I thought I would tray again this year, a few years back had a not-so-good experience carving foam pumpkins, but it would be so nice to be able to keep them.

So, anybody got tips on how to carve these badboys successfully?

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Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

well hey MT I use a electric pumpkin knife and do it just like the real deal. Good Luck with yours.

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Hooch I have used a number of different carving techniques.

Xacto knife - Works well but slow and can cause breakage in smaller areas due to pressure.

Dremel Tool - Works great and quick.. Need small bits for details and creates alot of "dust" but this is what I use mostly

Hot Knife - Its just like a wood burning tool with a flat blade on the end. This works very well as well but it creates fumes so you have to do it in a well ventilated area.

Thanks, guys!

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Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

I have only bought foam pumpkins for the last 3 years. I got tired of seeing something I worked so hard on rot!

I use the little saw blades that come in the pumpkin carving kits and last year they came out with a kit just for the foam pumpkins. I bought it but couldn't tell any difference.

When transferring your pattern, the more holes you poke into the "skin" the better off you are when it comes to actually cutting.

I use the blade with the smallest teeth and I saw up and down with it, moving as fast or slow as need be.

When you start getting to where a lot of the stuff has been cut away the walls get kind of flimsy. At that point, I use one hand to saw and the other to brace the wall so it doesn't break from the movement.

Something I did differently last year was to cut a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin. It was supposed to be for sitting it over a light but it came in very handy for bracing the walls. Always before I would just have to find a cut out big enough to get my fingers or hand in.

It does make a bit of a mess - just have a vaccuum handy when you get finished! Good luck!

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I used the saws for the foam pumpkins until last year.

I now use only a hot blade to melt the foam and I can't see doing it any other way. I have carved some very complicated things (the last supper took me about 7 hours over a 3 day period) and I would not have been able to do it with any other tool.

I also cut the bottom out but only large enough to put the low wattage flicker light in since a live fire is out of the question.

If you have not tried the hot knife, I recommend it! You will be VERY happy you switched.

My avitar was one I carved with the hot knife on a medium sized foam pumpkin (fun-kin).


This one is with a bright white light so the detail is more pronounced.

This is the flicker light which makes it a little dimmer, but the detail looks better in person.

Hmmm...I never thought of using a hot blade. Could you break down the steps for me (us)?

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Brains for every single meal....why can't we have some guts?!

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TerraGenesis: Hot Wire Foam Factory 3-in-1 kit

Take a look here it kinda shows one variety of the a hot blade/knife.

Micheals sells them as well

Where can it be found at Michaels? What section?

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Brains for every single meal....why can't we have some guts?!

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At my Micheals store they are with the wood burning stuff

I did this one with a dremel tool