The Humble Hacksaw blade

Many of us walk past the humble hacksaw blade every day.

Most of us will use more than one a year.

Few of us will actually wonder who makes them or how.

Capetonians will be proud to know that a local Epping based First Cut Factory produces around 9 Million of these blades per year under license to Eclipse.

What will make locals even more proud is that blades produced in Cape Town often surpass the quality control check standards set and done in the UK by the main license holder.

From modest beginnings as a Cape Town ‘saw doctor’ in 1956, First Cut has grown into one which employs 240 people, with management based in Johannesburg, a manufacturing facility in Cape Town and branches in Durban and Port Elizabeth.

2016 sees First Cut, a leading South African manufacturer and distributor of a range of cutting consumables and distributor of capital equipment, celebrating 60 years of supplying total cutting solutions to South African industry.

The company’s substantial product range serves the cutting requirements of the fabrication, manufacturing, renewable energy, automotive, steel, tube and pipe, maritime, timber, meat, textile and DIY sectors, among others.

First Cut also sells capital equipment to the structural steel, sheet metal, tube and pipe industries.

The First Cut Factory is situated at Number 10 Moody Avenue, Gunners Circle in Epping Industria, Cape Town.

The company is led by CEO Ian McCrystal and Managing Director, Andrew Poole.