Carving - Removing The Skin
Sometimes you just want to remove the skin. This will result in a more yellowish glow of the fire through the watery flesh of the pumpkin. The effect is nice and allows you to have three different tones (dark, light, medium).
To remove the skin, I like to use my router. I set the depth at 1/4 inch or so because the curvature of the pumpkin will actually allow the router to plunge more than that.
Using the router is easy because it has two nice handles. I grip it, and rip it. It cuts through the pumpkin skin like nobody's business.
The only warning I have is that the pumpkin flesh and skin will turn to goo. You can't blow it out sight, instead you may have to stop working to clean off an area.
For fine detail, I use a dremel tool. I have tried a few rotary tools without much satisfaction. I find the the Dremel "stylus" mode works well because it sits well in your hand and doesn't move around much. It isn't cheap however, it runs about $70 at your local home improvement store. Dremel does make a "Pumpkin Carving" bit, which is a soft-material carving bit. It is the only thing I use in my dremel tool.
To remove the skin, I like to use my router. I set the depth at 1/4 inch or so because the curvature of the pumpkin will actually allow the router to plunge more than that.
Using the router is easy because it has two nice handles. I grip it, and rip it. It cuts through the pumpkin skin like nobody's business.
The only warning I have is that the pumpkin flesh and skin will turn to goo. You can't blow it out sight, instead you may have to stop working to clean off an area.
For fine detail, I use a dremel tool. I have tried a few rotary tools without much satisfaction. I find the the Dremel "stylus" mode works well because it sits well in your hand and doesn't move around much. It isn't cheap however, it runs about $70 at your local home improvement store. Dremel does make a "Pumpkin Carving" bit, which is a soft-material carving bit. It is the only thing I use in my dremel tool.
When I am not carving pumpkins, I run the world's most private drugstore. ShopInPrivate.com
Also, last year, my company took over RomanticGifts.com, so if you need a romantic gift for Christmas, a birthday or an anniversary, please consider our wonderful store.
My co-workers and I run the biggest store for bachelorette party items in the world. It is lots of fun. We have fun jobs.
Look everyone, My Book, Extreme Pumpkins - At Amazon
and My Second Book, Extreme Pumpkins II is there too.Ok, this is just getting silly. My books are now at Barnes and Noble's (Extreme Pumpkins and Extreme Pumpkins II, Borders (Extreme Pumpkins and Extreme Pumpkins II), and a ton of independent book stores, (see BookSense.com.)