Same goes for the mild steel equivalents, but we specify the quality not the price point.

 

[pedrobedro]

I used to work at a plant that made stainless steel in the 70s shipping steel to America, Japan and Germany. British steel bought it out and closed it down. It's not China de-industrialising us, at the risk of sounding political we are being turned into a banking and service industries based economy.

 

[mtt.tr]

I used to work at a plant that made stainless steel in the 70s shipping steel to America, Japan and Germany. British steel bought it out and closed it down. It's not China de-industrialising us, at the risk of sounding political we are being turned into a banking and service industries based economy.

This is a point i argue alot, we are doing ourselves! and have been since about the 50s

 

[ronan]

I used to work at a plant that made stainless steel in the 70s shipping steel to America, Japan and Germany. British steel bought it out and closed it down. It's not China de-industrialising us, at the risk of sounding political we are being turned into a banking and service industries based economy.

I doubt you can get the same number of jobs and quality of jobs from service industries though. Its companies getting greedy, relocating production to Asia, selling off their facilities for housing, its immoral.

 

[mechman]

That's ridiculous

It's not even that good.

 

[Hopefuldave]

I doubt you can get the same number of jobs and quality of jobs from service industries though. Its companies getting greedy, relocating production to Asia, selling off their facilities for housing, its immoral.

It's what happens when companies (or in our case, countries) are run by those who know the price of everything and the value of nothing: bankers and accountants by another name. Who are currently looking likely to hand our entire communications infrastructure to Huawei, very strategic thinking...

Dave H. (the other one)

 

[pressbrake1]

I used to work at a plant that made stainless steel in the 70s shipping steel to America, Japan and Germany. British steel bought it out and closed it down. It's not China de-industrialising us, at the risk of sounding political we are being turned into a banking and service industries based economy.

China have/are doing to the whole west.
For the communist party to sanction such capitalist growth there has to be more to it than just realising its a way to make China rich
I cant see any viable reason to have steel plants deliberately making crap, they’re major installations gobbling huge amounts of energy.
It’s nothing like a factory knocking out poor copies of generators etc
I reckon they’re shipping reject material without caring as its going to the west

 

[Munkul]

Can't comment on structural steel, AFAIK we've always had "british steel" from our stockholders and never any problems.

Stainless steel pipework.... if we don't specify "European sourced" in the purchase order, then it comes from China, it welds different and pitting corrosion is a much bigger issue.

 

[WorkshopChris]

I don't blame the Chinese it's our Clowns in the suites that allowed this situation to happen all down to greed.

 

[johnik]

and you wonder why their buildings fall over

 

[jimbo84]

A lot of it is profits driven but makes you wonder how much its driven by emissions targets, shut down a few steel plants and move production to another country and it'll help massively with your country's C02 targets, same as all this recycling, you look great on paper as you're recycling when really all that is happening is you're just shipping it to other countries to deal with.

 

[Munkul]

A lot of it is profits driven but makes you wonder how much its driven by emissions targets, shut down a few steel plants and move production to another country and it'll help massively with your country's C02 targets, same as all this recycling, you look great on paper as you're recycling when really all that is happening is you're just shipping it to other countries to deal with.

This is something I've argued for all along. Shame that Politics and truth have so little in common...

 

[Nick67GT]

I managed a big project for China Petroleum a few years back - the contract specifically prohibited material manufactured or procured from within PRC.

In another case, Kuwait petroleum refused to commission a gas gathering centre manufactured by the Chinese.

I wonder why ?

 

[Keith 66]

Working in a school as a technician i have to use a lot of chinese machinery & tools, some are ok but many are atrocious. We had a warco mill that actually had a big shrinkage hole in the table casting. Optimum pillar drills that the rise & fall mechanism on the table lasts for just two weeks before breaking. They send us spares & they gears appear to be made from sintered compresed swarf.
My wifes sisters husband is a very good civil engineer who made his name building bridges in the far east, he now is a partner in a company making access towers for tall buildings, he designed the towers to be made from aluminium & of neccesity is extremely thorough. The grade of alloy, welding, everything has to be spot on. After all he himself has to go up the things.
Chinese supplier drops a grade or two on the metal, it shows up on testing, they pulled them up on it & backed the whole lot. Next lot was perfect, but they still test random samples regularly & their supplier knows this.

 

[Morrisman]

I knew it would come to this...recycled toasters coming back as rams...just heart breaking as the lads that made the best steel in the world have been forced to work in Mcdonalds flipping burgers on the land where the steel was made..madness

I’m currently watching a series on TV, ‘Clydebuilt: the ships that made the commonwealth‘. HMS Hood yesterday, Cutty Sark today. It’s horrendous and sad to see how much industry and skill has disappeared since those great days.

 

[Morrisman]

Can't comment on structural steel, AFAIK we've always had "british steel" from our stockholders and never any problems.

Stainless steel pipework.... if we don't specify "European sourced" in the purchase order, then it comes from China, it welds different and pitting corrosion is a much bigger issue.

Working in the oil field we had to use certified paper trailed shackles, heavy lifting chain, bolts etc. More than a few times we received shipments that were supposedly purchased from reputable licensed American manufacturers, but they would turn out to be worthless chinesium. Somewhere in the supply chain skullduggery was at work, pockets were being lined, third world corruption was everywhere.

 

[fizzy]

I’m currently watching a series on TV, ‘Clydebuilt: the ships that made the commonwealth‘. HMS Hood yesterday, Cutty Sark today. It’s horrendous and sad to see how much industry and skill has disappeared since those great days.

You can blame the unions for that. I remember when my Dad worked in industry. He was an electrical engineers initially. He would often tell me how he would have to wait around before repairing a machine as he wasn't allowed to undo 4 screws to open a panel as it wasn't his job

 

[fizzy]

and you wonder why their buildings fall over

That is horrific - really really bad!

 

[Morrisman]

You can blame the unions for that. I remember when my Dad worked in industry. He was an electrical engineers initially. He would often tell me how he would have to wait around before repairing a machine as he wasn't allowed to undo 4 screws to open a panel as it wasn't his job

The great and famous British Empire was built on the back of the British working man, and 95% of them lived in poverty and squalor, little better than slaves. The other 5% lived in wealth and opulence.

Trade unions were formed to try and level the playing field a little, except they didn’t know quite where to stop....