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Dremel Pumpkin Carver
GimpyMcJackass writes "With Halloween just around the corner, Dremel has "developed" the ultimate pumpkin carver set. It actually looks like it's just your normal dremel (although it's translucent orange) with a 191 high speed cutter and some fancy patterns. Of course, if you already have a Dremel and cutter (or reasonable knock-off of either/both), then you can just download some patterns."
Now this is what I call overkill :)
I used my dremel tool to carve a pumpkin 3 years ago. I wish I could find the pics to post. Let me give you some advice. DONT DO IT. And if you do: DO IT OUTSIDE. I tried to be good and I set up some large boxes on either side of the pumpkin to catch the inevitable orange spray. I was pleased with the result of my pumpkin but my entire kitchen looked like it had been airbrushed with pumpkin paint or something. My wife was not amused. But my kids loved it. Grr if I could only find a pic. It was a cat's face and the dremel allowed me to cut some very intricate details like whiskers!
If something exists that does not need a creator (god) then why must the cosmos need one?
I'm sure they did some research on this but I am confused on the bit selection. For those that can not get directly to the site, the 191 bit is a carving bit, a standard Dremel tool bit with the grooved ball on the end. I've used that for carving and material removal before but for a pumpkin? A pumpkin is at least 1 inch thick. You'd have to push the bit in and out or repeatedly go over the same spot over and over again until you finally break through. I would think the bit used to cut drywall would work better. It is more like a drill bit but has sharp edges and less twist. You can cut through the whole way in one pass. I hate to admit it but I actually used a jig saw on a pumpkin before, it turned out pretty good but I could not get the fine details with it. In rcent years I used those kits from the grocery store with the small hand saws. Work good but my hands cramp up. I'll try the Dremel tool this year.
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
GRUMPKINS
Someday a real rain is gonna come...
This doesn't seem like the right tool for the job.
The pumpkin I did this year was done with a cheap little set from Walmart that has a tool which is basically a handle with a blade somewhere between a coping-saw blade and a scroll-saw blade. It's about 3" long.
The blade was not long enough to cut through a good sized (16" diameter) pumpkin's shell for diagonal cuts.
The Dremel tool is much shorter than that, so there's no way it could work.
Besides, a nice pattern requires some pretty fine detail work - you're going to slip with a powertool if you're not well practiced.
If you had to do a large number of carvings that wouldn't be seen up close you might want a roto-zip tool which has a longer shank. I've got the Porter Cable and it works pretty well.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Sure, I guess this is cool for the "Tool Time" crowd.
What I don't get: what's the point of carving a pumpkin if you're just going to use a template? Isn't this like buying a standard costume instead of making your own? I mean, sure, I enjoy the glut of "sexy catwoman" costumes as much as the next guy. But it just seems to me that the fun of Halloween is to be a little creative on your own.
Here's some pumpkins that my GF & I carved a couple years back. Just us and a couple of knives, baby!
Now, I do think it would be cool if you designed a template in a CAD program and spit that into a robot or high-powered laser rigged to carve the pumpkin for you! A dremel and a template just isn't excessive enough...
It doesn't appear that the Dremel page is quite yet Slashdotted, but it is very sloooow loading.
Since I'm in a mood of helping Taco, CowboyNeal, Tim et al with Slashcode...
How about a little notation appended to the end of Front Page articles indicating that a site has been 'dotted. Maybe a quick ping and a response time -- although depending upon your location that may or may not be reflective your ability to reach it -- but it would give a feel.
One, we readers who should know better -- but sometimes don't -- wouldn't waste time trying to hit the main link. Two, this might reduce the "dottedness" of the poor site by stemming the tide a bit. If it's a big machine on a big pipe, the blast away, gentle readers.
the future is here, it is just not evenly distributed - w. gibson
I used the flex shaft adapter, and the sideways cutting bit that's designed for drywall.
The UConn Engineering dorm representative pumpkin was designed and carved by me... the words "Pumpkin Pi" carved around the crown, and the midsection of the pumpkin had 3.141592654..." spiraling around it. It took a long time to do, and made a mess, but it was a damn good pumpkin. It didn't win the competition, but it should have.
I've never carved one without the Dremel since.
"No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it!" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
Slightly on-topic:
A friend of mine carved George Bush and John Kerry into pumpkins. Definitely worth checking out if you want a few laughs...
Kerry looks scarier on pumpkin than he does in person.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
wish i had seen this a couple days ago
u mpplans2.html
i did a Bob Marley pumpkin this weekend. i didn't go all the way through the pumpkin to the inside, just got about 7/8 inch deep. pattern here http://www.fabulousfoods.com/holidays/halloween/p
i printed it out at 150%, stuck the paper to the pumpkin with pins, and used an exacto to cut marker lines for the face into the p-kin. then used the cutter tool - pic here http://www.hobbylinc.com/gr/dre/dre561.jpg - to cut in. it's 1/8 thick so i couldnt make corners or tight spots but it turned out ok. i guess i should get a pic of it online
Take one 9.6 Volt Black and DEcker Cordless Drill.
Take one Pepper mill with a top that looks suspiciously like an old drill or screwdriver bit was welded onto it.
Insert bit-topped Peppermill A into Black and Decker B, and then invoke the power of the Drill.
High speed pepper grinding, without killing your wrists.
And yes, this is real. Alton Brown, the gentleman cited, uses one on his show with fairly regular apperances.
That same GoatSe pumpkin pic linked from the Official Dremel Pumpkin Kit vs The Google Cache