Pyrography

Pyrography or wood burning as it is better known is a fun hobby using a heated tool to burn wood, leather, gourds or many other materials. The pyrography tool itself comes in many forms and prices, which one is best for you is very much down to what you want to achieve. Some people do very simple burnings with bold single shade lines, writing or patterns. If this is the style you like a cheaper unit would be fine, these often look like a soldering iron with screw-in tips of different shapes. If you are aiming for very realistic burnings then a more expensive unit would be best, these can cost hundreds of pounds and come largely with a temperature control box and pen like burning tool. The more expensive units usually use a wire tip system rather than solid shape, with the wire you can create many different patterns and shapes to suit your individual style.

When burning good ventilation is always essential, it is surprising how much smoke can build up over a period of an hour without you noticing. You can purchase ready made units to suck the smoke out of the work area and pump it down a pipe you can put out of a window, these however can be quite expensive. As I don't tend to spend hours and hours burning I opted for a home made version that only cost me a few pounds and is great for what I need. I would also advise you get a decent quality face mask (smoke filters not just cheaper dust ones), you may not always need this but if burning toxic woods like Yew it is advisable. Most woods can be used to some extent but as with all wood working some work better than others. Lime and Jelutong are excellent to burn and as they are light in colour you get a good contrast, they can also be painted and stained easily which helps later in the process. Care should be taken if using Plywood due to the glues used in its manufacture and MDF should never be used for this reason.