Same as the previous section, with one exception, once
the shell has turned tan, which in most cases takes one to two days,
the gourd can now be cut open. Using our own experience as an example,
we make trinket boxes out of bottle gourds, which the first cut
we make is to cut the gourd in half. As soon as the entire shell
has a tan or brownish appearance, (tapping on the shell you can
tell the shell has cured), I take my gourd to the band saw and cut
it open. You must be careful though, there can be a lot of mush
on the inside of the gourd, as it has not yet dried out.
Using a spoon, or some type of scooping/scraping tool,
(we use spoon shaped ceramic clay tools), and you will want a bucket
or something to scoop the innards into, (they can be quite slimy
and not always odor free at this point), scoop out all the loose
seeds and pulp. Inside the gourd along with the seeds is a membrane
like substance that is attached rather firmly to the navel of the
gourd, in most cases when it is wet like this, it is difficult to
grip and tear loose, so it may require several attempts at cutting
it with the scraping tool, but you should be able to get it out.
Once you have the bulk of the matter out, use your scraping tool
to get most of what is at tached to the inside walls of the gourd,
don’t try to scrape everything out, the whole purpose is to
get rid of the bulk that takes so long to dry. Once you have the
shell of the gourd pretty well done, you can take it to the sink
to rinse off the brownish or mushy stuff, and anything that may
have run down the outside of the gourd, so it doesn’t stain
the finish. Once it is all clean, pop it back in the oven, in less
than a days time at 175 - 200 degrees, it should be dry, the remaining
insides will be crispy, and yes, it is ready to craft.