In reply to David (Normandy) ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

I finally remembered to buy a new bow-saw last week. My old one, a
Stanley I think (can't tell because the brand name wore off years
ago) is quite blunt and I've never seen any replacement blades to fit
it here. I could only find bow-saws for sale that were labelled "made
in China" so reluctantly bought one.

Frankly I wish I hadn't. Using it today for the first time, found it
was impossible do a straight cut with. Half way into a two inch
elder-flower branch and it is cutting at 90 degrees to where it
started! Comparing it with my old blunt saw, the Chinese blade was
really thin in comparison. No wonder it was so awful. In fact the
brand-new Chinese made saw is so bad it has ended up in the dustbin!

If I still lived in the UK I'd have taken it back to the shop and
demanded my money back on the grounds that it wasn't fit for purpose.
Unfortunately here I'm not so sure of my customer rights and lack the
amount of French necessary for a good argument! I'll be reluctant to
buy tools from that shop again (Mitchigan) and treat labels saying
"Made in China" as saying "Don't buy this it's crap!"

I sympathise. I have bought four of those modern fancy wine openers and
three have completely disintegrated [1]. They are made of a little-known
element, Ch (Cheese) which is common among Chinese-made goods. It is
designed to destroy itself within about six months of purchase. I am fed up
with taking the skin off my knuckles when tools break.

I think the only way forward is to buy quality stuff (if such a thing still
exists) but sadly, we don't seem to make much any more. We are merely the
call centre an service industry for the emerging nations.

One thing which may be of help - our local "tip" recycles gardening tools,
at £1 each. There are some rather good, though old, things in there. It's
amazing what people throw aaway - and presumably replace with a brand new
shiny one which is sure to fall apart :-) I get all mine from there now,
sometimes it's worth replacing the handle (which means buying another tool
for £1 with a good handle!). So good for the dustbinmen, who put the money
towards a Christmas beer.

[1] the fourth one is a "Screwpull", made by Le Crueset (probably spelt
wrongly?) and is guaranteed for ten years against defective material and
workmanship, and I don't think Le Crueset will go broke. It is a work of
art, heavy, a pleasure to use, and I am embarrassed by how much it cost so
I'm not saying.