It may be easier to buy those plastic handled pumpkin cutters at your local mart store for this project, but where is the woodworking fun and challenge plus an opportunity to go to your favorite woodworking store and talk shop at Woodcraft! We have all the items required to make these tools in case you don’t already have them in your shop.
Here is what you will need. For a roughing cutter we used a jig saw blade, and for finishing and finer trim work we used a scroll saw blade. Add a couple of dowels, your choice of adhesive, some assembly and you’re ready to carve.
First we cut a couple of 1/2″ dowels, 3″ – 4″ in length, but you can decide what diameter and length is the best fit for your hands. Second, drill a hole to fit the end of the blades into the dowels. Smooth the ends of the dowels by sanding a chamfer to the edges. If you want to make a point on the end of the blades, do so by cutting the scroll saw and jig saw blades at your desired angle using wire cutters or a grinder can be used as well. You may want to cut the blades to 4″ in length or at your specific length choice depending upon your pumpkin design.
We used CA Glue on the square end of the jig and scroll saw blades and affixed them by drilling a round hole and cutting a slot in the dowel piece. You can also use E6000 Adhesive, Titebond Quick and Thick Multi-Surface Glue or System Three 5 Minute Epoxy. If all you have is thin CA Glue, that will work with a larger application amount.
You now have a set of rough and detailed cutters for pumpkin carving. They are safer to use than a kitchen knife and you can create more imaginative designs. Treat your Halloween guests to some LED lighting effects in your pumpkins by using flashlights like these that you can also find at Woodcraft.com or your local participating Woodcraft stores. If you wish to do some detailed or caricature pumpkin carving, check out our Realistic Pumpkin Carving Books at Woodcraft too!
This pumpkin carving adventure is brought to you by our own VP of Distribution and Purchasing, Jerry Van Camp. After he crafted the carving tools, our pumpkins were carved by our local Geppetto’s Woodcarvers in Parkersburg, WV which meet every Thursday at noon at Woodcraft.
Afterwards, we had a little Trunk or Treat for the families of Woodcraft employees and their children! Enjoy our Woodworking Adventure in this video…
