Carving and Carving Tools
Giant Pumpkins Carving comments and tips:
The best carving tool for giant pumpkins is the hand held drywall saw.
The Giant pumpkin wall thickness is one to six inches thick.
Most drywall saws are stiff enough to punch straight through the wall of the pumpkin. A double sided blade allows cutting back in both corners to meet up with other cuts and makes turns a bit easer.
For kids, a dry wall saw that has been left out side for a year or two to rust and then cleaned up will still easily carve thick pumpkins with out being so sharp.
Electric saws and drills work but cut very fast and are a bit hard to control.
It is generally easier to make each cutout smaller on the inside then the outside so the "plug" can be pulled out to be removed. Then smaller back cuts can be made to widen the hole on the inside to improve the look.
It is not necessary to remove the seeds.
Generally we do not cut out the stem and top of larger pumpkins. They tend to be very thick at the stem. If an access hole is needed a smaller hole on the lower back side works well.
Small battery operated electric lights are the safest.
Once holes have been made in a pumpkin, it will last for a few days.
Carving Pumpkins that last longer:
If you are interested in a longer lasting pumping we have found that carving just the skin works well.
Both Excel and Exacto make blades and handles that do a good job.
We like the small round router tip/blade the best and also use the square flat router tip/blade .
Many small cuts work best, turning the pumpkin around all the time so you can control the knife and keep it from going too deep.
As the cuts dry for a day or two they will become whiter and provide more contrast with the skin of the pumpkin
Please see our examples on our carving pages.
After carving letting the pumpkin dry for a day and then washing the cuts off with a rag or paper towel and a small amount of 10% bleach and water will help seal the cuts and prevent molding.
With a pumpkin that is kept dry and cool they can last a week or two.
Tools for sale:
We are selling a single handle with two blades (one small round tip, one square flat tip) for $12.
They can also be found at hobby shops on line.
