Hey Kickstarter!

We're making a new garden multitool inspired by an old school pro tool. We call it TULIO.

In a nutshell, this is what makes for an awesome garden multitool:

made of 420 STAINLESS STEEL (SS) which is a very hard grade

tempered which means it's heat treated (like a sword) so it will NOT BEND, even this thin at about 1mm

have a high caliber WELD where blade meets tang/handle so it does NOT BREAK like many other garden trowels which FAIL in this area

dig depth markings STAMPED into steel.

provide as many functions as possible to be a MULTITOOL capable of handling more than a typical " Hori Hori " knife.

a well designed HANDLE for various grips to reduce fatigue and feel good with or without gloves.

LAST many years like the ones in our family collection of 40+ years!

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Keep scrolling to learn more :)

prototype shown: production depth markings will be STAMPED IN DETAIL to last!

prototype: TIG WELDED blade to handle tang, 420 Stainless Steel and TEMPERED to resist bending like standard bricklaying trowels!

_____________simple & true story:

Our family and many other Europeans have been privately using an uncommon construction tool to garden & maintain beautiful landscapes for decades. It is the brick mortar trowel which has been a great inspiration for the Tulio Multitool. Here's how & why:

My father (Bruno Zaccolo) immigrated to Canada in 1959 from northern Italy as a stone/brick mason specializing in home and fireplace construction. He arrived with a mortar trowel and a brick chisel hammer in his suitcase (meaning of our logo) along with a few dollars and a dream to start a family and to work hard to help build homes in North America.

Upon purchasing his 1st home with a yard, the goal was to plant flowers and create a vegetable & fruit garden for fresh food. Naturally, a collection of tools formed and while on a tight budget as a DIY person, one chooses carefully and intelligently. His bricklaying trowel served well for gardening tasks which he continues to use today as he putters in the same garden today at age 82.

"Some tools come and go, but the ones which truly perform and last the test of time are the ones cherished and passed down to other generations. I think back to all the fresh flowers, herbs, vegetables, preserves, tomato sauce and fresh food we produced out of our own yard for a very reasonable cost over the decades and can appreciate all the tools and equipment which made it possible and enjoyable."

Dad and his old trowels over the years.

______________the logic:

Rather than buying a typical "spade shovel" shaped garden trowel which has only one function (scooping/digging) dad obviously saw the benefits of using his mortar trowel for its strength and durability along with its ability to simply handle more tasks. Because of the trowels's unique FLATNESS and tempered steel HARDNESS, it is thin enough to slay a mortar mix bag, have a pointed tip to dig a hole, flat enough to scrape off the ground, chop, hack, split, shear, separate, etc.

Professional mortar trowels have a quality far superior to typical garden trowels which are inexpensively made of aluminum or non-hardened mild steel. Good brick trowels have a well balanced handle-to-blade weight and the best ones are tempered stainless steel. The handles have typically not been special, originally wood, others built-up leather and contemporary models of plastic with rubber grip areas. Never a hanging hole.

One of several proof of concept prototypes

_____________let's make it better:

While a brick trowel will work fairly well and last forever, it really is not designed for some garden tasks. Although the quality and durability are present, a flat blade and primitive wooden handle, there is opportunity for for major improvement.

As a bricklayer's son and industrial designer with 20+ years of consumer product experience it was time to share our working prototypes. At first it, was modified non-stainless steel brick trowel with a plain wooden handle. By adding a hanging loop and reconfiguration to the blade, it allowed for many more functions. Several more mock-ups proved to be great proof of concepts. We then assembled a full design program to apply design and manufacturing thinking to all facets of this new product.

design process sketches

The blade design was revised to further incorporate other tool actions: cutting twine, a serrated saw edge to harvest vegetation or cut unwanted growth & weeds, a sharpened beveled toe/tip edge to perform detailed work and digging to accurately measured depths using our depth marking. The end product is a very functional mutitool in your hand.

dwg: depth markings stamped into steel

engineering part drawings

BEVELED 2 inch front tip edge for detail work, scraping, slaying, trimming, etc.

CORD CUTTER detail for gardening twine, landscaping cord, etc.

SERRATED CUTTING EDGE

______________it's got to have a great grip:

We also redesigned the handle as most mortar trowels are a simple wood handle or an over-stylized plastic design with poor ergonomics and heavy. We felt a multitool should have a multi-grip design as we are often re-positioning and changing from one garden task to another.

After investigating and comparing many hand-tool handles, we were most inspired by racquet and tennis grips which quickly twirled to a new position. We designed a slight taper in the body of the handle to accommodate various sized, glove covered and the arthritic hands. We also incorporated a large hanging hook hole to store tool properly and in sight while also reducing material and weight.

comfort & ergonomic studies

We invested much time and thought to make this tool as good as it can be. The blade is TIG welded stainless steel which is heat treated for a strong temper. It is then finished with black oxide coating for an attractive finish and fastened to a polymer handle with overmolded rubber grip surfaces for a complete gardening multitool product.

anatomy of a multitool

______________how is it used?

Beveled Edge: is 2" long and a 45° edge similar to a scraper knife which is great for slaying bags of fertilizer and soil, scraping gum/sap/dropping off exterior surfaces, clearing weeds from in between paving stones, etc.

Thin Flat Blade: tempered 420 stainless steel which is both spot welded in position to handle tang and then TIG welded for a permanently fused one piece metalic bond. A thin unbenadable blade is a very useful feature as demonstrated in our video (unlocking shed doors is a bonus) which continues to find new tasks. Our own prototype samples were often used in the WINTER to clear snow and ice from around doors in tight areas. It's great for tamping soil, hammering down wood stakes, swatting unwanted garden bugs & insects..the list goes on.

Straight Edge: used for spreading soils and mulch, chopping and hacking, drawing lines, scraping up from a flat surface like a dust pan.

Serrated Edge: for cutting old growth, hacking weeds, cutting and trimming sod and more advanced gardening techniques (see our fern planter Youtube demo).

Depth Markings: great for accurately digging to proper depths for sowing seeds, planting bulbs, also used as a general rule for measurement.

Multigrip Handle: molded rubber grip areas with a faceted form inspired by tennis raquet geometry to allow for various grips and rotations, small/large, arthritic and glove covered hands.

Hang Hole: to store in garage, shed or wherever your handy tool is always in sight.

Cord Cutter: for cutting gardener's twine to stake & tie plants.

Pointed Center Tip: to dig and penetrate harder dry soil types.

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_____________sensibility & sustainability:

drawing: quality recycled materials in our products & packaging, sustainable thinking in our business practices is #1

_______________what others are saying:

" PROFESSIONAL TRADE GRADE QUALITY ", Scarborough

" SUPER URBAN COOL-------BRAVO! " Sharon Smyl (owner), Toronto

" TWO GARDEN GLOVE THUMBS UP " - Niagara College Horticulture, Canada

_____________why Kickstarter?

Initially, we were prepared to personally fund the TULIO flagship item for our new tool business launching via the HomeShopping Channel and QVC as they broadcast to a large demographic of seasoned gardeners. However, we realized that we might not reach many new greenthumbs, millennial growers and young urban gardeners. The decision was made to launch via Kickstarter & social media to reach all of our gardeners online first, eventually make it to television and perhaps fine retail stores in future. This would also allow us to lock in with our loyal backers to not only join us with our signature launch multitool but be the first to hear about additional products we have in our R&D pipeline.

_____________project timeline:

As you can imagine, a garden tool of this caliber requires a significant amount of manufacturing tooling as we need to mold plastic handles with 2 polymer types, stamp our metal blades with depth marking detail and sharpened cutting features, a forged handle tang and fixtures to aid in the welding and assembly of the TULIO. These of course carry a significant cost and make up the bulk of the $ we are collecting thorough Kickstarter. We were able to negotiate a smaller minimum order of 3000 trowels for our first run with our factory which brings us to the $47k we require to orchestrate all this exciting work.

examples of manufacturing tooling, molds and fixtures required to make a quality product.

Jan 2017 : The refined TULIO multitool was realized and the design process began.

Spring 2017 : Prototyping and testing. Vendor qualification, mold details and cost for handle and tooling for blade and tang confirmed along with quality control program.

Summer 2017 : Pre-production details verified for a first minimum order production run. Samples inspected to finalize decisions on materials, assembly techniques, finishes, packaging, logistics.

Early Sept 2017:- Kickstarter Launch!

Oct 2017 : Green Light to begin tooling and assembly jigs which can take 6-8 weeks (especially for the injection mold for handle) in concert with developing blade and tang parts for final sign off.

December 2017: Initial production run begins for final approved assembly of finished product.

January 2018 (Happy New Year!) 1st production run of ~3000 trowels begin and continue throughout Jan and Feb.

April 2018: TULIO multitools make their way to new owners ready for spring planting and gardening (two very green thumbs up---- we hope you enjoy!)

TULIO is shipped to you in a high quality protective white carton box easy to gift wrap and actual tool is placed in a quality black burlap gift pouch.

____________one more thing:

One of the exciting opportunities of an entrepreneur is a greater ability to support and help those in need. We thought about who could benefit most from our efforts, tools and success. We decided Habitat For Humanity would be a great start! As creators, growers and re-builders we understand the tragedy of losing a home/garden and challenges of having a suitable first home. We will be donating a % of TULIO profits to this fine international group.