World’s fastest Pumpkin carving: Halloween pumpkin carving tradition slashed to 30 seconds flat

Halloween is this week. Have you carved the pumpkins yet? A company in Fraser, Michigan has come up with a novel way to quickly make pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns. By using CNC waterjets they have turned the tradition of spending hours carving pumpkins into an activity that takes a fraction of a minute. Yes, it is a bit ridiculous but the pumpkins look really cool.

“Actually, my kids came up with the idea.” said Tom Monroe, Jr., of FluidCut, a waterjet cutting service, “They always see the amazing things we cut with the waterjet so they asked me to use it for their pumpkins. We cut everything from cutting glass sculptures for artists to armor for military tanks. Cutting pumpkins isn’t a problem.”

Using a water to cut food is nothing new. Much of the packaged food you find in the grocery store is cut with ultra high-pressure waterjets. However, carving the pumpkins with the waterjet does have its difficulties. The water is so powerful it cuts through both sides of the pumpkin. There are tricks that FluidCut uses to alleviate that problem.

Waterjets use ultra-high pressure water to cut almost any material. When cutting hard materials like copper, glass, or granite tile, an abrasive is added to the water. The most commonly used abrasive is the mineral garnet. Monroe said for pumpkin carving only water is needed.

Carving the pumpkins with the waterjet allows FluidCut to cut designs that are not possible with a knife. The kids’ favorite is the Homer Simpson jack-o-lantern, because the eyes and tongue are cut in a continuous spiral so it looks like they are popping out of Homer’s head. Adults seem to like the pumpkins with portraits of classic Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe and James Dean cut into them. You can see more pictures of the extreme pumpkin carving at the Halloween link at www.FluidCut.com.

The machine can carve pumpkins in seconds, but Monroe said he has to get back to work cutting other things like marble floor inlays and aluminum machine parts for his customers. Carving pumpkins with the waterjet does make some amazing jack-o-lanterns for Halloween but Monroe added he still is going to take an hour or two to carve some pumpkins at the kitchen table. “No matter how fast I can cut them on the waterjet, or how cool they look, I’m not about to give up the tradition of carving them the old fashioned way with my friends and family.”