Premier Industrial Knife Manufacturers and Blade Solutions
At Fisher Barton, we have a division dedicated to producing cutting solutions for industrial applications. Zenith Cutter® provides the engineered blades and knives your production environment requires. We innovate with the highest-quality materials and state-of-the-art manufacturing to deliver solutions that give you a performance advantage in your industry. From raw material selection to final honing and packaging, we handle every step of the manufacturing process, ensuring reliable quality in your industrial machine knives.
Specialized Cutting Solutions for Critical Industries
Our deep knowledge of cutting and high-wear components enables us to better serve you. We can also seamlessly transition our expertise across verticals, so blades precisely fit their tasks. Here are a few sectors we serve and some examples of the types of solutions we produce.
CORRUGATED
Get the ideal cut without shortfalls like flute crush or dust accumulation. We produce a comprehensive line of products made for cutting corrugated boxes, including:
- Cut-off and rotary shear knives: Cut corrugated materials to specific sizes. We offer options with plain or serrated cutting edges, depending on your needs.
- Slotting knives: Create slots in corrugated boxes. Wolverine™ is a male slot knife we created with double the teeth and a sharper angle that enhances cutting.
- High-speed steel or carbide razor slitters: Make precise cuts with long-lasting performance. We utilize the best materials and construction in our manufacturing process for these industrial slitter blades.
- Accessories: Complete your corrugated cutting setup with brass fingers, brass strippers, collars, scoring rings, and urethane components.
We can help you make a better box through replacement parts for existing brands or specially designed components built around your operations.
CONVERTING
Cut flexible materials such as paper, foil, film, or tissue. We have cutting products built for precision in the industry. We know what it takes to address specific challenges, such as maintaining edges in paper cutting and achieving clean cuts in film.
Here are the types of converting knives we manufacture:
- Core cutters: Our heat treatment enables precise cutting of cardboard or plastic cores to particular lengths.
- Crush/score slitters: Through-hardened tool steels offer a long life for these industrial slitter knives that create score lines or sever materials.
- Dish blades: We provide standard-bore or bayonette-bore dish blades to achieve clean, burr-free cuts in more challenging materials.
- Bottom knives: Our through-hardened tool steel bottom knives are available in various configurations to meet your needs.
- Knife holders: Securely hold and position cutting knives in slitting or converting machines with holders available in multiple styles.
- Steel slitting knives: These knives are engineered to deliver consistent cuts. They provide extended knife life and dependable performance in demanding steel processing environments.
- Log saws: Log saws are engineered for precision, durability, and high‑throughput cutting in demanding industrial applications.
RECYCLING
Recycling requires toughness for processing materials like:
- Tires: We offer ultra-rugged screens for all granulator and shredder models to enhance tire recycling. These components help reduce tires to a fine, clean powder that can be reused in various applications.
- Wires: Our wire-cutting blades deliver consistent results across a range of materials, including copper wire. We utilize application-specific materials and use heat treatment to achieve maximum toughness.
- Mixed plastics: We offer standard and custom heavy-duty industrial shredder blades and granulators tailored to this industry’s needs. We also create pelletizers and screens. Our patented Shredzilla® blade is carbide-capped and designed for increased efficiency with lower maintenance and a longer life.
ROOFING
Roofing shingles have abrasive granules, making them difficult to cut. We produce knives for all types of shingles, including laminate, architectural, and strip shingles. We also offer shingle shaping knives. Our experts can customize components based on details such as granular size, filler type, fiberglass use, and web thickness.
TREE CARE
Complete brush chipping and timber processing tasks with industrial chipper knives and arborist accessories from Zenith Cutter. We offer solutions built to withstand the rigorous work and harsh environments typical in these applications. Our knives are longer-lasting and process more material faster.
Custom Development and OEM Partnerships
In addition to creating replacement blades, we can also build custom solutions based on your specifications, drawings, or samples. We can help with prototyping and testing new industrial blade designs. Once we’ve developed a component that suits your needs, we can scale production. We can also partner with original equipment manufacturers to create blades for new machinery or unique applications. Our team understands the forces at play in industrial cutting and uses that knowledge to produce the knife you need.
Our Manufacturing Capabilities
Once we’ve decided on details such as designs and materials, we can begin manufacturing your blades. We offer a U.S.-based manufacturing process to give you a more predictable supply chain. Metkraft, our Vietnam Industrial Knife division, offers additional support in Asia and worldwide.
We can complete the whole manufacturing process, including:
- Cutting: We begin by choosing the right raw material for your application. Then, we cut it into the basic blank for your knife or blade.
- Heat treating: Through carefully controlled heat treatment, we achieve the desired hardness, toughness, and other mechanical properties necessary for performance.
- Laser welding: Blades may require this step if they have multiple components or need a specialized edge welded to the base.
- Machining: Precise grinding, milling, and sharpening achieve the necessary dimensions, edge geometry, and surface finish for the blade.
- Coating: We can apply coatings to enhance wear resistance or reduce friction. We even offer proprietary coating technologies for enhanced performance.
- Packaging: Careful wrapping protects the blade against corrosion, and proper labelling enhances safety.
Incorporating Materials Science Into Parts
Superior cutting performance begins at the microstructural level. Generic steel can’t withstand the rigors of high-speed industrial abrasion. At our Technology Center, highly skilled teams leverage their metallurgical and materials engineering expertise to enhance material properties through precise heat-treatment processes. We can maximize wear resistance without sacrificing the toughness of your blades.
Bringing Experience and Quality
We entered the industrial knives market in 2011 with the acquisition of Zenith Cutter, a manufacturer with over 100 years of history. Fisher Barton has been manufacturing blades since 1973, giving us extensive expertise working with various materials and completing the manufacturing process.
Our company holds ISO 9001:2015 certification for our Quality Management System, giving you confidence in the quality of every blade we produce. Besides our high level of quality, we provide a strong commitment to every customer. We measure performance according to the results we achieve for you.
Maximize Uptime With Fisher Barton
As an industrial knife and blade manufacturer, we offer superior metallurgy and precise engineering, which provides long-term value from our industrial blades and knives. As a result, blades last longer, reduce downtime, and improve efficiency, offering a lower total cost of ownership for your essential machinery.
Speak to us about your industrial blade and knife needs. You can reach out to get a quote and get started. Otherwise, call us at 920-390-4760 or contact our team online to discuss your needs and our solutions.
