Smith Blade Designed with Makera Carvera is Now on Kickstarter

Summary

James Hobson, AKA the Hacksmith, and his team from Ontario, Canada, just launched a Kickstarter campaign for their latest product, the Smith Blade. This revolutionary multi-tool offers incredible versatility and performance for an exciting price, but what makes us really excited is that James used his very own Carvera Desktop CNC to design and prototype this new product.

Introduction

Hacksmith Industries is known for its YouTube channel and creative content, which typically brings sci-fi props and technology into the real world. From remaking Thor's Hammer to real-life Iron Man tech, there isn't much this team of makers can't sort out.

More recently, James acquired a Carvera and Carvera Air for HERC, their design campus in Ontario. It was the ease and versatility of the Carvera that enabled James to get hands-on with CNCs in the first place.

Speaking to us at Open Sauce in July, James shared, "It (Makera Carvera) enabled me to get into CNC, which I should have gotten into years ago, but I hadn't."

It was also at Open Sauce that James first shared an aluminum prototype of the Smith Blade with us, one that was developed entirely on his Carvera.

James also gave a bit more insight into how the Carvera supported his needs during the prototyping stages by sharing, "The fact that the Carvera was able to make this gives me a lot of confidence in the machine because this requires pretty good tolerance to work. And I've been very happy with the Carvera."

From Prototype to Production

From the initial Kickstarter promotional video, James outlines how he has wanted to make the ultimate multi-tool for years now, stemming from his own personal interest and passion for this kind of tool. Multi-tools come in many sizes and configurations, but they are often heavy, clunky, and not all that durable or handy when it comes to precise operations.

That's what really motivated James to design and develop the Smith Blade, a revolutionary type of multi-tool that is machined from titanium, includes precision tools, and features an incredibly strong M390 cutting blade which literally slices through the competition!

Image credit - Hacksmith Industries

It was hinted in the campaign that dozens of iterations were developed when developing the production-spec model of the Smith Blade. We expect to learn more about the design of this product in an upcomming video that also shares the use of the Carvera desktop CNC when testing earlier aluminum prototypes, so stay tuned!

The Smith Blade Versions

Image credit - Hacksmith Industries

At its launch, the Smith Blade is available in a few different configurations, each offering a number of handy features at varying price points

• Smith Blade Lite weighs only 88g and has a 14C28N stainless steel blade. It also includes 7 handy tools, such as a protractor, nail file, metric & imperial ruler, tweezers, wire strippers, and more. This version of the Smith Blade is available for backing on Kickstarter at $99 USD at the time of writing this article.
• Smith Blade Standard version is the next step up as it is a 14-1 multitool. Like the Lite version, the Standard Smith Blade also has a 14C28N stainless steel blade, but includes additional tools like a 4mm bit driver, staple puller, bottle opener, and more. This version of the Smith Blade is available for backing on Kickstarter at $199 USD at the time of writing this article.
• Smith Blade Pro version is the true all-in-one tool for makers and enthusiasts, with an incredibly strong M390 blade and 21-1 tool set. In addition to everything the lite and standard versions offer, the Smith Blade Pro version also includes a fire striker, tungsten metal scribe, glass breaker, bubble level, 90 degree bit driver, and more. This version of the Smith Blade is available for backing on Kickstarter at $249 USD at the time of writing this article.

And for those who acted early enough, special editions of the Smith Blade were available at the campaign's launch, like a founders edition which included unique engravings and special finishes. Unfortunately those limted edition models are now all out, but there's still chances to get your hands on the other version of the Smith Blade before the campaign ends on August 31st, 2025.

Conclusion

So will you decide to back this awesome project? We sure did! Innovative designs and solutions like what James and the Hacksmith team have put together get us really excited about what machines like the Carvera and Carvera Air can do. Check out the Smith Blade kickstarter campaign and learn more about backing this project here!

Want to learn more about CNC design and prototyping? Explore our Getting Started video series.