Saw Blades and Handsaws

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, roughly 175 establishments operate in this category. Industry-wide employment in 2000 totaled 9,724 workers receiving a payroll of almost $344 million. Of these employees, 6,703 worked in production, putting in almost 14 million hours to earn wages of more than $196 million. Overall shipments for the industry were valued at approximately $1.293 billion in 2005.

After 2001, the U.S. Census Bureau combined the saw blades and handsaws industry with another, for the purpose of tracking employment, to form the larger category of hand tool and saw blade manufacturing. Industry-wide employment in this larger category was 44,271 workers in 2004 (down from 51,603 in 2002) receiving a payroll of $1.7 billion. Of these employees, 31,758 worked in production, putting in more than 63 million hours to earn total wages of $1 billion.

Blount International Inc. of Montgomery, Alabama, the industry leader at the time with 1998 sales of almost $832 million and 5,300 employees, merged with Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Partners II L.P. in an April 1999 consolidation worth $1.35 billion. By 2003, Blount had moved its headquarters to Portland, Oregon. Sales in 2005 totaled $756 million. Vermont American Corp. of Louisville, Kentucky held second place in the industry with sales of more than $400 million. In 1998, Vermont American implemented training and teamwork programs for its non-unionized manufacturing workers and its unionized distribution center workers, resulting in improved customer service, improved turnover of inventory, and profits surpassing corporate projections. In 2000, Robert Bosch GmbH raised its stake in Vermont American from 50 percent to 100 percent, making it a wholly owned subsidiary. Other industry leaders included Black & Decker Corp.'s Power Tools and Accessories division of Towson, Maryland; L.S. Starrett Co. of Athol, Massachusetts; and W.C.I. Outdoor Products Inc. of Nashville, Arkansas.

Blount International Inc. reported revenues of $597 million in 2008 and 3,600 employees. Throughout the past decade, Blount's revenues and employees have been on the decline. The company acquired Oregon-based saw manufacturer Carlton Holdings, Inc. in mid-2008, further strengthening its global presence since 80 percent of Carlton's revenues were derived overseas.

Shipments for the saw blades and handsaws industry fell steadily throughout the late 1990s and the early years of the first decade of the 2000s, declining from $1.32 billion in 1998 to $1.07 billion in 2001. Shipments were fairly steady thereafter, valued at nearly $1.2 billion in 2002, almost $1.1 billion in 2003, and $1.16 billion in 2004.

Traditionally, production in the saw blades and handsaws industry was centered in the New England area of the United States, paralleling the development of SIC 3421: Cutlery. The shift toward mass production techniques and away from a reliance on skilled craftsmen resulted in the establishment of the industry in heartland states. The industry tended to follow the source of cheap materials and markets, differentiating it from cutlery by its marked westward migration.
The challenge to the industry early in the twenty-first century was to maintain a high level of precision for the cutting edges and to produce new metals and composites to reduce the increasingly diverse range of hard-to-cut man-made materials. Modern blades must be able to last long periods of time, operating in unmanned, automatic-feed industrial applications.

Sales in the saw industry were tied closely to the health of such industries as steel, housing, and lumbering, which used large quantities of saw blades and handsaws. However, the strength of the housing market early in the first decade of the 2000s was not enough to offset major declines in the steel and lumber industries, which struggled with increased imports, among other things. At the same time, the saw industry itself faced increased competition from inexpensive imports throughout the late 1990s and the early years of the twenty-first century's first decade.

Current Conditions

Manufacturers strive to extend the life and performance of the blades with product introductions such as "laser blade body features, coatings and improved carbide formulations, which expand cutting to include many composite materials, synthetics and metals, while limiting noise and vibration," Jeff Griffin noted in the Electrical Contractor in November 2007, adding that "the trend continues toward specialty blades for different materials."

According to industry statistics, there were an estimated 197 manufacturers of handsaws and saw blades for hand- and power-driven saws with industry shipments valued at $258.8 million and industry-wide employment at 4,561 workers in 2008. States with the highest concentration in descending order were California, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, and Georgia. Saw blades and handsaws were manufactured at 92 facilities that constituted nearly 47 percent of the industry share, with 2,546 employees and $139.6 million in product shipments. Hand saws for metalworking or woodworking held more than 25 percent in market share with 51 facilities, 460 employees who added $28.9 million in the industry total. There were roughly 43 facilities that manufactured saw blades specifically for hand or power saws and accounted for nearly 22 percent in market share or $66.7 million in shipments. Manufacturing of saw blades (chain type) had 11 operations with 201 employees who generated $23.5 million within this classification.

U.S. demand for hand tools was projected to decline about 12 percent in 2009 with the ongoing weakened housing market. Until consumer confidence was to return within the housing market, the remodeling sector wasn't expected to perform that much better, which would further suppress hand tool demand. Retail sales of home improvement products, including hand tools, fell 11.2 percent during the first quarter of 2009. Meanwhile, the price of steel stood at roughly $854 per ton in 2008, cutting into industry profits with no news as to when steel prices would stabilize.