Can the ChompSaw cut my kid’s fingers?

No. The cutting head oscillates inside a metal guard and takes tiny bites out of stiff material; skin flexes away instead of cutting, and nothing spins, so hair and clothing have nothing to snag on. It carries third-party safety certifications for ages 3 and up in the US (ASTM F963, CPSIA), Canada, the UK and EU (EN71, CE), and Australia.

What can it cut, and what can’t it?

Cardboard up to about 3mm thick, the height of two stacked pennies, plus softer and thinner materials like felt, fabric, and craft foam. Double-wall boxes need to be split or packed flat with the included scoring tool first. Chompshop only guarantees performance on cardboard, and anything harder is off the menu.

About 70 to 75 decibels while cutting, comparable to a household vacuum. Chompshop’s testing found it safe for kids’ ears, and the company still recommends ear protection for sound-sensitive kids. It is a daytime activity in an apartment.

For a kid who already builds, yes: the box includes the machine, hole punch, scoring tool, cutting mat, dust drawer, and a one-year warranty, and 282 Amazon buyers put it at 4.8 stars. If you are not sure the interest will stick, run a cheaper test first: a month of saved boxes, scissors, and tape. A kid still building when the tape runs out will use this machine for years.

ChompSaw – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

ChompSaw

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

Product2024

95%

WISE Score

A benchtop power tool that chews through cardboard and cannot cut a finger, for the kid whose ideas outgrew scissors.

ChompSaw

Product

2024

95%

WISE Score

A benchtop power tool that chews through cardboard and cannot cut a finger, for the kid whose ideas outgrew scissors.

Jump to

Screenwise Verdict

The ChompSaw earns its $249 the week the next big delivery box shows up. The cutting head oscillates inside a metal guard like a high-speed hole punch, chewing through cardboard, felt, and craft foam while fingertips, hair, and sleeves come away untouched. The kid who has been begging to use the box cutter gets a real tool instead of a no, and the fort, the costume, the marble run get built by the person who imagined them.

Two things to know before you order. It runs at 70 to 75 decibels, vacuum-cleaner volume, so a sound-sensitive kid will want ear protection. And it cuts material up to about 3mm thick, which covers single-wall shipping boxes; thicker board needs to be packed down with the included scoring tool first.

Age Fit

Certified safe for 3 and up in five markets, and the certification is about skin and hair, not fit. A 3-year-old cannot get hurt on it but usually needs a parent's hands to push the cardboard through. The tool starts paying off around 4 or 5, when a kid can steer a cut solo, and the sweet spot runs through middle school. Amazon's listing says 5+, which matches how most families will use it without a parent at the table. No meaningful upper limit; adults borrow it for their own projects.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Making things with your hands, often side by side with a parent or a sibling, out of boxes the house was going to throw away. The product photos are kids showing off forts and picture frames they built themselves.

Imaginative

Open-ended by design: the machine cuts what the kid can imagine, and the hole punch and scoring tool turn flat sheets into 3D builds. There is no script and no single right way to use it.

Safe

Engineered so the cutting head cannot cut skin or catch hair, and certified to ASTM F963, CPSIA, EN71, and the Canadian and Australian standards for ages 3 and up. The 70-75 dB motor noise and the corded power supply are the two real cautions.

Enriching

Fine motor control, planning, tool discipline, and design iteration in every session, which is why STEAM classrooms and makerspaces run it with groups. The learning is real but self-directed; a kid who wants steps to follow needs project plans from elsewhere.

Parent Info

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Why It Might Be Great

The safety engineering is the whole product. No blade, no spinning parts. The cutting head nibbles half-moon bites inside a metal guard, and skin flexes away instead of cutting. Chompshop's own photos show fingertips and loose hair against the running head. Third-party tested to ASTM F963 and CPSIA in the US, EN71 with CE marking in the UK and EU, plus the Canadian and Australian standards, all for ages 3 and up.
It turns the recycling pile into raw material. Every delivery box becomes armor, a diorama, a crane. The hole punch starts cuts from the middle of a sheet and the scoring tool makes clean folds, which is the difference between a crushed box and a build that stands up.
It builds the kid, not the project. Steering a cut line teaches fine motor control, planning, and tool discipline in the same session. Chompshop sells classroom bundles because STEAM programs, camps, and makerspaces run it with groups; it works the same way at a kitchen table.
The track record is unusual for a toy. A $50,000 Kickstarter goal funded in under 23 minutes in 2023, $1.17 million by the end of the campaign. Then a Shark Tank pitch in Season 16, a spot on TIME's Best Inventions list, the Toy Association's 2026 Creative Toy of the Year, and 4.8 stars across 282 Amazon ratings.

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What to Watch For

It sounds like a vacuum cleaner. 70 to 75 decibels while cutting. Chompshop recommends ear protection for sound-sensitive kids, and their own product photos show a toddler wearing ear defenders. Decide where in the house it lives before it arrives.
Nibbling makes crumbs. Every cut turns the cut line into confetti. Most of it lands in the dust drawer, some escapes, and felt and fabric shed more strays than cardboard. A session ends with a sweep.
$249 buys the tool, not the ideas. A kid who already builds will run with it. A kid who prefers kits with steps may stall after week one. Chompshop's answer is the Inventor's Club project subscription at $20 to $26 a month; the free project plans on their Learning Hub are the cheaper one.

Conversation Starters

"If we saved every box that arrives this month, what is the biggest thing we could build?"
"What should the rule be for who gets first cut on a new box?"
"The tower fell over. What changes in version two?"
"Costume you can wear, machine that does something, or a city for your toys: which one gets built first?"

Deep Dive

The first power tool you can hand a 5-year-old

Chompshop put the ChompSaw on Kickstarter in 2023 and the $50,000 goal was gone in under 23 minutes; the campaign closed above $1.17 million. Since then it has picked up a Shark Tank Season 16 pitch, a place on TIME's Best Inventions list, and the Toy Association's 2026 Creative Toy of the Year award. All of it rests on one piece of engineering: a saw that cuts cardboard and cannot cut the kid running it.

A child's hands guiding a cardboard sheet across the ChompSaw's green cutting mat, with the hole punch tool and packaging nearby Both hands stay on the material. The cutting head is the small post in the middle of the mat, ringed by a metal guard.

No blade, and no catch to the claim

The cutting head works like a hole punch running at high speed: it oscillates up and down inside a metal guard, nibbling half-moon bites out of whatever slides past. Stiff material gets eaten; skin flexes away. Chompshop's product photos make the point by resting fingertips and loose hair directly on the running head, and the third-party certifications back it: ASTM F963 and CPSIA in the US, EN71 with CE and UKCA marks in the UK and EU, CCPSA in Canada, AS/NZS ISO 8124 in Australia, all for ages 3 and up.

Four-panel product image showing fingertips touching the cutting head, hair hanging over a cut, the clear dust drawer full of shavings, and a curved cut in progress Chompshop's safety panel: fingers and hair against the running cutting head, the dust drawer, and the curved cuts the nibbling method allows.

What it does at the kitchen table

It cuts single-wall cardboard up to about 3mm thick, plus felt, fabric, and craft foam. Curves and tight corners work because the bite is tiny. The included hole punch starts a cut from the middle of a sheet, the scoring tool creases clean folds, and the drawer underneath catches most of the crumbs. Power comes from a wall outlet, 100-120V, and the motor runs at 70 to 75 decibels, which is why one of Chompshop's own product photos shows a toddler in ear defenders.

A toddler wearing ear-protection headphones using the ChompSaw on a rug, with a large open cardboard box in the background The age-3 end of the range, ear defenders included. At this age a parent's hands do the feeding; solo cutting starts closer to 5.

The kid it fits

The ChompSaw is for the kid who sees a refrigerator box as a submarine, and for the parent tired of being the bottleneck with the box cutter. It pairs well with a book like Cardboard Box Engineering, which supplies the project ideas the machine does not, and it earns a spot on any list of screen-free activities that hold a kid's attention. For the wider map of what hands-on kids can sink into, start with activities beyond screens.

It sells for $249 at chompshop.com with the hole punch, scoring tool, cutting mat, and a one-year warranty, and the same bundle is on Amazon, where pricing floats a bit higher.

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