"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.


Soon to be announced, the "new and improved" version of the Swing-away. At
only a slightly higher (3x) price.