“The yield curve remains inverted, and inflation remains stubbornly high,” he noted. “The commercial aircraft sector is in a challenging period. Automobile manufacturers have become increasingly concerned about the direction of the EV market. Elections are approaching, and consumer sentiment is volatile.

“After some declines in orders to end the fourth quarter of 2023, the U.S. cutting tool industry has seen rebounds in monthly orders and growth in shipments to begin the first quarter of 2024,” according to Steve Boyer, president of USCTI.

Cutting-tool purchases are a marker of overall manufacturing activity because those purchases reflect production across a range of manufacturing market segments served by machining operations. Data in the report summarizes purchases by companies participating in the CTMR program who comprise the majority of the U.S. market for cutting tools – whose customers are contract machine shops (job shops) and OEMs for whom cutting tools are significant consumable. Their demand for cutting tools closely matches U.S. durable goods shipments as a measure of production activity.

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Designed in 1989, Casio's iconic F-91W is an affordable digital watch with a long-lasting battery. Millions of units were sold and they're still being produced today, with a retail price of under $20.

Unfortunately, like the Toyota Hilux the F-91W became ensnared with images of terrorism. Following the 9/11 attacks, when Al-Qaeda members were captured and shipped off to Guantanamo Bay, a staff training document from the facility warned of a connection between the ubiquitous watch model and its use in bombmaking. The watch's appearance was used, often unfairly, as evidence of guilt. (There's much press on this, but this Guardian article on the subject is a good place to start.)

In a critical indicator of the strength of industrial activity, U.S. machine shops and other manufacturers ordered $214.6 million worth of cutting tools during February, +4.9% more than during January and +9.0% more than during February 2023. The two-month order volume for 2024 is $419.1 million, +6.5% above the total for January-February 2023.

In an effort to return the object to its former innocence, Magee launched his Reworks project. "The Reworks came from wondering what a more positive appropriation of the watch could be like."

Everede Tools Co. president Bret Tayne noted that the February increase in cutting-tool sales happened against a backdrop of “unease and uncertainty in the general economy”.

“It will be interesting to see if the cutting tool industry can maintain momentum over the next several months,” according to Tayne, suggesting some uncertainty of his own.

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The figures are drawn from the monthly Cutting Tool Market Report, compiled by the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute and AMT - the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology.

The F-91W "was associated with nefarious practices on both sides," writes industrial designer Finn Magee, "serving as a bomb timer circuit for insurgents and as a criteria for rendition by western forces."

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Interesting way of 'viewing' it. However, for me, being a long time supporter of Casio watches, I'll be very conscious of wearing a 'reverse' watch - and in doing so that's no longer a Casio.  Anyway, design is also a form of expression, very personal to the individual, very subjective.

“Inflation continues to add some apprehension for upcoming quarters, but the industry continues to positively show growth even if that pattern is of uneven growth,” Boyer added.