Hand Tools and Hardware
SIC 3423, 3425, 3429
NAICS 332212, 332213, 332510
The hand tool industry manufactures tools for metalworking, woodworking, and general maintenance. Among the many tools produced by companies in this category are axes, drill bits, blow torches, c-clamps, hammers, hand clamps, handsaws, glass cutters, chisels, files, spades, can openers, garden hand tools, hay forks, machetes, screwdrivers, hatchets, jewelers' hand tools, mallets, saw blades, wrenches, trowels, and yardsticks.
Despite its low profile and mature markets, the hand tools and hardware industry has been one of the most consistently successful industries in the world. Less susceptible to recessions and economic fluctuations than many other industries, toolmakers achieved steady growth throughout the 1990s. However, the economic climate of the early 2000s challenged the industry, leading to plant closures and layoffs. By 2003, for example, Snap-on Inc. had closed two of its four manufacturing plants, which had both been in operation for more than 65 years. The outlook for the industry appeared brighter heading into the mid-2000s. As economic conditions improved, so did the demand for hand tools, prompting leaders like The Stanley Works to increase hiring.
Following two successful decades, The Stanley Works remained the industry leader during the early and mid-2000s. This leadership position was built from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, when the company saw its sales more than double. Other leading tool manufacturers included Snap-on Inc., Cooper Tools Inc., and Blount International Inc. The industry's key customers include carpenters, mechanics, jewelers, farmers, and innumerable do-it-yourselfers. Even when recessions caused slowdowns in the construction or industrial equipment industries, hand tools and hardware manufacturers continued to perform well due to increased demand by consumers who want to save money by making repairs and other tasks themselves.
While many of its products are considered low-tech, the industry itself is highly automated and employs state-of-the-art materials and technologies in its factories. Research has focused on improving the quality, durability, and usability of the many different tools produced. Foreign innovations are eagerly adopted and continual efforts are made to improve the precision of tools and customize them to suit the traditions and preferences of different markets. Beginning midway through the 1990s and continuing into the mid-2000s, technological advances included ergonomic tools designed to prevent injuries from using tools and "smart" tools to perform tasks more precisely than their conventional counterparts.
The hand and edge tool industry manufactures basic hand tools and implements for domestic use and for professional mechanics and carpenters. Held in the hand and powered by the person using them, hand tools are distinguished from power tools and machine tools.
The long tradition of hand tool manufacturing in most countries means that different countries or regions have developed tools that often look and work quite differently from those used elsewhere. While European and North American tools are generally very similar, differences do exist. The French, for example, prefer levels shaped liked elongated trapezoids. Central Europeans use pliers to pull out bent nails so they do not need hammers with claws. The differences between Western and Asian tools, however, are much more marked. Japan's well-established tool industry produces tools whose details and overall design are often quite different from anything in use in North America and Europe. While most Japanese tools are produced using sophisticated industrial processes, many traditional forms remain. Many of these tools are well received in other countries, where their quality, versatility, and efficiency attract many professional carpenters and mechanics. U.S. companies such as Stanley Works imported some of these tools and in some cases began manufacturing them themselves.
According to figures compiled by the United Nations, Germany is the world's leading exporter of precision tools (including hand tools, power tools, tools for machine tools, grinding tools, molds, and measuring instruments), followed by Japan, the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, and China. Taiwan is also a leading exporter of low-cost base-metal hand tools such as pliers and wrenches. Other prominent manufacturers of basic tools and implements can be found in Israel, Turkey, Malaysia, and Australia.
As in many other industries, the resources required for investments in automation and other production technologies increasingly have pushed the industry toward greater consolidation. Economies of scale, increased efficiency, and precision are as important in this industry as in any other. The evolution of global trading patterns and increasing competition from low-wage producers has made it essential that production costs be kept to a minimum—something that could only be achieved by increasing automation in factories. Only in Japan, where the tradition of handcrafted tools has been strong, have artisans and small producers been able to hold onto their market niche.
The products manufactured by saw blade and handsaw manufacturers come in all varieties and styles. What all saws have in common is a serrated edge or a perimeter with a series of sharp, usually V-shaped teeth, each of which removes a small piece from the material being cut. Wood saws are designed to cut with or across the grain of the wood. Ripsaws, also designed to cut with the grain, have teeth that work like chisels, chipping out pieces of wood. Crosscut saws are designed to cut cleanly through wood fibers, while backsaws feature numerous, tiny teeth for use in joinery work. Dovetail saws are similar to backsaws, but are smaller and used for very fine cuts. Other saws such as compass, keyhole, and coping saws are designed to cut curves. The most common metal-cutting handsaw is the hacksaw. Circular saw blades are used in power saws for cutting lumber and boards to size. Chain saws consist of a continuous toothed chain and are used to cut down trees and cut logs. Other types of saw blades include tree-pruning saws and flooring saws.
As with hand tools, the style and design of saw blades and handsaws differs around the world. Asian—particularly Japanese—saws feature some unique innovations. The main difference is that Japanese saws are designed to cut when pulled, allowing them to be very thin and light. Less force is required to use these saws and their harder teeth keep them sharper longer. Their main disadvantage is they can be broken easily if handled carelessly. The double-edged "Ryoba" saw—which combines a ripping-tooth pattern on one side with a cross-cut tooth pattern on the other—proves especially popular because it cuts on both the pull stroke and the push stroke. First imported to the United States by Stanley Works, double-toothed saws grew so popular that the company eventually began making them too.
Japan is also one of the leading exporters of saw blades, shipping about 15 percent of total production to overseas markets. Fifty-five percent of Japanese exports go to Southeast Asia and another 27 percent to North America. Japanese analysts expected to increase their shipments to Southeast Asia as countries in the region developed their own lumber industries.
Hand tools and saws are as old as humankind itself; their development not only marked the beginning of human technology, but it also launched humanity on a journey that is still unfolding. While wood, bones, and antlers were all shaped into specialized implements, the fundamental element throughout this period was stone. Stone provided the hard edge necessary to shape other materials and to process plants and animals for eating. The three most important properties that stones and minerals required for use as tools were hardness, brittleness, and homogeneity. These properties ensured that the stone was strong enough to be a useful tool, while still being easy to chip or fracture into the desired shape. Humans proved remarkably adept at finding and exploiting stones with these properties—flint, quartz, and obsidian were among the most widely used.
As humans moved from stone to metals, tools became increasingly diverse, efficient, and specialized. Individuals no longer hammered out tools for their own use (although there is evidence that such specialization...
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