Here's the tool I made for sanding the inside of gourds.  I use something like the gourd wand for the first part of the cleaning and then follow up with this tool. Cut a 3/8 dowel rod to the length you want.  12 inches seems to work well. Cut a 3 to 4 inch slot in the dowel rod. Cut two pieces of sand paper about 1/4 inch shorter than the slot in the dowel rod, and 4 to 6 inches long.  Cut slits on one side of the paper to help it conform to the inside of the gourd. Place one piece with the slits facing left and paper side up and the other piece facing right with the grit side up.  Overlap the two pieces sandpaper and slide them into the slot in the dowel rod.  Tie a piece of string around the bottom of the dowel rod to keep everything in its place. I have a couple of them.  I usually use 60 or 80 grit sandpaper first, followed by some 120 grit. --Keith Billy -- the kid

A nail set is a good choice to make small holes around the rim of a gourd if you are not near electricity or have a fear of "power tools." I prefer the nail set to an awl because it is shorter in length which makes for better control.  Simply twist while pushing this tool into the gourd. Various sizes available at any hardware store.
 --  barb cesal, Illinois

An electric jigsaw is a great tool to make larger cut  outs or openings on hardshell gourds. Do NOT use the blade that comes with this saw.  Instead, buy a BOSCH blade which is finer and less likely to shatter your gourd.
--   barb cesal, Illinois

A keyhole saw is often recommended for cutting gourds --especially if working with children. If you can't find the keyhole saws when you go to the hardware store, ask the clerk where to find "wall board" saws, and the tiny keyhole saws will be there, too.
-- Lyn Rehm, Ohio

Ventilation Chamber for Doing Pyrography on Gourds

Ed - of Ed and Darienne McAuley, Singing Dog Studios - does the burning on the gourds. For one of his regular pyrographic techniques he keeps the burning tip glowing red-hot. The resulting deep textured burning mirrors the chiseled and gouged first nations' petroglyphs, those myriad figures and symbols cut by ancient North American tribes on rock. Here, close to where we live in central Ontario, Canada, is one of the largest single locations of native petroglyphs in all of North America. Living so near to the "Petroglyphs", as they are called locally, has greatly influenced our gourd art. In addition, part of Ed's heritage is Algonkian, on his Mother's side. One day, after burning for a few hours, Ed realized that that the heavy burning that he does for the petroglyph gourds was generating a lot of smoke - a delicious smell is it not? - and his lungs were beginning to pay a price. The combination of the heat, smoke and fumes was beginning to be a serious problem. It was then that he devised his HANDY DANDY BURNING CHAMBER, built quickly and at minimal cost.

He built a wooden box, open at the front - 3 sides and a top (Width 24", Height 15", Depth 15")- which sits on a small table in our studio. Over a 4" hole cut in the top of the box, he installed a bathroom exhaust fan and to that connected one end of a flexible 4" dryer hose. The other end of that hose is connected to an aluminum collar fitted through a piece of 1 1/2" rigid insulating foam. This foam is cut to fit exactly in a convenient window opening and the whole unit as described (which is quite portable) does an effective job of drawing the smoke outdoors. All materials for the unit are readily available at a reasonable cost from any building supply store. An additional safety feature. The exhaust fan is plugged into a power bar into which the burning unit is also plugged. Thus, when the fan is turned off by the switch in the power bar, the ENTIRE unit is OFF. Including the wood burner. The beauty of this is that because the fan makes a considerable amount of noise, you are not likely to go away and leave it on - one hopes. Thus if the fan is off, you cannot not go away and leave the wood-burning unit on - which makes no noise - but could be dangerous left on indefinitely - not to mention that the unit could burn out.