Photo uploaded on March 14, 2012

Comment by Bart McNeil on March 23, 2012 at 9:10am

Initially I was going to cut with the saw horizontally as you will probably have to do with the sand in bucket idea. However I thought I might not be able to maintain an even cut with the saw in a horizontal position. Once I built my support system to hold the gourd stable I was able to cut straight down and achieved a very straight cut... That is important as it takes forever to sand the gourd hole "flat" once it has been cut unevenly.

Just a note on drawing the circle on the gourd... I tried to hand draw it but failed miserably until I used a Lazy Susan and turned the goard on the Lazy Susan while holding my crayon absolutely still as I turned the goard around. The circle was close to perfect. Rest your elbow on the table while doing this and you can get a perfect circle for cutting. A crayon works well as a marker.

For the straightest cut I used regular carpenters hand saw as the wide blade will help maintain the straightness of the cut as you go down through the goard. I suggest you cut straight down... not with the saw at an angle. Again, I think that helps you keep the cut straight.

Another solution to a straight cut would be to build a miter box big enough to hold the goard and the saw. Once the gourd is secure the cutting would be a breeze. Of course when using a miter box if the gourd is secured a "cut line" around the gourd would be unnecessary.

 

 

Comment by Steve Jeter on March 26, 2012 at 8:02am

 I cut one this wknd.  I measured up from the bottom all around ,,, then connected the lines.  I bored a 3/8 hole above the cut line toward top. Then used a mini hacksaw blade, and it cut great. Not to say I did though. Had to smooth some.   I have put 2 coats of titebond 2inside    to hopefully strengthen the gourd.

Comment by Moschella Banjos on May 14, 2012 at 8:45am

All I do when cutting gourds open is to first find the line of the cut and draw it on. Then i drill a hole somewhere above that, and cut the top off with a jig saw. I cut on an angle, so the wall at the cut will be beveled inward, and I cut above the line, since I level it off on a board later. I then clean the inside of the gourd with a wire wheel on a drill. This hole process used to take me forever. Now it's really quick.

Comment by Steve Jeter on May 14, 2012 at 8:49am

AH, I will try this Jay. My 2nd , gourd is all ready for a neck{unfinished}  but Ill try this next time. Out of gourds though.  Ive gambled with ebay , and got 2 good ones out of 6, but from what I hear thats about average.

Comment by Moschella Banjos on May 14, 2012 at 9:19am

I just wrote a reply, but think it got lost.

I buy all my gourds from Welburn, and nearly every one is thick, strong, and usable. I don't remember the last time I got a gourd from them that was structurally unsound. Ebay gourds are too much of a gamble. The only issue with Welburn is that you need to buy them by the box, so it can be expensive up front, but I'd rather have a bunch of great gourds waiting to be used than keep ordering ones that turn out to be brittle and unusable only after they arrive. You could always reinforce with epoxy resin, though, if you have a gourd that's a little too thin. Takes a little practice, though.

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