[Rodney]

.....I don't carve. Sometimes I get hare-brained ideas that I just have to act on. This was one of them.

I started this one after Halloween last year.

I turned and hollowed the pumpkin on my daughter's lathe. A real woodturner would laugh at the job I did hollowing, it's pretty rough inside. Then I carved it into a vaguely pumpkin like shape with a utility knife and used a drill and wood chisels to cut out the face. I broke his face in the process and ended up gluing it back together. If I do another I'll carve the face first then hollow it out.

It's painted with cheap acrylic craft paints. I used three colors. Pumpkin orange, yellow, and black. I painted thin black lines down the indents on the pumpkin's side then painted the orange over it and mixed in a little yellow here and there and shaded and blended it as best I could. The inside is mostly yellow with a little of the orange mixed in.

The handle is two pieces of weathered and half rotten white oak. The top portion kind of reminded me of an old, blackened stem. I carved the base trying to make it look more like a pumpkin's stem. It's not the most comfortable handle but it's only going to see limited use during Octobers.

I used a big heavy piece of hazel for the bottom of the shank. It's big so I could have room to hollow it out.

The shank comes off and houses a dollar store LED candle so the inside of the pumkin lights up. Easy, but with no external switch the cane has to come apart to turn it on and off.

Anyway, it was a fun project even if my wife and daughter both think I'm nuts.

Thanks for looking,

Rodney

 

[dww2]

Your wife and daughter might be right but that is one cool looking stick!!

LOVE the handle; it has such a great organic look to it.

If you went one of the pumpkin weighing contests I go to with that stick in hand, you'd get mugged for it. (Or at least offered a really nice chunk of change)

 

[Rodney]

Maybe I should make a couple more. I think they have some of those events here.

There are some things I'll do differently next time. I'd like a switch on the outside for starters. I just couldn't find one that looked like it would work easily. It's something I'll have to dig into more.

Right now the process to light it is this: Take the cane apart with an allen wrench, put the batteries in the candle, put the candle in the cane, then put the cane back together. I'm not selling one like that. I'll put up with the hassle because I made it but I won't expect a buyer to.

I need to wait for payday to get some batteries for it. We just had some work done to the car and we'll be pretty much broke until payday.

 

[dww2]

The GPC (Giant Pumpkin Commonwealth) site bigpumpkins.com lists four in Washington: The Skagit Giant Pumpkin Fest in Mt. Vernon, the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, the Elysian Brewery Weighoff in Seattle, and Central Market in Shoreline.

Even without the added light, I bet you could bring 20-30 sticks to the first show and have none left by the end of the fourth one.

I'd thought about doing a stick with maybe a Fritz style handle which had a pumpkin at one end or the other and carve vines down the length of the stick.

 

[Rodney]

I'm kind of surprised there's none listed east of the mountains. Seattle, Shoreline and Puyallup are all within about 2 hours of me. Skagit is probably closer to 4 hours away.

I'll have to work out the electrical aspects a bit more before I try selling any.

You should make yours. I think it would be a fun one.

 

[LilysDad]

As for carving, your ideas and execution are fine, but your choice of tools is holding you back. A really sharp knife and a few basic chisels would put you light-years ahead.

 

[Rodney]

My thoughts are a little mixed on that. I had fun carving it but it was more of a fun change of pace than anything else. I'm not sure I can justify the expense of some decent carving tools when I think about how little I carve. I do have an old set of carving tools but they're small and more suited for fine details. They also need a really good sharpening to be useful.

 

[Rodney]

The pumpkin was fun enough that I decided to start another one. I also ordered some electrical parts (LEDs, switches, battery holders) so this next one will be a lot handier to light and use. No pictures yet, I have the pumpkin shaped but am waiting for my parts to arrive before I start the rest of it.

So yes, at this point I probably have to admit to carving some. Just not well.

Rodney

 

[LilysDad]

So yes, at this point I probably have to admit to carving some. Just not well.

Rodney

No one starts well. After a few pumpkins turn one into a scarecrow head or a wizard.

 

[Gloops]

Looks good and different, the short sho.ot at the front of the handle is crying out for a Eagles head

 

[Rodney]

That wouldn't work on this one. There's a big "V" of missing wood on top where that branch broke off. The wood is also a little on the punky side inside the broken area. The branch was a really interesting shape but a little too far gone and a little uncomfortable for a more traditional cane. It's fine for a cane that will only see light occasional use though.