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."

Comments

Bah, that's not overkill.

[pavon]

Now this is what I call overkill :)

Been there Done that.. WONT do it again!

[Trigulus]

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!

Why the 191 bit?

[nolife]

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.

Your pumpkins are weak and pathetic.

[macthulhu]

For the baddest pumpkins ever, check this out...

GRUMPKINS

Dremels? We don't need no stinking dremels!

[discontinuity]

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!

• A witch on a broomstick
• A haunted house and cat

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...

A little off-topic...

[zygote]

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.