# AMT hand tools quality



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Anyone have any experience with AMT hand tools? I just googled and found the acronym is is for *A*merican *M*achine *T*ool made in China. If they are so proud of their product, why not call it *C*hina *M*achine *T*ool?


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

Dope! Will avoid.


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## Mickit (Feb 6, 2010)

Chicago , and Pittsburgh seem to have moved to China as well…take a walk through Harbor Fright!


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## Toolz (Feb 26, 2008)

Had an AMT power carver…beefier than a Foredom…worked extremely well for many years. Sold it after I bought my Master-carver. I also have an AMT carvers vice…round plate about 8" in diameter that can be fixed to an adjustable ball joint. The whole thing can be mounted to a workbench…or in my case to a hefty stump of oak. Again it is simple, well made and beefy and takes a lot of punishment. AMT products are like Harbor Freight stuff…a lot of junk but some real gems as well.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

AMT I believe was an American company. I had some of their tools 30 years. I wonder if they just outsource the MFG or if its now a foreign company.

Some of the history.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Too bad they take these American names and trash them. I have noticed lately that someone has started making junk in China and labeling it with the long defunct, but trusted Herters name ;-(( Seems like this is more and more getting to be a game of bait and switch trying to fool the consumer.


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## dkirtley (Mar 11, 2010)

Well, it is kind of moot. They have been gone from the woodworking tools scene for many years.

I bought a few of their products in the past. Their knock off Stanley 95 was pretty nice. Some of their stuff was good, some was junk.

Just to dump a little fuel on the fire though….

My take on it is that it is partly the companies fault but also our own policies and priorities have moved many of these companies' production offshore. It is not just the money to the workers. When you are moving products out in large quantities, a few $100 extra per container for US wages vs. third world wages, it doesn't make that much difference. It has more to do with factors such as our society not being interested in manufacturing and skilled labor along with OSHA and EPA regulations. It also has to do with products that are not bought enough by the general public to make large scale production profitable. The audience here on this forum is not the general population. Most people in the US don't know how to make anything nor are they interested in buying tools beyond what it takes to put together something from Ikea or Walmart. They would rather sit in front of their television and watch the latest "reality" show.

If it were not for some of these Chinese and Indian factories, many things would no be available for any price. There are a few boutique manufacturers that have started making some tools again in the last few years (Like Lie-Neilson and Lee Valley) and a few old time makers who have held on in Europe and Asia where they had enough customers to get by. The only way that Lie-Nielson was able to make planes was to make their own foundry. They don't have enough volume to interest a US foundry in their business. The few US manufacturing companies left are not even interested in making anything for general consumption. Why make ten $1000 dollar consumer grade saws when they can make one high production $10,000 saw with less material, labor, and customer support?

I bought a dozen hollows and rounds from China on Ebay that including shipping, cost $140. A new half-set of hollows and rounds made here in the US comes to a bit under $3,500. Yes, the US made planes are nicer. For 25 times the price, they better be.

One extra fact: Most of the US manufacturing companies are not really US companies any more anyway. They are multi-national corporations that have production all over the world. They claim to be US companies only when it suits them and they can talk communities into giving them millions of dollars to move production to their town and then move on when the next community throws money at them.

I'll stop with one more pet peeve: I prefer the honesty of Grizzly and Harbor Freight selling a Chinese saw as a Chinese made saw than Delta or Sears selling the same saw for more money because they are cashing in on their "American" name.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

*David Kirtley*

I agree 100% on buying Chinese junk at HF for pennies rather than at a big box for many dollars if that is all that is available. At least they are selling at fair price for the product ;-)

What are hollows and round?


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## dkirtley (Mar 11, 2010)

Hollows and rounds are planes that make moldings. They come in pairs of convex and concave profiles that you use in combination to make more complex moldings. More for one off type production instead of having a fancy profile made as one tool. You can also use them to make things like a bullnose on a board or a match joint (like a table leaf).

Mostly stuff people do with shapers and routers now.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Thanks, I'm interested in keeping the old way alive and well ;-)) Too much common knowledge has been lost because it was common knowledge so it did not need to be written down, but we don't do it any more ;-(( You wil probably post more stuff I find of interest.


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

Yes it is sad to see all the old proud names become brands that are sold to investors and then making ******************** labeled with a good name until it has been destroyed (Stanley).
I think it is called greed or officially growth… and the excuse is that the consumer wants it.
Now you know why I like to buy vintage.
Best thoughts,
Mads


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

The consumer wants it is just another lie like nearly every word out of a corporate pig's mouth. Can you tell I have owned shares in too many different companies in my IRSs ;-)) Still getting class action notices from the crap Merrill Lynch had us in a decade ago ;-((


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

;-)


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

nothin pisses me off more than our government allowing ALL of our manufacturing jobs go overseas. THAT is messed up! Those companies that did move just keep gettin richer. It's rediculous.


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## brtech (May 26, 2010)

Although our government is complicit in allowing the decline in manufacturing, the fault lies with the companies who value profits more than people, and with us, the consumers, who value price over quality and people. We would rather pay $50 less so some farmer's kid in China can build our tools for $.35/hour, rather than pay an american worker a decent wage, with decent automation, to make it here.

Sure, the tax incentives are wrong, but it's mostly our fault for letting the manufacturers do this to us.


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## Mickit (Feb 6, 2010)

I'll take a stab at this. I worked for Porter Cable for a number of years. First and foremost…the company's responsibility is to the shareholders and investors. That runs contrary to our(the consumers) belief that the companies exist to provide us with a decent product at a fair price. It simply isn't so. Every corporation, whether they make tools, cars, or left-handed smoke shifters, is in the business of making money, plain and simple. We the consumers have hastened the demise of American(sorry Cannucks)Industry by demanding Cadillac quality at Pinto prices. It simply cannot happen, so some quality gets cut, but to make up the difference…you guessed it…labor costs must be cut.
I guess the point of my rant is that we are all at fault, not just the Evil Corporate Executives
I know from whence I speak…I lost my job with PC shortly after Black and Decker bout them from Pentair(the corporation most responsible for the downfall of the Porter Cable Brand, and Delta as well).


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## Ecruz (Aug 18, 2014)

Question for someone who knows about these tools. I have a wooden box with a set of 10 AMT woodworking tools with wooden handles. They are in excellent shape. They were my dads. He is no longer around to ask about them so I'm reaching out to people who know about them to tell me about them and maybe find out how much they are worth. I have no use for them but have kept them for the last 10 years. Looking to find someone who could use them and enjoy them.


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## Ecruz (Aug 18, 2014)

I didn't know I could post a pic - these ones DO NOT say made in china anywhere like ice been reading others do


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