The ChompSaw: A benchtop power tool that's safe for kids to use

https://www.core77.com/posts/137602/The-ChompSaw-A-Benchtop-Power-Tool-Thats-Safe-for-Kids-to-Use

by surprisetalk • 1 year ago

298 208 1 year ago

jakedata2• 1 year ago

Looks a lot like my glass grinder. Nice idea but only cuts cardboard and $249 is crazy expensive.

d--b2• 1 year ago

uh? We used to have a jig or scroll saw when we were kids, it could cut thin plywood, but you could put your finger on the blade when it was working and it wouldn't hurt at all.

jakedata2• 1 year ago

Unlike the woodburning tool...

floxy2• 1 year ago

The scroll saw seems like about the safest power saw that a kid could use. But every one I've ever owned/used could definitely cut human flesh. Maybe someone could come up with one that has a very limited range of motion, so that it works like a cast saw / oscillatory multi-tool, where the teeth movement is so small that it is within the elastic range of your skin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx1AiQdMQro

whartung• 1 year ago

Back in the day, I had a Mattel Power Shop. https://corporate.mattel.com/brand-portfolio/power-shop

It had was a combined jig saw, lathe, drill press, and disc sander.

Now, I don’t know much about modern scroll saws, but the “blade” on this thing was more like a thin, round file. Perfectly adequate for something like popsicle stick thick wood. It more ground it’s way through wood than actually cutting it.

I think it would take some pressure to really hurt a finger. I can say there was no real bloodletting on my projects.

The drill bits were pointed, flat pieces of metal. It was all designed for really soft wood.

xyzzy1232• 1 year ago

This includes what you asked for: https://4in1workshop.com

There are 4 tools and one is a finger-safe jigsaw.

d--b2• 1 year ago

Yes I think it worked like that. I can’t find any info on it though, this was back in the mid 1980s.

alwa• 1 year ago

Yes—startling, but not catastrophic. I first used something like that at age 6. It probably COULD cut flesh if you really tried, but it would take some determination, and just the specter of damage was enough to keep me on good behavior.

I remember it as helping me develop a healthy respect for tools, and also to relate to the material world as something I can manipulate rather than something to be passively consumed. And to manage risks, and confront my fears.

ethan_smith• 1 year ago

Scroll saws operate at 400-1800 strokes per minute with metal teeth that can absolutely cause serious injury - please don't test this safety assumption with children.

stirfish2• 1 year ago

I think I know what they're talking about; I had a wood lathe that ran on D batteries, and I think there was a saw version too.

bradly5• 1 year ago

Scroll saws, unlike more common woodworking power tools (table saw, bandsaw, router, joiner, planer), is one of the only tools that touching the blade does not typically cause an injury.

bradly5• 1 year ago

My kids (8, 10, 12) have all used my scrollsaw with supervision without issue. Jigsaw is a bit more sketchy and reminds me of most the injuries I've seen in the shop around handheld router after the cut is complete. My lathe is the kids favorite tool to be honest.

WillAdams12• 1 year ago

Yeah, I am trying to re-arrange my house so that I can make and store and set up and use a spring pole lathe (bodge for the Brits) --- seems a nice fit for kids (and great exercise!).

wmeredith• 1 year ago

This is very cool. The price point puts it beyond the toy category though. Maybe that will come down. Great idea.

Aachen• 1 year ago

250$ for anyone else wondering

Ariarule• 1 year ago

This could be "bad, actually" if it gives an incorrect impression that power tools are unequivocally safe, rather than somewhat risky but usually safe when used correctly.

bigstrat2003• 1 year ago

You're right, but one presumably would still teach kids to treat this tool with respect. And given that, it seems safer to me as this won't hurt them when they get careless (as kids are wont to do). That way you get a chance to reinforce the safety lesson before they graduate to the dangerous stuff.

stirfish2• 1 year ago

I'm finding that a lot of parenting is teaching my kid that safety is something you have to do, and risks are something you have to look for and understand. For example, brushing your teeth is usually safe, but you shouldn't brush your teeth at a dead sprint down the stairs.

taitems• 1 year ago

Not sure why you've been downvoted so heavily. That seems like a misuse of the downvote purpose.

But yes, I kind of agree with other commenters here in that maybe teaching absolute respect of a knife/table saw/power tool and its power to maim is a really important lesson that this sidesteps?

sonofhans• 1 year ago

It’s basically a tabletop router for cardboard. That’s super cool. The free motion in two dimensions is better than what kids usually get with toy saws and drills.

Routers are great tools but very powerful and finicky. This turns a router into a finger-safe jigsaw, which is a great idea.

Doxin4• 1 year ago

It's not quite free motion in two dimensions. The mechanism is a nibbler, not a router. I.e. you can do 90 degree turns just fine, but you can't go sideways. You need to turn the cardboard to make a turn.

fnordian_slip• 1 year ago

If anyone in here buys it anyway, they could test if it works with leather, too. That would open up a lot of additional projects.

AlotOfReading• 1 year ago

I suspect you could probably work with pretty heavy leather, since the 3mm cardboard it's designed for is going to be pretty comparable to 5-6oz.The bed size might be too small for typical panel sizes though.

Animats• 1 year ago

That thing would be useful for cutting leather to a pattern. Jigsaws just move the leather up and down, leather is too flexible for routers, scissors don't work well on thick materials, and knife work takes a lot of skill.

Karliss2• 1 year ago

For similar price you can get a metal nibbler. Which is a handheld powertool designed for cutting metal sheets using a similar mechanism. They should definitely have more than enough power for leather although the cleanness of cuts will depend on sharpness and tolerance of blades. You might want to also look into electric shears.

WillAdams12• 1 year ago

Neat!

Would make a nice pairing with:

https://www.make.do/

which is sold by Lee Valley: https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/home/toys-and-games/cra... (an excellent company to do business with).

A prototype of this was on Reddit/Imgur a while back:

https://old.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/9en02z/kids_table_saw/

with instructions on making one w/ a parts list at:

https://imgur.com/a/kids-table-saw-2cg0HJB

tomcam• 1 year ago

that looks awesome. thanks for the link

lotophage• 1 year ago

I have the makedo and the screws are legit amazing. I never imagined that they could possibly work so well. It's one of those things I always recommend to other parents.

The very real downside is that your kids become attached to their creations. So you end up with a house perpetually full of cardboard and fighting a constant battle to part with some of it.

itronitron• 1 year ago

In one of my art history classes we learned of a Bauhaus (or Dada?) artist that would stack their old belongings into the corners of their apartment and then plaster over it in order to reduce the clutter in their home. Might be worth trying out.

yojo• 1 year ago

FWIW, my kids never took to the screws, but are still ridiculously attached to their creations.

I strive to be open and honest in my parenting, but these battles just don’t seem worth everyone’s investment. A box spaceship that hasn’t been touched in a week is quietly “disappeared” to the basement, and if it’s not inquired after by the end of a month it goes to recycling.

hi_hi• 1 year ago

Thanks for introducing me to this. I hadn't previously considered there was a range of tools for kids to work with cardboard. It makes perfect sense.

I'm excited to try some of these with my kid. Paired with the Microbit and bag of various motors, LEDs and sensors, she can really start expanding her projects and imagination. I love it.

WillAdams12• 1 year ago

I really wish that Nintendo had teamed w/ these folks for Nintendo Labo.

grues-dinner2• 1 year ago

I like the little tools, and actually the price for them isn't so bad (8 pounds, but if on a budget, that kind of saw is on AliExpress for 1 euro).

The price for the little plastic screws seems a bit nuts though (40p/unit), but I understand it's a razors-and-blades sales model. When I was in primary school, we used those brass split pin fasteners (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_fastener) for the same thing. You can even buy metal two-piece "mother and child" rivets 1/4 that price: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/316963279193, but they need a punch and driving it with a nice safe plectrum-style tool is maybe a little fiddlier. Blunt-ended plastic drywall screw-in fittings are also very similar and run about 5-10p each in boxes of 100.

There seems like a limited age range where a "Scru" is OK but a split pin is not (I know I used them at school almost immediately, and I started at the age of 4). The scrus get tighter, I suppose.

citizenpaul2• 1 year ago

it's a razors-and-blades sales model

Nah bro, its a rich people with too much money to notice cash grab all the way down. Those plastic screws are pennies per hundred to make. The tools themselves. Well you can get a 35 piece pumpkin carving set on amazon for what appears to be similar or better quality at <$15USD if you go adjacent to the source on Aliexpress the same toolset is <$3 USD or even <$1

In fact I'm pretty sure you could just use the most of the pumpkin tools on cardboard, the blunted kid safe ones. They are also meant to be not cut skin.

danfunk• 1 year ago

I help run a Makerspace, will definitely be looking into this. Great idea. I know many adults that should start out on such a tool!

ghysznje• 1 year ago

If it's for cutting cardboard, why not just use a pair of scissors?

crazygringo• 1 year ago

Have you tried using scissors to cut corrugated cardboard? Especially trying to cut curves? The difficulty seems self-evident.

For straight lines you need something like a box cutter -- with scissors it will neither be easy nor particularly straight. While for even medium-sized curves or smaller details you really do need something like this.

hinkley2• 1 year ago

It’s possible but tricky. For grownups. Kids will bork the scissors or get a cramp.

bilsbie• 1 year ago

I wanted this but the price seems way high.

By the way, could this concept be scaled up to cut wood?

marssaxman• 1 year ago

Indeed it can:

https://www.rockler.com/power-tools/routers/router-tables/ro...

WillAdams12• 1 year ago

Alternately, have a robot control the motion?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNC_router

coderjames2• 1 year ago

the price seems way high.

How much is your child's finger worth?

I'm looking at getting a SawStop table saw so I can teach my child woodworking with slightly more peace-of-mind that if something goes wrong, they'll be less likely to lose one or more fingers. Kids get distracted, they forget what rules you've taught them in the past, accidents happen.

This is also a tool I'll consider purchasing to provide my child an introduction to the concepts before graduating to the bigger, louder, stronger wood saws.

starwatch• 1 year ago

There's an interesting planet money podcast[0] about SawStop and why it's not a bigger thing in the world. TLDR: the big power tool companies didn't want to pay to licence the tech, so evidently came to some mutual agreement to ignore it as a feature to save customer fingers.

[0] https://www.npr.org/2024/10/11/nx-s1-5135668/planet-money-wh...

WillAdams12• 1 year ago

Or skip the power tools to begin?

I use a:

https://bridgecitytools.com/products/jmpv2-jointmaker-pro

and have worked with a number of kids to make small projects using it (and hand saws/drills/yankee screwdrivers/braces/planes)

Their Chopstick Master is a great introduction.

hatthew• 1 year ago

Is anyone else bothered by hyperspecific products like this? 95% of what it does can also be done by scissors for 5% of the price and 10x the lifespan.

tptacek3• 1 year ago

Not at all; you've missed the point. Everyone knows you can cut a box with scissors. The point is that you can't cut a board with scissors. This is a basic woodworking skill, and I think it's great if you can come up with a way to safely get kids accustomed to what those tools can do.

michaelt• 1 year ago

Are there all that many parents who want to teach their kid woodworking, but can't use the classic teaching method of taking them to the workshop and handing them a coping saw under careful supervision?

I mean, I'm sure there's a handful of parents who value woodworking skills but do no woodworking themselves - but are there enough to support a whole product category of $250 cardboard tools?

Retr0id2• 1 year ago

Cutting cardboard in straight lines with scissors is easy, but cutting convex curves other shapes is really not, especially if you want to avoid bending it and collapsing the corrugation. Personally I use a knife, but obviously that isn't suitable for very young kids (not hugely safe for me either lol, I almost cut the end of my thumb off not too long ago...)

parpfish• 1 year ago

If convex curves are too hard, just make a concave curve and keep the other side.

istjohn• 1 year ago

Convex curves can be approximated by a series of straight cuts tangent to the desired arc. It's concave curves that are difficult.

jamestimmins• 1 year ago

I like it from the standpoint of kids not being afraid of power tools. Plenty of adults would never do woodworking because the tools seem too scary. Teaching kids that power tools don't need to be scary as long as they're used safely is a worthwhile output on its own IMO.

mathiaspoint• 1 year ago

You don't need power tools for most of woodworking anyway. That's a ridiculous excuse to avoid it. I've built furniture and framed buildings almost entirely with hand tools.

daedrdev• 1 year ago

I feel like you want to teach that they are dangerous and can be used safely when careful. A woodworker I know almost cut their finger clean off despite having years of experience.

gerdesj4• 1 year ago

"Teaching kids that power tools don't need to be scary as long as they're used safely is a worthwhile output on its own IMO."

True but real safety first thinking is not something that a purchasing decision will fix.

I have a scar on one of my fingers that was caused by a broken broom! How bloody naff is that but it bled like buggery and a 1" flap of finger flapped for a while and needed stitches at A&E (for Americans - that's where you pop in and a few hours later pop out, all patched up without a credit card being involved).

I wasn't wearing gloves. I am a first aider, H&S rep for my company (my company - I care about my troops) and so on. I was sweeping my drive with a broom with a hollow metal tube handle and it partially snapped and hinged and caught my finger and partially sliced a lump. Oh and I am the fire officer and even my house has a multi page fire plan.

I own a plethora of torture devices - a table saw, multiple chain saws, chisels and the rest. I have skied for four decades and drive a car/van/lorry.

Safety first thinking doesn't mean that you escape all of life's efforts to kill you but you do get a better chance of avoiding damage.

A power tool that promises safety might be missplaced. However, this one does not missrepresent itself. It does what it does and it does it well.

For me, I will be digging out the hand cranked jigsaw when I show the grand kids how to chop off their fingers: A fret saw. However that thing looks like a great introduction to dealing with power tools.

WillAdams12• 1 year ago

The best advice I ever got re: power tools from an old shop teacher was that before throwing the switch and powering up a machine, to count to 10 on one's fingers under one's breath while reviewing every aspect of the planned operation, and all the forces involved, reminding oneself that one wants to be able to repeat the count in the same way after the switch is turned off.

That said, I think it's best to maintain a healthy respect for, and even to a reasonable degree to be afraid of the machines and the forces which they can exert.

drewcoo2• 1 year ago

the tools seem too scary

They are too scary.

Consider table saws. SawStop built its brand on not cutting fingers off, which is scary enough. But it turns out that kickback causes a lot more injuries and that's not really addressed well by any tools.

https://www.sawstop.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulvP8Vv9SrE

There ought to be a market for MEs to design power tools that are safer for consumers. So where is the obviously-named "KickStop" table saw? Maybe the decline in the middle class makes that market too small to consider such improvements.

hammyhavoc3• 1 year ago

The first step to respecting power tools or firearms is fearing what they can do when mishandled.

ordu2• 1 year ago

I like it from the standpoint of kids not being afraid of power tools.

I'm personally cultivating my fear for power tools. I consciously work on it so I wouldn't get used to them and wouldn't stop being afraid. Fear makes me more attentive, more careful, it forces me to think first and to do next. To stop myself when things go not as planned and think again. It is almost impossible to distract me while I'm cutting wood or whatever I'm doing with a power tool. I'm afraid of the tool, I wouldn't let my attention to switch from it while it is powered.

It is funny, that psychologists believe that fears is a bad thing that must be eliminated. At least all I've talked about fears believed in that. But fears are good, they come with a danger detector included, and they are hard to ignore.

Teaching kids that power tools don't need to be scary as long as they're used safely is a worthwhile output on its own IMO.

I believe, that either "to use safely" or "not scary". There is no middle ground. Though it maybe just my own way to the safety, maybe others know other ways.

Plenty of adults would never do woodworking because the tools seem too scary.

The fears that stop you from doing are probably bad, but from the other hand, before using power tools you'd better learn how to do it safely. I learned all of them from experienced people, who demonstrated me how to do it properly, watched me and explained me what I'm doing wrong. So, maybe, they are right.

hooverd2• 1 year ago

You should maintain a healthy fear of power tools. They're like big cats. You can be familiar, but never get too comfortable.

preinheimer• 1 year ago

It is not easy for children to cut cardboard with scissors. I'd say that remains true at least until age 10. Some younger may be able to manage a small amount of cutting but would get tired quickly.

I volunteer with scouts, kids aged 5-8. We ran a cardboard based activity with the makedo stuff. We tried to supplement with scissors, they were not effective.

dylan6043• 1 year ago

Also, scissors tend to crush cardboard at the cut. This looks like it is not doing that.

GuB-42• 1 year ago

Cutting thick cardboard with scissors is a good way to hurt yourself.

You need some strength and a sharp blade to cut cardboard with scissors, for a child, it can mean going full force. And the more strength you use, the less control you have, increasing the chance of hurting yourself. That's also the reason why dull knives are considered dangerous. Scissors are for paper, not cardboard.

This tool looks much more controllable, which means it is safer, even before considering the intrinsic safety of the mechanism, more precise, and more fun to use.

mmastrac• 1 year ago

I remember the feeling of bruising my joints with scissors as a kid.

2muchcoffeeman• 1 year ago

The problem with this kind of thinking is that it doesn’t take into account how annoying other methods can be. Or how tools open up possibilities.

I can beat 10 egg whites by hand. I’ve done it several times. But it sucks. A handheld electric beater is fairly cheap and way better. You know what’s even better? A stand mixer that cost several hundred dollars.

Is it worth it? If you bake a lot it’s worth it.

This biggest problem with this kids toy is that it’s for kids and cost ~$250. It’s really an adult toy or something for the classroom.

If it was half the price, I’d pick one up, have bit of fun and on sell it or donate to other families.

xdennis• 1 year ago

Agreed. It's like that old Russia-America joke. When they go to space they find out pens don't work because of gravity. Americans spend millions developing a pen which works without gravity while the Russians use a pencil.

I don't like Russians, but it's so stereotypically American to over-engineer a complicated alternative to scissors.

Marazan• 1 year ago

And just like the old joke your are missing important practicalities.

Pencils in space were terrible. Small chunks of carbon absorber of and getting in electrics was bad. Pens were a huge improvement.

Likewise I can't only presume you haven't ever cut large quantities of corrugated cardboard with scissors or ever seen a child struggle with the task. This device looks to be a massive utility increase for cardboard cutting for children.

bluGill5• 1 year ago

It wasn't the Americans who spent millions. It was a single American: Paul C. Fisher who spent it own money because he thought Astronauts should have a good pen to use in space. His pen was so much better than the pencils used by both the Americans and Russians that both immediately switched to using his pens.

cjbgkagh3• 1 year ago

I’m pretty sure a nibbler will not wear out anywhere as quickly as scissors.

It can allow young children to work independently so you’d have to factor in cost of supervision with the scissors.

Main problem with it is that it is more expensive than many real nibblers designed to cut steel, I guess for now that it is niche and designed for classroom use. Mass market it and I think it could easily come down to $50.

conductr3• 1 year ago

Not at all bothered by this, this is very unique. Scissor skills are important but more so for paper which has limitations versus cardboard. I use a lot of power tools and my kid watches me kind of bored, unable to participate. I could easily see him feeling like we were 'working together' if I had one of these setup in my shop. He also likes to create all kinds of stuff and I'd be interested to see what he'd come up with.

But, what does bother me is the price, $250 seems steep.

modeless2• 1 year ago

For the price you could get five of these cardboard cutting tool kits. https://www.make.do/products/makedo-discover

tptacek3• 1 year ago

If the only goal you have is cutting cardboard there are obviously more cost-effective ways to do that.

modeless2• 1 year ago

But these specific tools are similar in that they can't cut skin so they are completely safe for kids, and can make curved shapes in cardboard relatively easily (more easily than scissors at least).

felixgallo2• 1 year ago

I was a little worried in the video by the kid wearing a sleeve. Seems like that could get sucked up into the mechanism pretty quick.

analog31• 1 year ago

I'm a pretty OK machinist, but not a professional. My reaction is to think about long / loose hair, long sleeves and loose clothing, and (unlikely for kids) neckties. Those would be of concern for any open blade cutting machine, grinder, etc.

Dylan16807• 1 year ago

Will an oscillating cutter suck up much of anything?

felixgallo2• 1 year ago

https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detai...

petesergeant• 1 year ago

In the product video they address this concern, and literally show kids covering it with their hair while it's on, and say it's safe

solatic• 1 year ago

Yeah, if they're going to market this as kid-safe, they need to have videos of what happens when child-size fingers are intentionally fed into the machine, when hair is intentionally fed into the machine, etc.

Almost by definition, you cannot presume (as a product designer) that children will be capable of thinking of their own safety; which is not the same as a parent who knows their child, making the decision to expose their child to developmentally-appropriate risk

Karliss2• 1 year ago

they need to have videos

The video demonstrating exactly that is pretty much the only thing on the linked page beside few pictures and less than 1 paragraph of text.

SirMaster• 1 year ago

How? It's oscillating, not spinning.

Like a cast saw or an electric toothbrush.

wingmanjd• 1 year ago

My wife bought one of these. First one arrived was dead on arrival, but the second works great!

throwaway889900• 1 year ago

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather teach how to use a knife safely? And a cut from a blade is a lesson to be learned, hopefully only once.

Edit: Oh and if anyone's looking for the tool name, it's called a nibbler. This one is just table-mounted, there are power tool and unpowered versions ofc.

viraptor• 1 year ago

And a cut from a blade is a lesson to be learned, hopefully only once.

A cut from a simple blade (that can't chop your finger off) can be anything from easily healed to going through just the right part to limit the dexterity for life if you're unlucky. There's lots of time to learn using a sharp knife when they have great fine motor skills already.

rtkwe3• 1 year ago

You can introduce this way before you can trust a kid with a knife sharp enough to cut cardboard and they can use it way more independently.

conductr3• 1 year ago

Exactly, you're basically telling them you can't build stuff until you're 8+. Which coincidentally is around the age they'd lose interest

fhub• 1 year ago

My five year old played with this quite a bit at Maker Faire last year. He picked it up quite well. I had it in my mind to get him one for his next birthday but forgot until I saw this post. His school has Makedo tools and he likes them. So the combination might be something that he'd use on a semi-regular basis. We have no shortage of "material" being delivered.

conception• 1 year ago

Got one of these yesterday that was on sale for prime day. They are super fun!

IAmBroom6• 1 year ago

How much sale?

dylan6043• 1 year ago

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

In my area, this type of waste is not accepted in the recycling. Just like you can put paper in recycle, but you can't put shredded paper. This would work pretty well in the compost pile though.

Wingman4l7• 1 year ago

Yeah, this is 100% wish-cycling -- and honestly, the total amount of shavings you'd be throwing away after using this device heavily wouldn't even amount to a single small cardboard box.

dylan6043• 1 year ago

I took out my comment calling it wish-cycling propaganda as a selling point, and decided to be less cynical. Anytime I see that kind of obvious play on the recycling heart string as a selling point just makes me throw up a little and roll my eyes all at the same time. The marketing department just goes overboard and nobody calls them on it

jasonpeacock• 1 year ago

I’ve got one, my 3yr old loves it and uses it with supervision to make large pieces of cardboard into smaller pieces…

A warning, it’s a bit loud, definitely invest in kid’s hearing protection to wear when using it.

sheiyei• 1 year ago

For $250, it was not worth it even before you told that.

grues-dinner2• 1 year ago

For 250 dollars I'd expect a motor you can barely hear, not one that needs hearing protection! And at least a partly alloy case.

Proxxon is a fairly pricy German mini-tool brand, has a far smaller addressable market (i.e. serious miniature hobbyists) and can still sell you a made-in-Europe MP 400 Micro Shaper, a mini router table, with 10 cutters, for about 200. The manual says it's 104dBA, but this video indicates it's actually fairly quiet in practice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpmzqvHqQM0

WillAdams12• 1 year ago

Even so, hearing loss is irreversible --- best to begin a life-long habit of wearing PPE with this tool.

hinterlands• 1 year ago

The article starts by dismissing scrollsaws as "pretty darn dangerous", but that's a pretty big stretch. They're less dangerous than a sharp kitchen knife. You want to talk to your kids and watch them closely the first couple of times they use it, but you'd be hard-pressed to find any accounts of serious injuries caused by scrollsaws.

This toy doesn't seem bad as a crafts tool that buys you several quiet weekends, but at $250... that's actually more than a miniature desktop scrollsaw (Proxxon 37088).

bityard2• 1 year ago

I don't have direct experience with a scroll saw but I own (well, made) a bandsaw and it's my favorite power tool. There's a lot you can do with it but more importantly, it's incredibly safe: The blade stays in one place and will never jump out at you or throw your workpiece into your abdomen. If you let your mind wander, you might end up with a cut on your finger. But that's about it. It's pretty much impossible to lose your finger to a bandsaw unless you have permanent nerve damage or are doing your woodworking on meth.

MadnessASAP• 1 year ago

You've never seen the blade of a bandsaw break? Throwing the blade at you is definitely one of the bandsaws failure modes.

Doxin4• 1 year ago

If you let your mind wander, you might end up with a cut on your finger.

If you let your mind wander you might lob off a finger before the pain signal reaches your brain. Band saws are safe in that they are largely unlikely to do anything unexpected. They are very dangerous in that they seem so safe.

No one is going to messing around with a table saw. The danger is obvious. It's very tempting to be unsafe around a band saw since it seems so safe.

If you want to see some scary stuff go look up how bandsaws are used in slaughterhouses. They'll use them to lob a whole cow in half in under a second. Now imagine what it'll do to a finger while you're looking the other way.

incanus77• 1 year ago

I saw a classmate push a bandsaw right up between two fingers in eighth grade shop, watching the workpiece and not their hand.

drewcoo2• 1 year ago

less dangerous than a sharp kitchen knife

Which is less dangerous than a dull kitchen knife.

https://yakushiknives.com/blogs/yakushi-blog-all-thing-knive...

phyzome• 1 year ago

I've been cut way more often and more seriously with sharp knives than with dull knives.

Everyone says this thing but I suspect it isn't true at all.

hammyhavoc3• 1 year ago

watch them closely the first couple of times they use it

How about every time?

xyzzy1232• 1 year ago

Depends on the child and the activity right?

Personally I often prefer to introduce new activities just at the point where I'd feel comfortable leaving them unsupervised (once they've learned it).

A major goal of parenting is to guide your children to independence. This is a sort of negotiation between you, reality and the child. While it can be heartbreaking when they come to you with injuries, you can't watch them all the time (and it's not healthy to try).

If you introduce an activity "too early" such that you always have to supervise, it has some advantages for child but can quickly become a drain on you (they want to do that $thing again but you have other stuff to do) and they feel less independent because they always need your help to do it.

What our family looks out for a lot is "cliff edges". This is where an activity or situation has a high / unreasonable risk vs benefit, and the harm happens quickly and is surprising. These require special attention. Once kids know where the "cliff edges" are they can explore more safely.

Cthulhu_• 1 year ago

That would be overbearing and cost you a lot of time. Kids want to do things on their own, they would lose interest if there's someone looming over them all the time.

citizenpaul2• 1 year ago

Yeah I thought it was really cool until I saw the price. Its a toy and costs more than most real tools. I cant help but think everything is a cash grab aimed at the rich nowdays. Maybe it really does cost that much but all I see is some plastic and a <$5 wholesale motor.

cap11235• 1 year ago

And its cutting cardboard. When I was 12, I used an XActo blade for that, and they are definitely under $10. I don't know exactly prices now because I buy hundred packs of craft blades for like 20. This "product" is silly.

Hnrobert42• 1 year ago

This thing is so much fun. My friend's children have one. I was like, "Get the heck out of the way kid. This thing is mine now!"

hinkley2• 1 year ago

Everyone has dust collection in their wood shops now because wood dust is a Class 1 carcinogen.

jstanley• 1 year ago

The nibblings are collected in a bin below, allowing ...

...the child to spread them all around the house!

jeffrallen• 1 year ago

My kids just take paring knives from the kitchen when they want to cut cardboard. More dangerous, but cheaper. Though they've probably destroyed $250 of knives... Hmm.

sebstefan• 1 year ago

an oscillating cutter that's safely tucked beneath a puck-like protrusion

If it's an oscillation cutter it doesn't need to be that tiny, it can protrude just like a real band saw, it won't cut meat

0x445442• 1 year ago

I want one!

lupusreal• 1 year ago

A small oscillating scroll saw is pretty safe for kids, I used one a lot when I was a kid. Of course it's not impossible to hurt yourself with one, but losing a finger is quite unlikely. Very different animal than a handheld jigsaw, those still spook me (and aren't very good anyway, IMHO)

amelius• 1 year ago

Can it do more than cardboard? Can it saw through plywood? Then it could replace the jigsaw.

IAmBroom6• 1 year ago

Cool!

When I was a tyke I had a powertool set that worked on 1/8-inch balsa wood (not easy to find!). It was powered with a 12V radio battery, and Could Not cut fingers. There was a drill (spade bit, so it sucked), a circular saw, and another tool I have forgotten.

Pulled it out decades later for my niece to play with.

This, however, has more input material than 1/8th inch balsa. And thus, more outputs possible.

WillAdams12• 1 year ago

1/8" balsa was sold in hobby shops for making airplane wings and model rocket fins.

knowitnone• 1 year ago

a pair of scissors costs $10

adolph• 1 year ago

What is the purpose of a "power tool" that cuts cardboard? Is it for kids with dexterity challenges? Ex: blunt safety scissors to difficult

mbonnet• 1 year ago

Light injuries from misused tool is an important lesson I will not deny my children.

shermantanktop2• 1 year ago

I'm still experiencing that lesson decades later from a finger nerve which was knicked by a pocket knife at 8yo. I'd be okay with denying my kid self that lesson.

tines• 1 year ago

Nice, lingerie ads! Just what I want to see on my kids power tool website.

nickpeterson• 1 year ago

Heads up, I’ve found the tools don’t work well on lingerie.

kevin_thibedeau• 1 year ago

This needs a movable fence to maintain straight lines.

shermantanktop2• 1 year ago

This is one of those rare marketing videos where kids using the product look like they are actually enjoying themselves, and not acting fake-excited.

Maybe they are great actors....or maybe I'm projecting because I wish i had one of these when I was a kid.

cicloid• 1 year ago

I was one of the backers who got his money back because they “discovered” very late in the process that selling to Mexico was not worth it. I only got a small discount If I wanted to get a regular order in the US.

Bit disappointed and had to handle the expectations of my kid, that was super excited about this for Christmas. It seems TMEC/NAFTA is worthless if even small entrepreneurs discover is very difficult to sell across Mexico and Canada. But decidedly they see less value in selling to Mexico to pass similar (in theory) regulatory hurdles to Canada. The same story with Kiwico, Lovevery, etc.

Even considered building something like this, but I don’t have time.

Honestly, I feel like people just underestimate the market size because of the language barriers.

The ChompSaw: A benchtop power tool that's safe for kids to use

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