CARVING TIPS

Selecting the Pumpkin

Select an unbruised medium or large pumpkin.  You can always enlarge your pattern; shrinking a pattern can get impractical for detail work. Check for discoloration and soft spots. Pumpkins that are flat and don't roll work best. Look for pumpkins with a sturdy stem, this is the sign of a healthy pumpkin. Don't lift the pumpkin by the stem, this can damage the pumpkin and make it age faster.

Check the bottom of the pumpkin to see if the base is damaged. Sometimes the bottom of the pumpkin is thin and can get punctured, encouraging premature rotting.

The Right Tools

You need special pumpkin saws, drills, pokers, scrapers, knives, exact-o knives, pins or thumb tacks, and tape. Saws of differing length and teeth spacing determine how well they work for tight areas. Closer teeth and smaller length provide high detail. The width of a drill determines the size of the hole it makes. Your drill's length should be able to fully penetrate the pumpkin. Scrapers are used to make the back wall of the pumpkin smooth. This is where the reflected light will be coming from. Pokers are used to transfer patterns onto the pumpkin as well as to make very small holes. The most important tool is the mini hand held saw.

Preparation

Do not skip this step, no matter how much you are tempted to consider it too basic to read.

Cut off the lid of the pumpkin, angling the edge of the saw or knife. This is the only time you will be making a cone-shaped wedge. You don't want the lid falling in. Keep the pumpkin steady and don't cut your hand, you'll need it later. Note, not all pumpkins have to have lids. If you intend to have a candle, be sure there is plenty of ventilation for the candle to breath, and consider not putting on the lid (which will scortch). Optionally, cut out the bottom or back (unless you're casting a projection) of the pumpkin to preserve the top.

After gutting the pumpkin of all it's seeds and strings, scrape it with a scraper. The wall for the front of the pumpkin should be no more than one inch thick. Anything more makes carving difficult. Don't make it too thin, or then thin areas will dry out and get wrinkled.  

 

The wall for the back of the pumpkin should only be scraped thin if you are going to cast a shadow. In this case, scrape it down to half an inch thick. Read projection patterns are much smaller, and it helps if there is less pumpkin wall to cut into.

Front Patterns

Patterns for pumpkins are about as large as the face of the pumpkin.

Anywhere that will be light on the final product should be cut away, in short, you're cutting out the negative. Patterns make high use of negative space.

Obviously you can't have pieces floating, so everything has to connect to the wall of the pumpkin.

Rear Projection Patterns

Pumpkins can project images out the back and onto a flat surface. This effect looks really nice for indoor displays. The patterns need to be mirror image, that is flipped left-to-right, in order to project things like text on the wall correctly. Rear projection patterns need to be smaller than normal patterns and are typically no larger than four inches square. The pattern should be towards the top of the pumpkin's back, not centered like the frontal pattern. The light source should be below the cut pattern. This allows the light to project upwards onto the wall.