Even the least artistic among us can have the coolest jack-o'-lanterns in the neighborhood this year with Dremel's pumpkin- carving kit. It's a neat, buzzy little unit that carves off layers of pumpkin flesh to let the light glow through. It isn't meant to cut all the way through the pumpkin, and the effect is perfectly spooky. Powered by four AA batteries, it's got two speeds for superior pumpkin-stock removal, 6,000 and 12,000 rpm, so it's not a child's toy.
Step 1 Use a knife to cut a lid for your pumpkin. Angle the knife towards the center of the pumpkin as you cut so that the lid will rest on top of the pumpkin after the cut has been made.
Use a large spoon to clean out the entire inside of the pumpkin. It is best if the walls of your pumpkin are approximately 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick.
Step 2 Based on the size of your pumpkin, you can enlarge or reduce the size of your template using a copy machine if needed. Using spray-on adhesive, apply your template to the pumpkin.
Step 3 Turn the tool on low and begin tracing the areas to be removed.
You can use the high setting for large area material removal. The key is to remove approximately the same amount of material on your whole pumpkin to achieve a uniform depth.
Step 4 Once you've finished, remove the paper template, place a light source, such as a candle, in the pumpkin, dim the lights, and see how well the light shines through your carving.
If you want more light to shine through, turn the lights back on, remove the candle and remove additional material from your pumpkin.
Printable Templates from Dremel Click the thumbnail picture to bring up a printable PDF version.
What's in the Box
6-volt Dremel cordless rotary tool (requires 4 AA batteries, not included)
Dremel Pumpkin CarverNovember 17, 2008 J.F.N.B.N.J.(NJ) I PURCHASED THE DREMEL PUMPKIN CARVER FOR MY WIFE WHO LOVES "HOLLOWEEN" AND IS A ARTIST WHO KNOWS HOW TO CARVE, AND OTHER ARTISTIC STUFF. SHE LOVED IT AND MADE SEVERAL PUMPKINS, SOME MAY FIND IT DIFFICULT IF THEY DONT HAVE A ARTISTIC ABILITY BUT WOULD HAVE FUN TRYING.
Not what expected, but fine once I lowered my expectationsNovember 11, 2008 N(Florida, USA) I purchased this thinking it would be the end-all be-all in pumpkin carving. I was really disappointed when I actually used it. It's not meant for anything tougher than slowly scraping the skin off of a pumpkin (and turning the skin into a messy pulp). Put any strain on it and it will oftentimes just cut off, so you've got to coax it back on (turn it off, wait, turn it back on again). Also I was disappointed to see it only came with one bit - if you market something as a carving tool you really should have a bit that does some carving, not just scraping. (just a note here - the package does say "Tool is intended for carving design not cutting shapes." Since I purchased this online from a site that didn't clarify this, my expectations were admittedly off. When I see something that says it is for pumpkin CARVING I think of traditional pumpkin carving. Which is, in fact, cutting a design into a pumpkin.)
BUT, once I lowered my expectations, I found it can be quite useful (albeit in only one respect). We tend to cut more complex carvings/faces/patterns in our pumpkins and I found that using the dremel to trace the pattern into the skin first made it a LOT easier to get the cuts right when I went in with the blade. It made following the pattern really easy. Just be prepared to clean up a lot of pumpkin pulp.
It's missing somethingOctober 26, 2008 Richard Greenleaf Until a few years ago it used to take me four to six hours (or more) to carve a jack-o-lantern due to the fact that I liked to carve and sculpt intricate designs into the pumpkin. This was done using a combination PimpkinMasters saws and carving tools for the carved areas and an Xacto set for the sculpted areas. Then a few years ago I picked up the PumpkinMasters electric saw, which cut my carving time in half due to the facts that I didn't have to stop every so often to rest my hand and to the speed at which the saw carves.
All in all I'd say this set misses out on five stars due to having only the one bit and a battery pack that could be better designed. If it were impossible to get other bits for it (the instructions do suggest you can use other bits) then the rating would have been even lower.
So as you can imagine, I'm interested in things which make my work faster. Which was why I bought the Dremel 764-04 Pumpkin Carving Kit. I figured that it's rotary tool would do for sculpting what the electric saw had done for carving.
What you get when you get this kit is a two speed, hand-held router, a bit, and ten carving templates. The router fits comfortably in your hand, or at least it does in mine. Four AA batteries placed in a moderately easy to use battery pack mean you don't have to sit near an electrical outlet to operate it.
But I find that this set is missing something, like at least one other bit. The one that comes with it I found when I finally had the chance to try it out recently is pretty much good for only one thing. Tracing a design. I'd call the bit a pencil bit personally because it took me longer to sculpt a relatively small area than it would have if I'd used one of the chiseling tools from the Xacto set. I'm talking taking about twenty-thirty minutes with this vs just three minutes with the other. And all I really did was to peel off the outer layer of the rind, I didn't dare go to the depth I'd have prefered do to how long it took me to get rid of that much. That and the fact that with this pencil bit you've got to stop every few minutes just to wipe away pulp to see how you're progressing.
At the same time if you go too small in detail this bit is actually too large to use as it wants to obliterate the design. As this is probably the smallest bit for this tool that means that sculpting the smallest details would have to be done with something like and Xacto set.
Had a second, more efficent bit been added I'd rate this set higher than I have. As it stands, when I finished carving I did say I'd like to try it again with a different bit. The router shows great promise in my opinion. Even on low it should be able to cut times down for sculpting a pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern. But it can't do that with the pencil bit they provide.
The only other problem I had was the battery pack. As I said, it's moderately easy to use, but it should be easier. It's easy enough to get it out and pop the batteries into the pack. But my problem has come in putting it back into the router. There is a slot and key design which lets you slide it into the router. The problem is there seemd to be two slots and keys, one slightly larger than the other. It's trying to figure out which is the larger so the pack will slide in and lock in place. And even when you do get it right it seems to fight you at first, causing you to take it out and try turning it around twice before it will slide and lock. Had this been designed differently the battery pack would be a breeze to use.
It's a power pumpkin sculpting tool, but NOT a carver!October 22, 2008 J. Williamson(Bucks County, PA USA) 8 out of 8 found this review helpful
To clear things up, this Dremel 764-04 Pumpkin Carving Kit is really not a pumpkin carving kit. If that's what you're looking for, then just pass on this. However it is a decent pumpkin sculpting tool, and will do things that you just can't do with the traditional knife and spoon. It's really used to sculpt the surface, "to 'carve' layers of skin away from your pumpkin so that light will 'glow' through the pumpkin," as noted in the product description.
Just don't think that you're going to cut all the way through the pumpkin with this tool inless yopu want a mess of pumpkin puree on your hands. Cut the pumpkin with the knife of your choice, then use this to power carve the surface, to sculpt the pumpkin so that the light will glow through the remaining pumpkin flesh once you're done with your masterpiece.
It comes with ten sculpting templates and a Dremel Minimite Cordless Rotary Tool, the 6-Volt version that uses 4-AAA batteries, and is much like the Dremel Cordless Pet Nail Grooming Rotary Tool. You can comfortably and safely sculpt the surface of your pumpkin, as the two speeds (6,000 and 12,000 RPM) allow for light duty precision sculpting... one you get the hang of it. Just start simply with an easy project on a smaller pumpkin, maybe using it to 'clean up' on a regular carving.
You'll need a sharp knife or two for cutting the pumpkin, and a tablespoon (or even better, a serving spoon) for cleaning the seeds and 'guts' from the pumpkin. You may want to save the insides of the pumpkin for the seeds or other pumpkin creations (see the photo).
Pros:
- Light, easy to use - Two-speed operation, versatile - Accepts a variety of other Dremel attachments
Cons:
- Misleading name, it's not a carver! - Uses more AAA batteries than one would expect
If you already own a rotary tool such as the Dremel MultiPro Cordless System w/50 Accessories, then you might want to try sculpting with some of your bits, or look for a 'pumpkin bit' like the one from carving kit.
If you're going for the 'Carving Kit' then be sure to read the directions, be patient and have a couple of pumpkins to experiment with the first time you use it. Must admit that I didn't read the instructions the first time around and managed to create quite a mess when I tried 'carving' a large pumpkin. Luckily it was outdoors, as I had a bit of a spatter mess for a few feet around. Just remember: RTFM!
As a "Pumpkin Carving Kit" this probably wouldn't have more than a 1-star rating: Dremel was wrong in labeling it as such, for it's misleading. As a properly named "Pumpkin Sculpting Kit" I'll call it a 4-star tool, but remember that it does have a learning curve.
Not so hot.October 14, 2008 B. Nallick(Mpls, MN) 7 out of 9 found this review helpful
I, like many of you am a pumpkin carving vet. I really wanted to do some hard carvings like the extreme designs from pumpkin masters. Well...........the Dremel does what everyone says, it turns the pumpkin into mush. It's messy, imagine a very quickly spinning device against the pumpkin. There were pumpkin guts EVERYWHERE. It literally sprays the pumpkin guts all over the kitchen. And some designs have very sharp angles and that is impossible to achieve with this tool. The head of the carver is round, duh!!! All in all, I used it once and for $30.00 you should get a better product. Stick with carving knives and if you want to do extreme stuff, get a woodcarver's kit. This device? Mess, frustrating and annoying for adults. Not safe for kids!!! Avoid!!!!
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