EQUINE ENTHUSIAST | COLUMN
WITH BITS, QUALITY COMES WITH A COST MASS-MADE PIECES OFTEN HAVE DISTORTIONS AND POOR WELDS By Gavin Ehringer CONTRIBUTOR
T
he old saying “you get what you pay for” certainly holds true when you buy a bit. What distinguishes an off-the-shelf bit, that sells for $30 or $40, and a hand-made custom bit costing 10 times as much? The answers not only affect the look of the equipment, but everything that goes into them: The quality of materials, the craftsmanship, the fit and, most importantly, the performance. Compare bit-making to the craft of winemaking. There are vintners who produce thousands of gallons of wine in huge stainless steel vats, combining varieties into a generic product sold in a box. Then there are winemakers who look at every detail, every variable: The soil, the location, the climate and the best varieties to take advantage of them all. Each vin-
fail. In a high-production workplace, it’s tage is carefully crafted, and each bottle hard to develop high quality-control stanlovingly handled to result in a wine that dards, but you can make a product that is is vastly superior and, to the discerning very low-cost. Needless to buyer, worth the price paid. say, these mass-produced Today, most off-the-shelf products seldom perform to bits are made overseas. Cost high standards. is the main criteria in their A high end, handcrafted manufacture, so they use bit, on the other hand, adcheap varieties of steel. Parts heres to higher quality are cast or stamped, which standards. At our shop, for results in low-precision fit. instance, we use steel that To compensate, heavy welds is hand-chosen in the steelare used. These are then filed and polished to make yard to meet our specificathe bits look “finished.” But tions. Some of our steel is the same material used in look closely and you will Gavin Ehringer certified aircraft parts. see the lack of precision. When we make a bit, the Shanks that aren’t aligned, parts are machined to exact ports that are off-center, dimensions prior to assembly. This results hinges that bind on one side and are loose in a precision fit: hinges work precisely on the other are common faults. The bits and are matched on either side, and welds may lack balance, or they may simply be are uniform and strong. crafted in such a way that they break and
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Attention is paid to every detail. One of our patented trademarks is the welded dots placed along the shanks. The design has been widely copied. When we do it, we use four tiny droplets of steel to form each dot as a strong weld. Knock-off competitors use rivets that are secured in recesses. In time, their dots can fall out, giving a shoddy appearance to what should be a beautiful show bit. Is a more costly, high-end bit right for you? Certainly, one has to weigh cost against quality. Those looking for the best performance, safety and fit seem to find that the old adage, “you get what you pay for,” certainly is true with bits. In the end, the value of quality offsets the cost savings that come from an inferiorly made product. Gavin Ehringer is with Tom Balding Bits & Spurs www.tombalding.com (307) 672-8459.
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Published by News Media Corporation | SUMMER 2012
EQUINE ENTHUSIAST
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