Early on Sunday, I received a phone call from a reader (please, please don’t call me, emails are preferred) who wanted to talk more about the Knife Edge screwdriver bits and its Kickstarter campaign. I posted about these bits in mid-July, and the project has since surpassed its funding goal of $35,000.
It was an interesting discussion, and one that made me reread all of the reader comments and criticisms on the original post.
Warning: This is a long, long post.
Summary: In the following post, I talk a little about a reader’s suggestion/allegation that some of the Kickstarter backers or pledges are fake, criticisms about the pending patent and impact compatibility, my thoughts about how the price is too high for the mass retail market and how selling the idea of a license to bigger companies might be a good idea, and then a LOT of thinking aloud as to whether it’s possible for some of the Kickstarter pledges and backers to have been faked.
A Hint of Doubt
One thing we talked about was whether the campaign’s current number of 1,076 backers were “real” backers. I’m sure that Kickstarter has measures in place to prevent campaign starters from artificially backing their own products or buying backers and pledges to increase hype. Right?
Right??
I hadn’t written down the exact words, but this approximately what was said:
What if most of those backers were bought, similar to how some companies and websites buy Facebook “likes” and Twitter “followers”?
Criticisms About the Pending Patent and Impact Driver Compatibility
Then we talked about the patent pending process that another reader brought up in comments. To be honest, I don’t see how that factors into the product. The creator filed for a utility patent, and I guess it remains to be seen where that all goes.
Then we talked about the impact driver compatibility – or possible lack of compatibility. In a comment, the Knife Edge inventor said that they’re leaning towards S2 steel alloy, for its strength and durability. A couple of brands make impact bits with S2 steel, and so it’s possible that these Knife Edge bits will be compatible in drills and impact drivers alike. Not a big deal.
One Minor Change Potentially Needed
Right now, the only images of the bit that I’ve seen shows it with a straight and smooth hex shaft. That might have to change, so that the bit can be securely held in bit holders and other tools and accessories that usually work with 1-inch insert bits.
Price, and Our Thoughts About Licensing or Working with a Bigger Company
I explained to the call-in reader that, while interested in the bit geometry, and in sharing about it, I’m still on the fence about whether it’s a good product or not. I already tried to convey this in the post, that I like the idea of the Knife Edge design, given what I’ve read and seen about it, which is the same as you might have read or seen on the Kickstarter page.
I’d like to see the project achieve funding on Kickstarter, as I think it does have the potential to solve a problem that needs fixing.
To be completely honest, I don’t think we’ll be seeing these screwdriver bits in stores anytime soon. At $14 a bit, it’s going to take a lot of work to convince retail shops to clear some shelf space, regardless of the advantages.
Price Check: Dewalt 30-piece Phillips #2 pack for $7
Even if a national retailer buys a quantity of these Knife Edge bits and puts them on the shelf at $14/bit, they’re going to sit there and collect dust. That is my candid opinion. $14/bit is going to make it hard if not impossible to move sufficient quantity of these bits.
Not only does a tool inventor that wants to reach a nationwide audience have to be able to sell their products to end-users, they have to sell it to retail buyers as well.
Nearly 1100 backers have invested over $45K into the Kickstarter campaign, so surely there are users who are willing to pay the price of these bits – unless you give weight to the idea that the backers aren’t all legitimate.
Following is what I said to the inventor in my last 2 email responses to his Facebook messages, emphasis added to the relevant parts. It wasn’t worth sharing in the initial post, but might be of interest here:
——-Part of second to last email——-
Your bits seem a little pricey, but if they are vastly superior to Phillips bits then I’d definitely like to see them hit production.
Also, have you considered producing these in stainless steel for use in specialty applications where users must take care to avoid chipping off parts of fastener heads? It’s probably too specialized of an application to consider at first, but something you might not have thought about.
And would there be benefits for handheld screwdrivers? A longer bit that can be used in a bit holder/multi-bit driver handle might be more attractive at higher pricing than 1-2″ bits.
——-Start of last email——-
SS is useful where corrosion and contamination are potential issues. Things like food production areas in factories and kitchens, where you don’t want chrome or zinc flaking off. It’s my understanding that SS fasteners are used with SS tools in these places.
It’s not going to be an easy task to compare these to the cost of screw extractors. It’s a good angle, but a lot of users are going to see these as super-over-priced bits.
Price doesn’t matter much to someone like me, who doesn’t wear bits down very often. But to the guys who buy a box of bits for the price, they’re going to be harder to convince.
Me? I’ve very nice! [smile emoticon] My candor might make it seem otherwise, but that same quality is why readers trust me.
Good luck with the Kickstarter!
If in your shoes, I would also consider licensing the design to other manufacturers. Companies like Dewalt and Apex might be able to produce these bits for less, and in much greater volumes. Think of Torx bits. Can you find Torx-branded bits? Or Roberston-made square drive bits?
In the final email, I mentioned screw extractors because the inventor said: As far as pricing goes my bits are less than the tool guys buy to remove screws once traditional bits trash them.
That part confused me, as it conflicts with how these are being described and marketed as screwdriver bits, not extractors used on damaged bits. It’s a good angle for marketing purposes, but one cannot describe these as both screwdriver bits AND damaged Phillips screw extractors.
In the Kickstarter post, the inventor says: This is NOT one of those “disaster drill out and throw the screw away removal” tools that sell for about $20.
So it’s not an extractor, but the price is justified because the Knife Edge bit costs less than an extractor?
Here’s the bottom line: Can (1) of these bits truly be better than (60) of those regular Dewalt bits at the same $14 price? That’s the question that Knife Edge will have to answer, both to end-users and to retailers. They’re going to have to SHOW this.
Anyway, I really do think that these bits would be better licensed to manufacturers for production. PLUS, doing so would ensure a higher quality product that’s quickly perfected through multiple rapid iterations. Large power tool accessories manufacturers have the ability to test and revise these bits quickly, and to potentially manufacture these bits for less money, and also the marketing might to get quantities sold to and through retailers and distributors.
Reader Criticisms
One of the big points of contention in reader comments to the original post is in how the bits are demonstrated in the promo videos. A couple of readers questioned the legitimacy of how the bits are compared and depicted.
Oh, and one reader asked if I was in cahoots with the Knife Edge inventor, because I wrote a comment saying Yep, sounds good, thanks! in response to the offer of a test sample. While I really do want readers asking “is this for real” and asking questions whenever they visit a tool review site, sometimes manners are just manners and a thank you is just a thank you.
Knife Edge’s agenda is to sell their new screwdriver bits (to you or to bigger companies), my agenda is to give you interesting and potentially informative and helpful posts to read.
This reminded me of a college creative writing class, where for the 2 major assignments I wrote a poem and a short story. My classmates had over-analyzed what I wrote, finding meaning where no context or deeper ideas were intended. Although the same is certainly not true on other magazine or review sites, and I’m not just talking about the tool-related ones, you can take everything I write at face value.
About the video demo, well of course it shows the modified Phillips screwdriver bit at its best. After all, its job is to make the product look as appealing as possible to backers and buyers.
To be fair, I watched the video once, maybe twice. I hadn’t scrutinized it, and still haven’t, and so I can’t comment as to whether the comparison part was apples-to-apples or not. In my initial view, I hadn’t seen anything that could be construed as trickery. Normally, such things jump out at me. And if they don’t at first, suggestions might make me see legitimacy or trickery where it doesn’t exist.
Knife Edge is focused on raising funds via Kickstarter “sales” to backers. I always take Kickstarter videos with a grain of salt, as ALL promo videos should be taken. Do you really think someone that’s trying to sell you something is going to risk showing the product in negative light?
Not that I believe the Knife Edge inventor is trying to mislead backers or the public. I never think too deeply about promo videos. Promo videos are, by definition, intended to laud and promote a product. Think about TV commercials. When is the last time you saw an alcohol commercial show someone hung over after a night of over-drinking?
You know what? The only way the Knife Edge bits will be properly tested and objectively vetted is once they’re in intended users’ hands. And that requires that the bits actually make it to production.
While I’d like to have had the opportunity to test and validate the product prior to posting a general “hey this is cool” post about the Kickstarter campaign, I’d much rather see independent user testing for something like this. The only way that’s going to happen is if the Kickstarter campaign gets funded, which it now has. Unless some of those 1,000+ pledges and backers are fake, in which case my trust in humanity will have been irreversibly damaged.
Can This Really Be a Sham?
I just can’t shake the idea the call-in reader implanted in my mind. While it’s not impossible for the Knife Edge inventor to have purchased Kickstarter campaign backers, I don’t think that’s what they did. I am still inclined to believe that those nearly 1100 campaign backers are real people and NOT fake “backers.” I really want to believe that it’s backed by real people.
In my mind, the reader’s question has been modified to: What if most of those backers were bought, similar to how some companies and websites buy Facebook “likes” and Twitter “followers,” because their goal all along was to sell the idea to companies and not individual users?
I don’t even know if it would be possible for someone to buy Kickstarter backers. Is it? But I could definitely see why a company might do this. Having more backers gives rise to a greater sense of legitimacy, to both interested end-users and potential corporate partners. The idea that “hey, other people are interested and buying into the product” is a powerful motivator.
Would you have dinner at a restaurant that’s empty at 7pm on Saturday night, or the one next door with a full house and short wait for a table?
Kickstarter takes a percentage of each pledge – 5% plus (3% + $0.20) in payment processing fees. The payment processing fee is less for pledges under $10. For a $10 pledge, the Kickstarter fees total 10%, which reduces towards 8% for larger pledge amounts.
If buying fake Kickstarter pledges with fake “backers” is even possible, the cost would be 10% of the funding amount. If $20,000 is funneled into a Kickstarter campaign, the cost would be up to $2,000.
Comparison with a Previous Kickstarter Campaign
I felt compelled to look into the matter further, to the best of my ability. Maybe that would help shake the doubt that was lingering in the back of my mind.
A quick Google search shows very little press for the Knife Edge product. I could only find 3 posts about the Knife Edge bits and the Kickstarter campaign, with 1 being my own.
Go ahead, see the search results for yourself: Google search results for “Knife Edge” Phillips bit.
I set the search criteria to look for “knife edge” + Phillips + bit, and set the filter to look at everything from the past 1 month. That 1-month setting starts the search to content indexed by Google starting 2 weeks before the Kickstarter campaign launched. Changing the search criteria didn’t show anything different.
Maybe a couple of backers came from ToolGuyd, maybe or even more than a few. But hundreds? How did they find out about the product and campaign? Could that many people have randomly came across the Kickstarter campaign solely through Kickstarter?
What am I missing?!
A March 2012 Forbes article about where Kickstarter supports come from said that 88% of the money and 86% of the supporters came from outside Kickstarter, meaning external links. If that is still true, where are these external links to the Kickstarter campaign?
After spending some time on Kickstarter looking at tool-related projects, it became clear that projects without media coverage simply did not get funded. Or, looking at it another way, successful projects often received media coverage, unsuccessful ones did not.
I thought the idea’s suggestion of bought or faked Kickstarter backers was preposterous at first, but it doesn’t seem so ridiculous right now. Maybe a comparison to a related campaign would help.
Nearly 2 years ago, we posted about Outlaw Fasteners and their multi-level hex fasteners and screwdriver bit. After I had tested the screws and bits and was nearly done with the writeup, they reached out and bought a short banner ad. Outlaw Fasteners had reached to a LOT of media sites, and received massive amount of coverage.
Google search results for Outlaw Fasteners. Yep, MASSIVE media coverage.
That Outlaw Fasteners campaign ended with 610 backers who contributed nearly $110,000 to the campaign.
I really liked the Outlaw Fasteners’ screws, and the tiered bit-fastener interface worked as advertised. I wasn’t convinced that they’d be able to get retail stores to catch on, and it looks like I was right.
Why am I bringing this up? Because with so much online media coverage by many tool-related sites and men’s gear sites, and pop-culture sites, Outlaw Fasteners only pulled in 610 backers and $110K in funding.
I should point out that 7 of Outlaw Fasteners’ backers had pledged $9,999 for “partner” standing. I remember thinking at the time that maybe some of these 7 backers were Outlaw team members who made early or last-minute pledges to ensure the project was successfully funded. Because if a Kickstarter campaign doesn’t reach its funding goal, the campaign creators don’t get ANY of the money and backers aren’t charged anything.
So, if you consider that, except for those 7 backers and their $9,999 pledges, the Outlaw Fasteners campaign received only about $40,000 in funding from 603 backers.
This Knife Edge campaign, with 9 days left on the clock, has nearly 1,100 backers who contributed nearly $46,000.
That doesn’t quite add up. Then again, nearly $371K in funding by 1,700 backers (funders) for the Indiegogo CoolBox campaign doesn’t make sense to me either.
One thing I am sure of is that I have yet to find any indication online, via Google or news stories, that a mass deception with fake backers or fake pledges is even possible.
Back to the Video
I had to take another look at the video. I definitely see what you guys are complaining about. It does look a little fishy.
Here’s yet another video that the inventor produced but for some reason declined to share on Kickstarter. I only found it because I had been looking at the Kickstarter comments and saw that one reader posted the link.
It’s hard to tell, but it seems that the Knife Edge bit cammed out and skipped a little bit. But it got the job done. In this video, you can see the good condition of the Phillips bit being used. In the Kickstarter video, the condition of the Phillips bit is hidden by the shroud of a screw guide.
This video, towards the end, shows the Knife Edge bit being used to drive fresh screws:
I don’t think these 2 new videos will address all of the reader comments, questions, and criticisms that were left in the original post, but it looks like it will allay some of them.
What I Think
To be frank, I still like the idea of the product, but haven’t (yet?) thrown my own $14 into the Kickstarter funding pool. If you look over the wording of the original post, I didn’t actively recommend or promote for or against the Knife Edge bits.
I can walk into the local Home Depot and buy a pack of 30 Phillips bits for $7, vs. $14 for just 1 of these Knife Edge bits. When a project calls for new screws, I use hex, Torx, or Robertson if and when possible. But here’s my big hesitation – this new screwdriver bit might solve common problems with Phillips bits and screws, but not problems I personally encounter very often. If I buy one, it’ll be if or after the bits hit the retail market.
If you like the idea of the product, wait and see what happens. If you strongly like the idea of the product, take a chance and buy into the Kickstarter campaign. There’s some, but little risk with the $14 minimum pledge, and great potential for reward if the Knife Edge bit is all that it’s claimed to be. If you don’t like the idea of the product, express your views but be polite about it. There’s no need for nastiness, and I’m talking to you, Lance.
Do I believe that the Knife Edge product and campaign is legitimate? Yes. Am I 100% certain of that? No. Neither can I be sure that the design is as good as the inventor says, although the claims seem reasonable.
After much thought and looking into things, no, a lot of things about this campaign don’t add up. I haven’t a clue as to where all these backers are coming from. The Kickstarter campaign page is far from dazzling (no, this is not me being “not nice,” this is me calling it as it is), and there are almost no media mentions of the product or Kickstarter campaign, tool-related or otherwise.
But sometimes things can be legitimate without adding up. Right?
If you cannot already tell, I am deeply conflicted by the seed of doubt placed in my mind. I am usually very good at spotting deception, and have caught many deceptive commenters in their tracks. But what if I missed this one…
On one hand, the Knife Edge bit inventor, Dan Pinckard, does NOT come across a sleazy marketing type. I haven’t seen a shred of evidence that he’s capable of pulling off such a charade. He doesn’t have a good handle on internet marketing (sorry, it’s true), as evident by how he reached out to me (through Facebook), and how he presented his campaign. What I have found is that independent inventors aren’t so good at presenting their ideas to the public. But he does seem to have come up with an improved Phillips bit.
On the other hand, what if I’m wrong and unknowingly helping to propagate a sham?
I’m opting to trust my instincts, and believe it’s all real. A small, but lingering doubt remains, and so I’ll rely on you guys to help make sense of all this.
What do you think?