Kindling Cracker
Production date
2014
Description
A cast iron kindling cracker. The device is a circular metal base, with two metal bars protruding from this base. In between these two bars a curved sharp blade is connected. At the top of the two metal bars is a circle of iron, used as a guard against falling on to the blade. Embossed on the surface of the base is " N.Z. DES. No. 417790 N.Z. PAT. APP. No.605133 / KINDLINGCRACKER.COM ". The kindling cracker comes with a 3lb hammer with a hickory handle for knocking the wood through the cracker and splitting it into kindling.
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Object detail
From the initial design, Ayla has been flying high with the success of her product. After the success of the Science Fair, she took her Kindling Cracker design to Fieldays, using her prize money from the science fair to pay for banners and advertising material. While there she won both the Fieldays Young Inventor of the Year and the James and Wells Intellectual Property Award. She also had over 400 people register their interest in the product, and from there the business has grown exponentially.
Ayla's Kindling Crackers are made in New Zealand and shipped all over the country, The whole family is involved with getting the products ready for export, and Ayla's next step is getting the product licensed to sell overseas. In 2015, she entered into a deal to export her crackers to the American market. She was also awarded the Most Inspiring Individual Award at the New Zealand Innovator's Award for her product in 2013.
Ayla's success is the latest in a long line of inventions from Taranaki locals the Hutchinsons. Ayla's dad Vaughn is an engineer who has patented and sold a number of cable management systems, and her great-grandfather William Hutchinson ran a successful engineering business in Hawera. He manufactured and installed the Hutchinson Individual Milker. Even more successful was Ayla's great-great-great-grand uncle George Fell Hutchinson, who invented and developed the "G.F. Hutchinson Water Ram", which pumped water from rivers to storage tanks, and the "Hutchinson Vacuum Pump" which provided vacuum for farm milking machines. Taranaki proved a great inspiration for these men to develop ideas to make the lives of those in the region easier, and Ayla is continuing on this tradition with her Kindling Cracker.
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