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Made in America!
- Thread starter A-K
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IcyAtlantic
Well-known member
100+ years of innovation/manufacturing right there in sunny Florida. Pretty cool story.
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I have bought perko products in the past, but i guess I didn’t know they were made in USA.
I too am happy to know that Perko products are Made in American, and I support that to high-heaven!...
I just wish that they would use their American Ingenuity to make a better, more durable product. How many of you are happy with the Perko door-knob-set on your Parker Pilothouse doors? Are there any that are not corroded?...ClassicParker (and THT, Tidal Fish, Grady, Bloody Decks, etc) is full of posts about 'where do I find a replacement for my corroded, Perko hardware'.... I have boating magazines from the early 1970's with Perko advertisements in the magazines. Perko's claim-to-fame, in the ads, is boasting about a 'new-and-improved' process that they called 'Perko-Plating'. In essence, it is chrome plated zinc/zamac. (and, a low-quality 'chrome' at that... and ALL zinc/zamac is 'pot-metal'... aka, junk). I don't know of a single Perko product on any boat I have had, or seen, that has not eventually disintegrated. Sorry to say, (in my humble opinion) is that the only time a boat builders uses a Perko product, is to save money; they are not thinking 'quality'. A Perko product will 'look' ok, until the warranty runs out ☺☺.... Again, IMHO, "Perko-Plating" is where the saying came about, 'Putting Lip Stick On A Pig". In this case, 'Putting Low Quality Chrome on Zamac....
Side-Note. (Yes I know 'chrome' IS a type of stainless steel, and some 'chrome' used to be high quality. Many cars from the 1940's to ??? had high quality 'chrome'.... Have any of you been to the NC Outer Banks in the old days, and seen the countless abandoned cars there?.... The 'cars' were gone! Rusted away. All that remained were the 'chrome/ SS bumpers that looked almost as good as new.... They were solid 'chrome'... not plated, and certainly not plated zinc/zamac...
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Very true Andy. I forgot the door knob lock on my pilot house is perko. But to be fair it’s holding up better then some of my “316” hardware 
Competition is stiff now days, the Chinese can manufacture with a lot less overhead, impacting American shops. But I know I’m preaching to the choir here
My grandfather, father, mother, and other family members worked at my families tool manufacturing shop. Ultimately it went the way of the dodo bird. Hey oh well…times have changed, the elitist that run the country only want tech and service jobs for the masses.
Ok I’m ranting!
Competition is stiff now days, the Chinese can manufacture with a lot less overhead, impacting American shops. But I know I’m preaching to the choir here
My grandfather, father, mother, and other family members worked at my families tool manufacturing shop. Ultimately it went the way of the dodo bird. Hey oh well…times have changed, the elitist that run the country only want tech and service jobs for the masses.
Ok I’m ranting!
I too question if todays 316 is really 316, especially that made in China (and other questionable countries). I doubt they're using the proper 'recipe'... And the Chinese, it's well-documented how they dispose of some of their toxic waste (contaminated lead and other manufacturing waste-by-products) by mixing it into other metal products....Very true Andy. I forgot the door knob lock on my pilot house is perko. But to be fair it’s holding up better then some of my “316” hardware
Competition is stiff now days, the Chinese can manufacture with a lot less overhead, impacting American shops. But I know I’m preaching to the choir here
My grandfather, father, mother, and other family members worked at my families tool manufacturing shop. Ultimately it went the way of the dodo bird. Hey oh well…times have changed, the elitist that run the country only want tech and service jobs for the masses.
Ok I’m ranting!
BTW, nothing wrong with 'the rant'.... I'm ranting about something half the time my mouths open! ☺.
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I agree about the 316 quality. I’ve worked in shipyards almost my whole life. I’ve seen knock off 316 products from time to time. The buyer or supplier is sometimes not to blame. They buy a batch and if the company has a good QA program they will test the chemical composition. But these are typically larger companies. The smaller pleasure boat or fishing boat builders probably can’t afford such testing because they need to be competitive. At the end of the day I guess it is what is…
