Sharing knowledge for the art of artificial craft pumpkins.
By LittleGrayTiger
#86401
Hello all! I'm new here to artificial pumpkin carving and the forum. I'm an artist in other mediums though and I'd like to get into this whole pumpkin carving thing! I usually add a few pieces to my Halloween display every year and having my own pumpkin patch a few years from now sounds like fun. I tried my hand at it with a scalpel, pumpkin saw (ala Pumpkin Masters), and a hot tool (like for woodburning) on a 9" Michael's pumpkin. It was way more difficult than I thought and I'm sure most of that is not having the appropriate tools. I cast and carve polyurethane foam at work (museum exhibits shop), so I'm fairly certain I need a dremel kit of my own.

I don't live anywhere near a Harbor Freight, but I can order anything off Amazon and we have a Lowes right close by. I guess my question is...what's the ideal kit for foam pumpkin carving? I'll probably get a higher power dremel like the 3000 or 4000, but I'm not sure what bits to buy! I'm also going to use this tool for sculpey/apoxie sculpt and taxidermy.
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By chuckwagon
#86414
Personally, I have the 3000, and it's great. As of last year, I started using regular drill bits to cut with. They work really well with the dense foam material the pumpkins are made from IMO. try to stick with a smaller bit though, so you can get those ever so fine details! I usually go with a 1/32nd bit myself. Also, Look into the Flex-Shaft attachment. It's makes it soooooo much easier to use because it's less bulky than holding the actual Dremel tool itself. When using the tiny bits, make sure to buy some back ups, because (as with me) they broke under to much force, but that's more a user error than anything else, and it's bound to happen at some point.

I'm sure Stoney, Pumpken, and Doh will have a lot a really great input in this area as well!
By LittleGrayTiger
#86457
I never would have thought to use regular drill bits. Thanks for all your input, it feels welcoming and is useful! I hope a few more people can chime in before I go pick up some more pumpkins. :)
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By chuckwagon
#86463
I though the same thing at first, but the other ZP! Minion on here "Pumpken" turned me onto them at first, and then Stoney had a lot of really useful advice also about using drill bit. They really do work great.

Here's a link to a thread that Stoney and Ken give a bit more breakdown on the "why" and "how" of bits http://www.zombiepumpkins.com/forum/vie ... 15&t=10656" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just scroll down a bit on the page and you'll find it.