Dollarama Steak Knives Into Primo Pumpkin Lobotomizers

I love carving elaborate pumpkins on Halloween. Unfortunately, my Pumpkin masters kit wore out last year, and I haven't been able to find anything as good or even to my liking.  So I made a set!  Including the long trip to the doghouse--er, garage, it took me half an hour.  And that includes taking the photos.  Apologies in advance for the poor quality of the photos--used my phone.

Step 1: Buy the Knives, Mark 'em.

They were $1.29 at Dollarama.  I marked the cuts for them. Used a sharpie and the side of my finger to get the marks parallel to the blade edge.

Step 2: Cut Them With Snips

I'd use straight snips rather than curved.  Also you have to be very careful because the stainless steel is very hard to cut. Hold the handle tight. They'll curl fiercely when you cut them.

Step 3: All Cut--Dress the Back and Straighten

You have to do it in that order or you might cut yourself.

Dress the back of the blade with a file or angle grinder first. Make sure you get all the burrs off! They are painful and potentially dangerous! Also, try for that nice concave curve in between the blade and the handle.  Next, use your fingers and a pair of pliers, or vise grips to straighten them. I tried an anvil but fingers and vise grips worked better.

Step 4: Trim the Tips

This does 2 things. Makes it safer for your fingers, and makes the tip more durable.  Cut those tips off then grind down to a more reasonable point. Hint--you don't need as sharp a point as you might think. The point I've made on the middle one is just fine.

Step 5: Et Voila! a Complete Set of Pumpkin Lobotomizers

You can see, more or less, widest to narrowest. You need the wider ones for bigger cuts and the narrower ones for the finer cuts. Make both, you won't be sorry.  They won't win any prizes for beauty, but your pumpkins will!  Now go win some!