Hi guys!
You may remember from my previous post about the wooden necklaces, that my husband is a woodturner (check out our website), and one of the processes he uses to decorate or embellish some of his pieces is pyrography, which is the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object.
So I thought I'd have a go. Once familiarised with the equipment and tools, I had a lot of fun, and, after much doodling and mark making, came up with the three designs (seed pods, fennel & umbellifers) which I applied to wooden hearts. These plaques would make perfect wall hangings and are available from our Etsy shop (www.craftykindcrafts.etsy.com) if you'd like to buy one.
So, onto the equipment. In order to pyro, you will need to have a pyrography unit, one or two pyrography pens and an air filter. If you get into pyrography, you'll discover that a variety of different nibs are available (different thicknesses, different shapes). But let's start off with the standard one that will come with your kit for now.
You will, of course, need some wood (or leather if you like, but we'll cover that in a separate blog) to practice on and also some finished pieces that you are wanting to decorate. I won't go into detail about the various kits you can buy. Needless to say, you can shop around and find some fairly inexpensive ones to get going with. I've provided the brand names for the equipment we are using merely because I know it works.
The equipment is really quite simple. You must first of all switch on your air filter, and have it positioned so that it draws the smoke/fumes away from you. When you start to pyro you'll know what I mean. Do not inhale the smoke! It's really not very good for you.
Make sure your pen is connected to the unit (the jack end is usually inserted into the port on the front of the unit, but the configuration may differ from brand to brand) and then switch on the unit, turning the dial to your desired heat.
The higher the number, the hotter the heat!
You'll see that the wire at the end of your pen starts to heat up pretty rapidly. Once glowing, you can start to make marks on your practice piece of wood.
Now, the heat you use will very much depend on the type of wood you've chosen, the nature of the design you're aiming at, and the size and shape of the pen nib. It's just a question of practising making marks and textures on the wood. You're basically doodling until you feel relatively confident with the pen and the heat. That said, it's not the same as using a standard pen or pencil, as the nib starts to cool down as you apply it to the wood. You tend to use light, brief strokes to achieve your marks. If you leave the pen on for too long, you will basically burn the wood too much - but you'll see what I mean once you have a go yourself.
I'll take you through the process I used to apply my "seed pods" design to a wooden ply-wood heart by means of pyrography:
- I, first of all, drew my design onto the wooden heart.
- I then set up the pyrography equipment as described above, and first of all, drew in the outlines using the pyrography pen.
- Once I was happy with the outlined design, I went on to add shading and form. I chose a stippling texture for this piece. Here's a brief video of the stippling process ...
- Once completed, I then rubbed out all the pencil marks. This is the great thing about pyrography, as you can make mistakes with your pencil marks and just rub them off afterwards. You obviously can't rub out any of the burned-in marks ... but that just adds to the thrill of it!
- I applied a little cellulose sanding sealer to the piece, just to give it some protection and a slight sheen.
Keep crafting x
If you fancy looking at our Etsy shop, please click here!
Disclaimer: We are not sponsored by any companies we mention, nor are any of these links affiliate links, nor are we trying to sell you anything. The links are purely for your convenience if you are interested in anything we try or show you.
You may remember from my previous post about the wooden necklaces, that my husband is a woodturner (check out our website), and one of the processes he uses to decorate or embellish some of his pieces is pyrography, which is the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object.
So I thought I'd have a go. Once familiarised with the equipment and tools, I had a lot of fun, and, after much doodling and mark making, came up with the three designs (seed pods, fennel & umbellifers) which I applied to wooden hearts. These plaques would make perfect wall hangings and are available from our Etsy shop (www.craftykindcrafts.etsy.com) if you'd like to buy one.
 |
You will, of course, need some wood (or leather if you like, but we'll cover that in a separate blog) to practice on and also some finished pieces that you are wanting to decorate. I won't go into detail about the various kits you can buy. Needless to say, you can shop around and find some fairly inexpensive ones to get going with. I've provided the brand names for the equipment we are using merely because I know it works.
 |
| "Peter Child" pyrography unit |
 |
| Pyrography pens (2 different nibs) |
 |
| "Microclene" air filter |
Make sure your pen is connected to the unit (the jack end is usually inserted into the port on the front of the unit, but the configuration may differ from brand to brand) and then switch on the unit, turning the dial to your desired heat.
The higher the number, the hotter the heat!
You'll see that the wire at the end of your pen starts to heat up pretty rapidly. Once glowing, you can start to make marks on your practice piece of wood.
Now, the heat you use will very much depend on the type of wood you've chosen, the nature of the design you're aiming at, and the size and shape of the pen nib. It's just a question of practising making marks and textures on the wood. You're basically doodling until you feel relatively confident with the pen and the heat. That said, it's not the same as using a standard pen or pencil, as the nib starts to cool down as you apply it to the wood. You tend to use light, brief strokes to achieve your marks. If you leave the pen on for too long, you will basically burn the wood too much - but you'll see what I mean once you have a go yourself.
 |
| Making marks on your practice piece |
- I, first of all, drew my design onto the wooden heart.
 |
| I used a standard pencil to draw my design on to the wooden heart |
 |
| Outlines are drawn on using the pyrography pen |
- Once completed, I then rubbed out all the pencil marks. This is the great thing about pyrography, as you can make mistakes with your pencil marks and just rub them off afterwards. You obviously can't rub out any of the burned-in marks ... but that just adds to the thrill of it!
 |
| Completed "seed pods" heart |
 |
| Cellulose sanding sealer |
Keep crafting x
If you fancy looking at our Etsy shop, please click here!
Disclaimer: We are not sponsored by any companies we mention, nor are any of these links affiliate links, nor are we trying to sell you anything. The links are purely for your convenience if you are interested in anything we try or show you.
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