I found the article that was being referenced. What stood out to me was that Paul says not to rush the manufacturing process. If the boards are heat cured they do not cure properly. One thing contract manufacturers in Asia are not known for is manufacturing slowly. Yes, I was probably making an assumption that manufacturing is taking place in Southern China. The weather in Beijing is not too different than the east coast of the US. I still would rather have my boards made in MX where it is dry. I have always like Schmidt Stix decks--especially from Alien's heyday. Here is the quote from the article:
“I made boards in China for eight or nine years, and I had no trouble making boards that were up to my standards with my wood and with my glue from the U.S. But with my levels of training and my quality standards, ultimately I couldn’t compete with what other Chinese factories were doing, and other Chinese factories couldn’t afford to copy what I do. Ultimately, in China you are going to get the level of quality you pay for. Looks can also be deceiving. I just couldn’t afford to be in business in China with my standards. ”
Management practices in factories makes things that much more unpredictable. “A lot of bad board manufacturing practices that went away in the 1990s crept back in the 2000s,” Schmitt contends. “Heat curing boards”—that is, drying the glue that holds the plies in a board together by exposing it to high heat—“is one. No legitimate board manufacturer in North America hot cures decks.”
There’s also the question of the source of the raw materials used in the Chinese factory. “I’ve seen cases of factories claiming they’re using Canadian hard maple, but then you look at their manifests and you see their wood actually comes from Vermont, which is fine by my standards. Other times they’re using Chinese maple. Just because they’re putting a maple leaf sticker on the board doesn’t mean you’re getting Canadian hard maple. They will put anything on board that they think will help sell it.”
One aspect of overseas production Schmitt doesn’t worry about, though, is the shipping conditions on the long container ship rides from Asia.