Quality You Can Trust – The Heritage Behind Rotatech’s Steel City Blades
When you choose Rotatech, you’re not just buying blades. You’re buying into a city, a craft, and a way of making things that’s been honed over generations. Our blades are Made in Sheffield certified – and that mark tells a story that starts long before Rotatech ever existed.
That story begins in 2002, when our Sheffield knife works was founded and began manufacturing specialist machine knives in the Steel City. Over 20 years later, that same factory, team and expertise sit behind every Rotatech blade you fit.
Forged in the Steel City
For more than 150 years, Sheffield has been known as the Steel City. From the early days of crucible steel and cutlery, through the industrial revolution and into modern engineering, Sheffield has supplied the world with metal that people trust when it really matters.
Walk through the city and you’re never far from that history:
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Old forge buildings tucked between modern workshops
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Former steelworks reborn as factories, studios and small manufacturers
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Generations of families whose skills have been passed down, toolmaker to toolmaker
Poster from old Sheffield steel company est. 1823
In 2002, our knife-making company joined that tradition, starting with a single milling machine and a handful of chipper blades, and growing into a specialist manufacturer trusted by thousands of professional users across the UK and beyond.
One of the first arb shows Rotatech attended in the early 2010s
From Cutlery to Chippers
Sheffield’s story started with cutlery, but it never stopped there. Over time, the city became known for:
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Tool steels that could take hard use in mills, factories and workshops
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Industrial knives and blades for everything from paper and plastics to timber, biomass and recycling
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Precision grinding and heat treatment that turn raw steel into serious cutting tools
Founded in 2002 specifically to manufacture machine knives and shredding parts, our Sheffield knife works sits directly in that tradition.
The same skills that once went into crafting fine knives and industrial blades now go into your Rotatech chipper blades and stump grinder teeth. It’s the same craft, applied to modern arborist work: shaping, hardening, grinding and finishing steel so it cuts cleanly and lasts longer.
What 'Made in Sheffield' Means on a Rotatech Blade
We’re proud that our blades carry official Made in Sheffield certification. That stamp isn’t handed out lightly; it’s a mark recognised worldwide as a sign that a product genuinely comes from the Steel City and reflects its standards of quality and workmanship.
On a Rotatech blade, Made in Sheffield means:
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Your blades are produced in a genuine Sheffield knife works, established in 2002 and still manufacturing in the city today
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They’re made by people who specialise in industrial and cutting tools, not generic metal parts
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Every blade reflects a heritage of steelmaking and grinding that has been built up over decades
Craftsmanship Behind the Badge
Behind each Rotatech Steel City blade is a team that treats blade-making as a craft, not just a process.
In our Sheffield workshop you’ll find:
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Modern CNC machines shaping blades to exact specifications
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Dedicated grinders giving each blade its edge and finish
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Careful heat treatment to balance toughness and hardness
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Skilled hands checking, measuring and finishing, because no machine can replace a trained eye completely
From raw steel to finished blade, every step is driven by the same question: Will this stand up to real work?
That’s Sheffield thinking.
Blade fabrication in Sheffield
Steel City Performance in the Field
All that heritage only matters if it shows up when you’re out on site. With Rotatech, it does.
Our Steel City blades are designed so arborists and tree surgeons feel the difference in day-to-day use:
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Chipper blades that hold their edge longer, chip cleaner and help your machine run smoothly
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Stump grinder teeth that bite hard and wear slowly, job after job
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Consistent quality, so the next set you order feels just like the last set you trusted
- Expert sharpening available, performed in-house at our Sheffield site
When you’re feeding brash all day or grinding stumps in tough ground, you’re leaning on more than just a piece of steel; you’re leaning on over two decades of manufacturing experience in Sheffield.
Rotatech Blades in a wood chipper
Heritage You Can Put to Work
Rotatech might look like a modern brand with easy online ordering, fast delivery, a full range of arborist products, but underneath the branding is something older and deeper:
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A company founded in 2002 in the Steel City
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A workshop where blades are still taken seriously
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A tradition of making tools that people rely on to earn their living
That’s what you’re buying when you choose Rotatech’s Steel City blades.
The Steel City, Working for You
From that first milling machine and the very first chipper blades we produced over 20 years ago, to the latest Rotatech blades shipped today, there’s a straight line of Sheffield heritage running through the metal.