Richard, it is risk versus gain. Read the fine print and know the risks. There are no guarantees in life, but in this particular case, I have research this company, Darkly Labs, and this project for a couple months. i.e., I am comfortable with investing in the project. In this case the risk is that they will not produce the product, which has happens with kickstarter projects, but rarely. The gain, in this case, is that I get the machine for the pre-public release price of $500 versus the projected regular price of $700. Generally, new technology items, like this one, run late, and miss the projected release date. Depending on whose statistics one is to believe (I doubt them all), 75-90% of the projects are completed and reasonably on time.
The projects that really worry me, are the ones with no prototype, just a plan. Several of these cutters have already been built, and are working. They are just looking for funds to mass produce.
