Incidentally, I sometimes wonder how safe (compared to today's standards) the really old Australian-made blades were, i.e. back in the 1960s? I believe Southern Cross manufactured their own blades for instance in the Toowoomba Foundry. I suspect that by today's standards they would not be up to scratch.
I'd reckon that those old blades would be very comparable to modern ones.
Even though they may have been produced by artisanal methods rather than today's automated, tightly controlled processes, the characteristics of the materials used [most probably plain carbon steels] were very well understood then, as was the heat treatment of these steels.
The Chinese do have standards too. Some companies are better than others. I recently purchased some brand name blades with Australian specs. labelled "Made in China".
The problem is that, if left to their own devices, the Chinese have an innate cultural tendency to 'cheap out' by cutting corners in manufacturing. External quality control is the only successful solution to this problem, thus far, from the experience of many firms that have contracted out their manufacturing to Chinese factories...
