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mauvehaustoday at 8:38 PM1 replyview on HN

If you can quote spindle runout, you know perfectly well that there's no meaningful IP in this market segment. That would have been achievable by any number of manufacturers a hundred years ago.

It's a pure manufacturing cost play to make something precise enough, rigid enough, and light enough[0] while being inexpensive enough for the market segment it's aimed at.

Is it a bummer that a US manufacturer went out of business trying to make money at that play? Yes. Is there anything nefarious going on with IP theft? Absolutely not.

[0] This is being sold to customers who don't hire riggers to move their machines.


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firesteelraintoday at 9:00 PM

how does a small US manufacturer compete when a foreign producer can duplicate 70–80% of the functional product at a fraction of the cost?

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