CHINESE KNOCK-OFFS HURT THE ENGRAVING ART
I have taught 5-string banjo for many years and have had many students come through the door with poorly made Chinese instruments. They are not made by musicians, but are mass produced by factories that know nothing of how an instrument should be be made. The end product has incorrect string spacing, high action, bad neck adjustment, and the list goes on. These instruments are non responsive and extremely difficult to play. The student suffers with sore fingers and is robbed of the joy of learning to play a musical instrument, and soon abandons it altogether. Musical instruments don’t have to be expensive, but they do have to be built correctly. And it’s not just banjos. It’s guitars and other instruments as well.
The same thing can be said of knock-off engraving systems from China. They are made by companies that know nothing of the hand engraving process. They have no passion for the art. Only a passion for the quick dollar. They reverse engineer and make lookalikes as cheaply as possible without regard to the end user. It’s all about them. Not us.
These machines and handpieces lack the smoothness and precision that are required for proper engraving. Some who buy them fiddle with them and attempt to improve performance, but they never achieve results like properly engineered tools that are built to exacting tolerances.
Like those who purchase badly made musical instruments, they are robbed of the joy of engraving as they struggle with engraving systems that lack the sensitivity and responsiveness of equipment that is built to extremely tight tolerances by people who CARE about the quality of work their equipment produces and the people who use it.
If you can’t afford good tools, save your money until you can. Don’t fall into their trap as it’s money down the drain.
I have taught 5-string banjo for many years and have had many students come through the door with poorly made Chinese instruments. They are not made by musicians, but are mass produced by factories that know nothing of how an instrument should be be made. The end product has incorrect string spacing, high action, bad neck adjustment, and the list goes on. These instruments are non responsive and extremely difficult to play. The student suffers with sore fingers and is robbed of the joy of learning to play a musical instrument, and soon abandons it altogether. Musical instruments don’t have to be expensive, but they do have to be built correctly. And it’s not just banjos. It’s guitars and other instruments as well.
The same thing can be said of knock-off engraving systems from China. They are made by companies that know nothing of the hand engraving process. They have no passion for the art. Only a passion for the quick dollar. They reverse engineer and make lookalikes as cheaply as possible without regard to the end user. It’s all about them. Not us.
These machines and handpieces lack the smoothness and precision that are required for proper engraving. Some who buy them fiddle with them and attempt to improve performance, but they never achieve results like properly engineered tools that are built to exacting tolerances.
Like those who purchase badly made musical instruments, they are robbed of the joy of engraving as they struggle with engraving systems that lack the sensitivity and responsiveness of equipment that is built to extremely tight tolerances by people who CARE about the quality of work their equipment produces and the people who use it.
If you can’t afford good tools, save your money until you can. Don’t fall into their trap as it’s money down the drain.