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The Company

History of Fritz Ibach

The company Ibach was founded in 1469 by an ancestor of today´s Fritz Ibach Knife & Tooling Company. The business started with the operation of a natural water hammer in the Morsbach-valley near Remscheid in Germany, where we still are located. The company Ibach probably owned once the largest water wheel in the valley with a diameter of 7m, mounted on a 12m long oak shaft. The size and the the resulting force made it possible to forge pans, swords and scythes.

Later, a grinding device was added which made it possible to forge even heavy parts and grind them. Around 1800 the company started to develop from a pure forge to a scythe and knife manufactory.

Fritz Ibach had one of the first lathes in the district. The former lathes were still working on the principle of old sewing machines, completely manual powered by his wife

In 1886 the company owner Fritz Ibach has been enlisted in the commercial register in Cronenberg.

Patentbrief aus den USA During the upcoming industrialization, the focus of production changed towards high quality cutting tools and knives. The son of Fritz, Karl Josua Ibach manufactured the first eccentric cap check buckle for attaching frame saws. Therefore until today it is part of our company´s logo. The first tools were made and at times of the developing “Wild West”, the company also received a patent in the US for a rail-saw (see photo).

Since the 1950´s the production of industrial knives was an increasingly important part of the production and the the product range grew rapidly. In the 1960´s we started the production of knives for the hygienic paper industry, where we still are one of the leading manufactures worldwide.

Today you will find many of our produced circular blades and machine knives as original equipment mounted on many engineering companies´products all over the world. The company history and success is based on and characterized by two beliefs:

Quality and Tradition

In family companies, like our size, both are inextricably linked and thus daily inducement and an obligation.

Collage von nostaligischen Listen und Werbeprospekten