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The ChompSaw: A Benchtop Power Tool That's Safe for Kids to Use

Cuts curves, can't cut fingers

By Rain Noe - July 3

in Tools & Craft | Toy

Of all freestanding power tools, perhaps the jigsaw or scrollsaw would be the most fun for kids to use, as they allow freeform cuts. They're also pretty darn dangerous, with the jigsaw being powerful enough to remove fingers.

A much safer way to introduce kids to power tools is this ChompSaw, developed by product designers Kausi Raman and Max Liechty. The material it's designed to cut is cardboard, allowing parents to turn Amazon boxes into projects.

The tool is essentially a nibbler, using an oscillating cutter that's safely tucked beneath a puck-like protrusion, completely preventing finger contact.

The nibblings are collected in a bin below, allowing you to recycle the waste.

The ChompSaw runs $250.

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Einar Blixhavn

13 days ago

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I think I am one of the very few designers that remembers how it was, to be a child. I got my fist knife at the age of 5, and I understood the concept of "if it can cut wood, it can cut me" and I also understood that cutting me was undesirable. When it comes to a scroll saw, because I remember how it was to be 5, I would trust the average 5 year old to, at some point while cutting through his finger, make the conclusion that it is not beneficial for him to continue to do so.

This thing is a great thing for kindergartens and such, but I think grownups have a tendency of underestimatimg the ability and intelligence of children. Especially when one see what pass for an adult these days.. (tangerine man)

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- Toby B
  
  Einar Blixhavn
  
  13 days ago
  
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  Probably true - presumably though, it's less that lots of kids would be hurt by a more powerful tool, but more that a single finger lopped off in the US means a lawsuit that could bankrupt a little tool company?
  
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Michael DiTullo

13 days ago

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I've been getting ads for this on IG and I would have loved this as a kid... I'm trying to make an excuse to get one as an adult 🤣

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