"jt august" > wrote in message
...
| In article >,
| "pavane" > wrote:
|
| > Mine is about 10 years old and is USA made. I just rinse it in water after
| > use, dabbing it with a sponge if the opening proves messy. But I can
| > see the China origin as being an issue, however, I believe all OXO stuff
| > is made in China. Who knows, my feeling would be that if you can find
| > a Made in USA Swingaway you should grab it.
|
| I'm not trying to pass judgement about Made in China in general, but I
| know what has changed in Swing-Away can openers now that they are china
| made. A cheaper grade of stainless that can corrode, looser tolerances
| that can allow shafts to float too much, matter to wedge into places it
| shouldn't which leads to abnormal pressures and causes abnormal wear and
| play, and the gap between the drive gear wheel and the blade can vary to
| where either the two are too close together, and you have to force the
| can opener into the engage position, or too far apart, and the grip
| isn't right and the can doesn't turn. Due to sloppy tolerances, these
| newer units tear themselves apart quickly sometimes, other times they
| last and last, but the consistency people expect isn't there any more.
| It was about six years ago that the owner passed away, and it was less
| than a year after that the widow sold company, and the new owners
| quickly moved production. The old owner had operated for years with his
| suppliers, including Jack Steuby, the owner of the company I worked for,
| with simple hand shakes. With no contracts in place, it was a chaos the
| new owners wanted cleaned quickly. And their new policies lead to the
| old suppliers asking higher prices, so the newbies took the supply side
| overseas. The cheapened production has lead to a poor quality can
| opener. Based on comments I have head in the last three years, I will
| stick with pre-2003 made Swing-Aways only. And I am satisfied with the
| 1997 made unit I have.

I appreciate the information, and as you am very sorry to hear this.