Guess where all the good compressors are made!

J

jared pittman

Guest
I had heard stories that sparmax makes Iwata compressors for them- not exactly the case. I purchased sparmax tc620x it says made in taiwan - I called coast and said if I buy power jet pro what country of manufacture- guy says taiwan compared addresses in taiwan same factory. Similar to olympos I always buy a product that is just the same as other for half or third of price.
 
But when it gets to the client namely Iwata, Badger and Paasche, they do a bit of magic their side. Although they look the same, they don't behave the same.
 
California air tools to my understanding made in china- Asia dominates everything it's crazy!
 
I doubt they do much magic to the internals though. I know my chinese pressure regulators I use leak a bit due to most likely weaker QC or them being resold rejects but they function fine with some extra added thread tape.
ABs where tolerances in measurements are very very important the lower QC is very apparent.

Easiest solution is buy a silent 5G and do it in basement, I can barely hear it upstairs with the door shut
 
Back when I was a kid Asia meant crap- nowadays they make everything IPhone=china
 
In manufacturing, there are tolerances, and while a machine may start out with the same, or similar parts, the end products(s) can be very different. I know in machine tools, many brands start out with the exact same castings in Asian factories, whether China, or Taiwan. Each customer sets their own spec's as far as tolerances for the finished product, and they range from junk all the way up to some top of the line machines. Customer "A" might specify they want +/- .010 tolerance, if a part falls out of that spec - it may be used for brand "B". To say they are the same is erroneous, as they are quite different in terms of quality, and usually final features.
 
Hmmm I have to call the title of this thread false. Being you state all good compressor ,
I have an Silentair that according to the MFG tag is made in Houston, Tx. actully have two of these on where I work and one I own at home.But both over 10 years old and still run perfect.
I also have an ingersoll rand air compressor which comes out of Ireland but the headquarters is in North Carolina . This one I have owned over 30+ years and runs everything in my shop.
And both are very respected companies .
 
If its anything like clothing labels, non brands can come from thw same factories as branded, same basic designs, but inferior fabrics, minimal material used, less detail in finish etc, etc one goes to designer store one goes to market stall, very different quality and price point. One is over priced, one is cheap but almost wear and throw away due to poor materials and production value etc. I guess its the same story for many products.
 
I really don't understand why people think that because things are made in the same factory and looks the same, must to be in fact the same.


Enviado desde mi iPad utilizando Tapatalk
 
As a machinist and past foundry worker I have to kind of disagree with Dave on this one .A lot of the difference isnt so much in the machining as much of that is done these days in CNC Mills and Lathes and its no harder for a CNC to machine to a spec of 1 thou as it is 2 thou, and seconds often just get resmelted and generally are seconds due to casting issues rather than machining, much of the difference is in the casting materials itself and of course better wearing components like rings and sleeves, stronger bolts etc etc..Used to work in a Zinc and Aluminium Diecasting factory years ago and the purity or the mixture of alloys comes into account in higher end casting compared to cheaper castings that may not include the higher cost alloys that increase hardness, thus wear and heat generation etc etc..The machining though is basically achieved by the same technology these days and tolerances on machine parts are equally as good though some may indeed go through extra processes like polishing....Their ability to resist wear is the main difference between cheap and expensive and as mentioned thats achieved through alloy differences in most cases and the components used within and of course extra aesthetic aspects.

But the best compressors are actually made on the moon by a race of giants that call themselves Umpa Lumpa's. Not only do they compress air, put some coal in em and they make diamonds and exhaust Gold..getting one next week...
 
A lot of the difference isnt so much in the machining...

Yeah, I have a background in machining as well as manufacturing as well - I chose to word the post the way I did to avoid getting into words and terms that most people would just glaze over on :).
 
As a machinist and past foundry worker I have to kind of disagree with Dave on this one .A lot of the difference isnt so much in the machining as much of that is done these days in CNC Mills and Lathes and its no harder for a CNC to machine to a spec of 1 thou as it is 2 thou, and seconds often just get resmelted and generally are seconds due to casting issues rather than machining, much of the difference is in the casting materials itself and of course better wearing components like rings and sleeves, stronger bolts etc etc..Used to work in a Zinc and Aluminium Diecasting factory years ago and the purity or the mixture of alloys comes into account in higher end casting compared to cheaper castings that may not include the higher cost alloys that increase hardness, thus wear and heat generation etc etc..The machining though is basically achieved by the same technology these days and tolerances on machine parts are equally as good though some may indeed go through extra processes like polishing....Their ability to resist wear is the main difference between cheap and expensive and as mentioned thats achieved through alloy differences in most cases and the components used within and of course extra aesthetic aspects.

But the best compressors are actually made on the moon by a race of giants that call themselves Umpa Lumpa's. Not only do they compress air, put some coal in em and they make diamonds and exhaust Gold..getting one next week...

Revel, it wont be harder for the cnc to do it, but it will take more time, and in a production line time is money, lets say that one piece take 60 sec to be manufactured in medium quality, and 65 sec in excelent quality, in an hour you will producce 3600/60 and 3600/65 that is 60 and 55 respectively, so in a 24 hours production line you will end up with 1440 and 1320 that means a diference of 120 pieces per day, 2640 in a month and 31680 pieces per year. That is a lot of lost money. I agree with you that manufacturing materials make a quality and expensive product, but tolerance in manufacturing do it too.


Enviado desde mi iPad utilizando Tapatalk
 
Um, no it doesn't Marcus. I do agree that in more expensive products you may have extra processes, thus create that extra time discussed as to why a product may be more expensive as I mentioned but not tolerance, that isn't a time issue to a CNC..I like your maths but its on assumptions that arn't correct when discussing tolerance, on processes though your maths is correct no doubt..Lets look at a single say bore chamber in a compressor..You put in in the CNC and push a big green button..Lets say 2-3 mm is left on that bore through the casting process..To create a tolerance of say 0.02 mm (about a thou) though lets assume takes 3 cuts..One cut is the roughing cut and takes 2.6 mm, the machinist would have likely programmed 2 finishing cuts of about 0.2mm each to ensure no flex in the boring bar after the heavier cut..lets say those three cuts takes the CNC 1 minute to achieve..Any tolerance within o.1 range (about 4 thou) would still only take 3 cuts though the two finishing cuts may be 0.18 mm or so instead and also be 1 minute to achieve..The feed rate would also be the same, cut size practically the same and the amount of cuts the same so no difference in the aspect of tolerance or that extra 5 seconds you mention...but to be fair, different castings/models may require more cuts, but some I think are assuming they use say that same bore chamber casting for an expensive product as they do a cheaper range but the tolerance is different.. That is purely wrong..Tolerances are created so things actually work and fit together LOL, especially in a compression chamber...

Besides quality of the alloy, internal/external parts, amount of processes or castings much of the higher costs come from the need to produce expensive tooling for a new product or range, the more processing the more tooling needs are required..When it costs 80-100,000 dollars for one die to designed and machined up for the casting (In which maybe up to 10 different dies may be produced for different parts/casting needs of the compressor) and machines to be made/set up to then machine the required processes, there can be millions invested so that cost has to be re-couped by higher costs on the product, if not you would have fixed prices and we see thats not true, as more are sold the costs come down and thats not due to it being machined any differently from one month to the next..Its because they have recouped the initial costs..

We assume things like say TV's, even airbrushes are all from the same factory but have different badges put on..They may indeed be from the same factory but each will be on a different line in that factory due to different processing needs each model may have as there will be differences in a Samsung TV compared to a Hisong TV...Not just the badge or name as many assume..Similar parts or electronic boards may be used within for sure, but some may be of better quality, better capacitors, extra features etc thus the higher pricings...Just like compressors.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the correction on the maths Marcos :) Nothing to feel bad about :(..and I do agree with what your saying, just not on the extra time taken to achieve a tolerance..No doubt each compressor model goes through different processing and in that realm would def take more time to make, thus no doubt add to cost...
 
Back
Top