Fiskars

Fiskars is a centuries-old brand whose origins are found in the 17th century, when a Dutch merchant, one Pieter Thorwoste, opened a foundry at the town of Fiskars. This forge initially manufactured iron wagon wheels, nails, and similar items. The firm continued to operate at a moderate level until the 19th century Industrial Revolution occurred, when its product line blossomed into a diverse selection of housewares, steam engines, farm machines, and its famous scissors. This proved the springboard to further success. With the coming of the 21st century, the business giant transformed into a global holding company, one of whose subsidiaries is Fiskars Garden and Outdoor Living, located in Sauk City, Wisconsin. Fiskars Garden is currently the second largest seller of outdoor tools in Europe also.

Fiskars’ gardening product line is centered around its high quality reel mowers, which include many modern improvements to make them more effective than older models of muscle-powered lawnmowers. The StaySharp line brings modern materials and engineering to bear on the problem of reel mower construction. The scissors like action of these devices provides clean, crisp cuts that do not damage the grass as it is mowed shorter. The steel blades are precision-ground to avoid touching, lessening the amount of sharpening that is needed annually. Accessories include an optional grass catcher to reduce the amount of raking needed after a mowing job.

Fiskars also manufactures many other non-powered garden tools, with hardened steel blades and low-friction coating on cutting implements for easy severing of thick, hard branches. The firm’s loppers, pruners, and hedge shears make use of this technology and the PowerGear gearing system which greatly increases the force applied by the tools without raising the amount of effort needed by the user. Axes, shears, rakes, weeders, shovels and trowels, rain barrels, and composting gear are all offered by the firm as part of their wide-ranging product line.