Pumpkin Carving

Well, I thought I would give pumpkin carving a try. We've always done the traditional carve blocks out. But I wanted to try the stencil method that doesn't go all the way through the skin.

I saw you could get a pumpkin carving kit from Dremel, using Dremel bits. Hey, I've already got a cordless Dremel (for grinding down my dog's toenails). I thought I would buy the bit, download some templates, and be golden.

In a perfect world, here is how you carve your pumpkin.

  • Print out a template.
  • Tape template to pumpkin.
  • Using a needle or push pin, trace outline of template to pumpkin
  • Using your Dremel tool, carve out the design area.
  • Light it from the back and you're done!

    Printing out the template is the easiest of the steps.

    Taping a flat piece of paper to a carved pumkin isn't the simplest, but you can do it. Don't worry about it getting crinkly.

    Outlining with a pushpin is pretty crucial. You want to be as detailed as possible. It looks obvious with the template in place, but once it comes off I had what looked like a connect-the-dots with no numbers. I looked at the template and connected the dots with a pen and then filled in the areas I wanted to remove.

    Using the Dremel itself is a piece of cake. But I had a few issues. The Dremel pumpkin carving kit uses a 191 High-Speed cutter. I could only find a 192. I didn't think this would be an issue, but the tip is about 3/16" diameter and I would have liked something smaller for less rounded corners or getting into narrow lines on the template. Looking it up, the 191 is 1/8" diameter, It also spins wet pumpkin bits all over the place.

    You want to get the carved portions as thin as possible to light up the best. I found just carving off the surface the depth of the bit the easiest, and then scraping the inside to thin it out. Shine a light on the design so you can see what areas need thinning.

    If you've got it really thin, you can probably just light it with a candle. I found sticking a light bulb on the inside to work the best. If you want, you can carve a hole in the back and stick a flashlight through to illuminate the design. You might be able to stick a nightlight inside with an extension cord.

    Dremel has some very nice templates, but they aren't for the beginner. They are very detailed. I couldn't carve the fine lines and corners and points that were on the template.

    I found much more success just drawing on the pumpkin with

    http://www.dremel.com/html/products/tools/pumpkin_patterns.html

    http://www.dremel.com/html/products/tools/pumpkin_tips.html




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