Chainsaws didn't gain immediate popularity in fire service because the chains tended to get dull when material other than wood was encountered. Captain Martin Bullard, a former machinist and officer of the Los Angeles City Fire Department's Heavy Utility Company, took the first step toward solving this problem in 1956 by attaching a piece of carbide to a chainsaw chain cutter. This was not an easy task, but ten years later Bullard was issued a U.S. patent for his attachment method. Bullard's patented chain stayed sharp longer, but unfortunately the carbide was prone to breakage and was quite expensive.

In 1984, Tom Ruzich, a California forest ranger and firefighter, developed a carbide-tipped chain that stayed sharp when cutting most building materials and suffered substantially less carbide breakage than Bullard's chain. Ruzich's improved chain made using a chainsaw with a carbide tipped chain cost-effective, and, in 1985, Cutters Edge was founded to manufacture that chain.

As the popularity of the Cutters Edge carbide chain grew, it became apparent that the improved chain was only part of the solution and that a dedicated "Fire Rescue Saw" was needed to withstand the demands of the harsh fireground environment.

 

In 1987, Cutters Edge introduced the first chainsaw engineered specifically for the fire service with features like Ram-Air Induction, One-Step Starting, and Two-Stage External Air Filters. In 1992, the D8 Guard/Depth Gauge® was introduced. The D8 was the first safety device that both protected the operator from the cutting chain and allowed the depth of cut to be set so that no structural members were cut.

 

In 1993, Cutters Edge developed the BULLET Chain. The BULLET Chain was the first, and is still the only, chain that does not use a modified standard wood cutting chain with carbide attached to it. Built from the ground up specifically for fire rescue cutting, the BULLET cutter's unique design and "filing action" revolutionized fire rescue cutting. The BULLET Chain is the first chain to receive a patent since Captain Bullard's original patent in 1966. It has received patents in 17 countries and is the most widely used carbide chain in the world. View Bullet Chain Service sheet.

 

In 1998, Cutters Edge introduced the first gasoline-powered concrete-cutting chainsaw. With the development of the CE101C Concrete Saw, which utilizes a unique water lubrication system and diamond chain, Cutters Edge once again broke new ground in the use of chainsaws in the fire service, giving first responders a lighter alternative to hydraulic concrete chainsaws.

 

 

 

Cutters Edge is universally recognized around the world as the benchmark for ventilation saws, fire rescue saws, and cutting chain. We remain committed to our goal of providing only the highest quality products that are safe, effective, and reliable.

For many years, customers had said they wanted the legendary Cutters Edge performance and reliability in a rotary-style saw. In 2003, after years of research and development, Cutters Edge introduced their first rotary saw. It is the first rotary saw in the fire industry to feature a hemi-head piston and compensating carburetor, and is also the only saw on the market with a 2.87:1 transmission gear ratio, which produces a greater mechanical advantage over the cutting workload at any RPM than any other rotary saw.

The CE735R comes standard with the Black STAR Diamond Rescue Blade. This revolutionary blade cuts all materials: concrete, steel, metal, brick, aluminum, even wood. For the first time in the fire service industry, Cutters Edge used a vacuum brazing process to attach the diamonds to the blade, instead of the typical electroplating process. The result is a blade which lasts up to 100 times longer than a standard rotary blade.