🔍 Quality Control Checks ✅

Transitioning from producing 30 units to 4,000 naturally comes with a few hiccups. Here’s what we found during the production run and how we’re addressing them:

• Missing Debris Chutes: During the assembly process, we noticed that the production line was slightly imbalanced, which led to a few early units moving too quickly down the line and getting to the end without the debris chute (an important part!). To address this, we took immediate steps to balance the line and introduced additional visual and weight checks to maintain consistency.
• Noise Issues: A few units made an abnormal noise when turned on. These were set aside for inspection. We suspected some metal injection molded parts were out of spec, and added a jig that allows our assembly team to quickly check them. This hasn't been an issue since.
• Button Sensitivity: Some buttons had issues when pressed too softly, but we quickly fixed this with a tweak that won’t delay production.

📦 Delivery Details 🗒️

The first 4,000 units are scheduled to arrive at our warehouse on October 18th and will be shipped immediately to our earliest Kickstarter backers. These units are pre-packaged specifically for Kickstarter, including the hole punch and scoring tool. While this works for most backers, if you added a standalone ChompSaw without the additional tools, your shipment may be delayed until the early November batch, which will include unbundled units. Similarly, some Kickstarter add-ons may arrive in later shipments, which could cause a slight delay for those orders as well.

The next 4,000 units are expected to arrive by November 8th, and the final batch (which is what will be sent to our newest pre-order customers) by November 15th.

As you can tell, the logistics of getting everything from 3 locations (Kickstarter, Backerkit, Shopify) into our shipping partner’s system, and then coordinating shipments based on the different shipment batches we have is a little bit complicated. We are doing our best to get everything sent out in order of when they were backed, but we appreciate your patience and understanding with us during this process! But look at all of these ChompSaw units, ready to to get on the boat!

These are being shipped via an express boat from our factory to our warehouse in the USA. Once they hit the warehouse, our shipping partners will immediately start sorting and shipping them to our Kickstarter Backers. When that happens, you’ll get an update with tracking details. Be on the lookout for that!

📅 One Year Since Kickstarter! ✅

Today marks one year since we launched our campaign, and what a year it’s been! Here’s what we’ve achieved together:

• Surpassed our Kickstarter goals beyond expectation.
• Partnered with fantastic design and manufacturing teams to turn our prototype into reality.
• Spent four months in China to kick off production and learn the ins and outs of manufacturing.
• Grew from a team of two to three full-time and four part-time employees (and counting!).
• Developed 11 products, including a workbook full of techniques, project prompts, and expert interviews.
• Successfully passed kid-safety certifications and received your invaluable feedback throughout.

And we’re not stopping! We’ll be back at the Bay Area Maker Faire this October. If you’re in the area, come say hi (and test out the production units)!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support! We can’t wait to see what you all make!