ChompSaw, Kid-safe cardboard cutter in Canada

An oscillating tool inside a metal safety guard nibbles out tiny half-moon pieces of cardboard at high speed, rather like a precision hole punch. There is no exposed blade and nothing spins, and the offcuts collect automatically in the tray.

It is rated for ages 3 and up. The Maker Bundle, which adds precision tools, is recommended from age 8.

Yes. It has been independently tested to Canadian CCPSA toy safety requirements for ages 3 and up, alongside the equivalent standards in the US, UK, EU and Australia.

It is designed for cardboard up to about 3 mm. Chompshop says it also works with most materials thinner and softer than that, such as felt, fabric and craft foam, but their testing focused on cardboard, so results on other materials are not guaranteed.

About 70 to 75 decibels, roughly the volume of a household vacuum.

The published lesson plans are written for one ChompSaw per five students, so five machines suit a class of 25. Fewer machines also work if you run the cutting as a station and rotate groups through it.

Stick to cardboard, cardstock, paper, felt and thin craft foam. Do not feed it foam board, wood or MDF, metal, plastic or acrylic, thick foam, or cardboard that is heavily glued or taped, since cutting through tape or glue gums up the mechanism. Thick double-wall cardboard goes through more easily if you flatten it first with the included scoring tool.

A blinking white light means the offcut drawer is not seated. Take it out and push it back in until it sits flush, because the cutter will not run without it. A blinking red light means the saw has overheated. Remove the drawer, leave the power on so the fan can cool it, and wait a few minutes. A solid red light means the motor has stalled. Switch off, ease the material out and start again, and contact us if it keeps happening.

Chompshop rates the ChompSaw at 70 to 75 decibels, about as loud as a household vacuum, and recommends ear protection for sound-sensitive children. In a classroom, follow your school's own procedures for tools and noise. Ear muffs are not included.

The ChompSaw itself, with its 100 to 120 V power supply stored under the lid, plus the hole punch tool for starting a cut in the middle of a sheet and the scoring tool for folds and for packing down thick cardboard. Every buyer also gets access to Chompshop's free Learning Hub of projects and video tutorials.

Yes. Chompshop pitched the ChompSaw on Shark Tank season 16, in the episode that aired on November 15, 2024, and agreed a deal on air with Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner: US$250,000 for 15 percent of the company. The business is still run by its founders, Kausi Raman and Max Liechty, and iDesign 365 is an authorized Canadian reseller.

At iDesign 365 the ChompSaw with hole punch and scoring tool is CA$339 and the Maker Bundle with the table accessories and workbook is CA$409, both in Canadian dollars and shipped from Canada, so there is no duty or exchange surprise at the door. Prices on this page are live.

Reviewers on chompshop.com rate it 4.9 out of 5 across 221 reviews, and it holds Creative Toy of the Year 2026 and a place on the TIME Best Inventions 2025 list. The common thread in the reviews is that kids do the cutting themselves under supervision, so an adult with a craft knife is no longer the bottleneck. It makes the most sense for kids and classes that build with cardboard often; for an occasional project, manual cardboard tools may be enough.

Yes. We ship from Ontario to every province, priced in Canadian dollars with no import duty or brokerage; tax and shipping are shown at checkout. Items marked backorder ship when the next stock arrives. Schools and boards can order by purchase order or ask us for a quote on class sets.

Yes. It is rated for ages 3 and up, which makes it safe for kids, but teachers, librarians and adult makers use it for prototyping, costume work and display builds. It cuts the same cardboard up to about 3 mm for anyone.

They complement each other. The ChompSaw is a powered cutter; Makedo makes manual tools, including a small Safe-Saw for cutting and screws for connecting pieces. Most classrooms cut with the ChompSaw and join with Makedo. The Maker PLUS bundle includes both, with the Makedo INVENT kit in the box.

Start with the nine classroom lesson plans and 38 printable files on this page, then the Chompshop Learning Hub of projects and video tutorials that comes with every purchase. The project ideas list above covers the builds families and classes make most.

Yes. The included hole punch tool makes an opening anywhere on the sheet, and the ChompSaw cuts outward from there. That is how kids cut eye holes in masks and windows in forts.

Both. The manufacturer writes it ChompSaw as one word, and many people search for Chomp Saw as two words. Either way it is the same kid-safe cardboard cutter, made by Chomp Shop and sold in Canada by iDesign 365.