[mudd]

this is great to use on fake ones only. you can use any type of dremel , not just this brand . if you do zp and jp style of carvings, then this is perfect. especially if you use the glur method. as long as the bit fits in the colllet itll work. its likes usisk one of thos roto tools to cut into tile or drywall. you can even buy a tile cutting bit to use on this. or use a regular drill bit to cut into your fakes. just decide on a starting point and use a little bit pf pressure to guide and just let the bit cut on its own, dont force or you may break your bit. i mostly use 1/8" or 3/16" bits. for shading you can bits sold for engraving or sanding. the only downside is it takes 4 batteries , but thats why rechargeables were invented.

[Joey]

Might as well add my 2 cents here, since I got one of these last year.

As a shameless shader, I found this to be invaluable. It saved a lot of time verses my old method of various hand tools. It was pretty easy to keep the shading at an even depth, and gave really clean results.

The downsides would be that yes, it is pretty messy. But what part of pumpkin carving isn't? It also tended to heat up a lot, and ate a lot of batteries. It also wasn't too good for sharp corners, I did most of those manually. Despite all these though, I still consider it my best shading tool.

I should try it out on a watermelon to see if it works well there too.

[Euri]

I am a big fan of dremel and I'm pretty much going to ditto what Joey said.

Yes, the dremeling can get messy; no, it's not great for cut throughs. Shading- just like it says. But for shading I consider it indespensible. It goes *much* faster and deeper. I like to leave about a 1 inch thick wall and will dremel through halfway to get the glow. Depending on the bit that you use you can go through smaller areas and then corners, etc. can be easily hand tooled out. Not to mention that it is very nice to not have a cord that gets in the way.

I've used the dremel on watermelons quite a bit as well:

[Drayco]

Nice Jessica Galbreth Silver Moon Fairy carving Euri!

[SaneInsideInsanity]

very pretty melon

[Wedge]

Hey guys. I have been using a dremel for about 4 years now to do all my shading on foamies. The only down side is having to hold a large awkward tool to shade. This year I went out and purchased the Dremel flex arm. Let me tell you, this makes everything so much easier. I takes all the weight off and still gives the same, if not better, results. This is a must for any serious shading carver

[GUS]

I got the same item in with a skil tool set for £25.00 which is pretty amazimg price over here , skil is actually dremel, who are actually bosch! ..so amazing price for kit thats intended to fit just re-badged.

[SaneInsideInsanity]

I have the flex arm and i love it!