© 2020 by Michele Y. Parsons and Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552.

Quick-Start Woodburning Guide is an original work, first published in 2020 by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holders.

Print ISBN 978-1-4971-0084-8

eISBN 978-1-6076-5781-1

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Contents

What Is Pyrography?

Safety

Types of Equipment

Care of Equipment and Materials

Preparing to Woodburn

Techniques for Woodburning

Coloring Woodburning

Finishing Woodburning

Troubleshooting

Other Resources

About the Author

What Is Pyrography?

Pyrography is another word for woodburning, but the term woodburning is only used when burning on wood.

Pyrography in Latin means “fire” (pyro-) and “writing/ drawing” (-graphy).

When you are burning patterns, text, or images on materials, such as gourds, leather, cork, canvas, tagua nuts, bone, or paper, the proper term is pyrography.

One of the most popular materials that people burn is wood. Because it’s the go-to material, people often refer to all of pyrography as woodburning, which is incorrect. It’s best to only use the term woodburning when referring to burning on wood. In the end, though, whatever you want to call it, pyrography is an excellent craft to learn and wood is a good place to start.

Woodburning is one of many pyrography techniques.

Safety

When you burn material, it releases fumes into the air. Breathing certain fumes can cause serious health risks. Sometimes the fumes can be irritating to your lungs; other times, fumes can be toxic to your health.

Suitable Materials to Burn | Dangerous Materials to Burn
Natural, raw wood | Wood that has been treated, painted, or sealed
Light-colored domestic wood (like basswood, maple, poplar, or ash) | Dark-colored or exotic wood (like walnut, cocobolo, cedar [for some people], African mahogany, mimosa, olive wood, rosewood, milky mangrove, mulga, laburnum, oleander, and yew)
Dry, clean wood | Spalted, mildewed, or moldy wood
Vegetable-tanned leather | Chrome-tanned or chemically tanned leather
Natural cork | Chemically treated cork
Natural canvas | Chemically treated canvas
Cleaned gourds | Moldy gourds
Natural materials | MDF/bonded or man-made boards/ acrylics/plastics
Tagua nuts (vegetable ivory) |
Paper (like 140 lb. [300g] watercolor paper, hot or cold pressed) |

Only burn natural and untreated items !

Leaning over your work causes the fumes to rise directly into your face. Sit back in your chair. If you cannot see your work well, use magnifying glasses or a slant table or easel.

Sitting back in your chair and using a slanted surface results in fumes rising without getting in your face. It can also prevent overhead lighting from reflecting off your burning, causing a glare.

Use a small fan to blow fumes away from you and your work. Open windows and doors for better air circulation.

Use an activated carbon filter fan next to your work to trap fumes. The fumes should go through the fan immediately when burning for best results.

Another way to avoid breathing the fumes is to build a ventilation system that vents directly to the outdoors. This is a permanent solution that does not allow for carrying your work to a temporary location, such as when you can bring a fan to a pyrography class.

A ventilation system can include several options: a hooded vent located over the burning area, a fan to blow the fumes outdoors, or an activated carbon filter fan to draw the fumes through the filter before they are channeled outdoors.

Set your activated carbon filter fan on blocks to raise it over the edge of your slanted surface (or rotating easel). This will trap the fumes as they roll off the edge of the artwork. Fans with a higher CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating are better at drawing fumes away.

Use a respirator with vapor filters, not dust filters. There are several inexpensive and comfortable half-mask options to choose from.

Tip Check the CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating on the activated carbon filter fan when purchasing. The higher the CFM number, the better the fan will be at removing fumes.

Safety Tip Get into the habit of turning off your woodburner when you are connecting/ reconnecting pens or when you stop burning for a few minutes. If you develop this habit, you will automatically turn off the woodburner and avoid any potential hazards.

Types of Equipment

There are different methods of woodburning, including using modern electrical woodburning equipment, high-voltage transformers, torches, iron pokers, and solar lenses and magnifiers. This book covers modern electrical woodburning equipment and techniques to burn designs and images onto wood.

Woodburners

Solid Point vs. Wire Tipped

There are two types of woodburners: solid point and wire tipped, which are named by the types of pen tips they use. Solid-point woodburners use solid brass tips, and wire-tipped woodburners use nichrome wire tips.

Solid-point burners, sometimes called craft burners, look similar to soldering irons. The burner consists of an all-in-one pen handle and cord with a removable brass tip that screws into the handle. This type of woodburner can be purchased as either a single-temperature burner (in various maximum temperatures) or a woodburner with a rheostat to adjust the temperature.

Depending on the tip shape, solid-point woodburners can take as long as five minutes to heat up. The brass tip holds heat well, so the pen can make really nice, dark backgrounds. This means the tip also takes a long time to cool.

Solid-point woodburners are inexpensive, all-in-one burner pens.

Do not apply a lot of pressure when burning to avoid bending the tip. Let the tip cool a little before removing it from the handle. If you use pliers to remove the tip, do not strip the threads by torqueing when untwisting.

A wire-tipped woodburner consists of a transformer/control box connected to an electric pen by a cord. The nichrome wire tips are extremely sensitive and can usually heat up and cool down within seconds. This means you can rapidly change from really dark to really light burning as well as change the pen tips quickly.

Nichrome-wire pen tips come in a large variety of shapes and sizes. These tips can be extremely small and thin, allowing for very detailed burning. Nichrome-wire can also be bent and hammered to make custom tips for use in replaceable-tip handles.

Nichrome-wire shader pens lose their heat rapidly when they come in contact with a material’s surface, so use shorter pen strokes when shading to maintain the heat level. (See here for techniques.)

Single Pen vs. Dual Pen

Wire-tipped woodburners can be purchased as either single-pen units or dual-pen units. A dual-pen unit will not allow both pens to be used at the same time. A switch is used to toggle back and forth between the pens, which allows you to have two pens ready to go at any time. This saves wear and tear by reducing the frequency of plugging and unplugging the pens.

Wire-tipped burners can burn fine details.

Wire-tipped woodburners are available as single or dual units.

A dual-pen unit also allows options for configuring different cords. For example, you can have both a standard and a heavy-duty cord plugged into your woodburner. Standard cords are used for general burning, and heavy-duty cords are used for high-temperature burning, such as dark shading or burning on materials that need higher heat. A dual-pen unit can also be configured with different cords, such as a cord that accepts Razertip® pens and a cord that accepts Colwood and Optima pens, so that pens of multiple brands can be used on the same unit.

Woodburning Pens

Woodburning pens come in two styles: fixed tip and replaceable tip.

Fixed-Tip Pens

In a fixed-tip pen, the tip and the handle are one piece.

A fixed-tip pen refers to a pen with its tip permanently soldered to the pen handle, providing what is considered by most to be the best connection possible. The entire pen unit is connected and disconnected from the unit’s cord.

Replaceable-Tip Pens

A replaceable-tip pen comes in two pieces: the pen handle and the tip. The advantage of purchasing a replaceable-tip pen is that once you buy the handle, you only need to buy new tips, which is very inexpensive compared to purchasing a fixed-tip pen.

Some replaceable wire tips are held in place between the screw and handle tip holder and then tightened. This style allows you to purchase ready-made nichrome wire tips or make your own.

Some manufacturers sell replaceable wire tips that are thickened at the end. These tips slip into a channel in the handle before the screws are tightened.

This type of replaceable tip is soldered into a bushing, which is pushed into the handle to complete the pen. A tip puller is then used to remove the component, which is a method used for pens like the Colwood replaceable-tip pen (see here for step-bystep instructions).

Solid-point woodburners have replaceable brass tips that are screwed into the handle

How to Install and Remove a Replaceable-Tip Component

To Install

Line the groove on the tip component up with the white dot on the handle.

Push the tip component down into the pen handle.

To Remove

Hold the pen handle and the tip puller overhand. Wrap the tip puller around the collar of the tip component. Squeeze the tip puller and hold.

Pull the tip puller and component STRAIGHT out of the pen. Do not twist the component to prevent the component rods from becoming bent.

Pen Tip Categories

Woodburning pens are grouped into four categories by their usage: writers, skews, shaders, and branding/ specialty. Although a pen can be used in a variety of ways, its category designation is based on its designed primary function. For example, a shader pen can be used on its side as a skew, but its primary purpose is to be used upright as a shader. Categorizing pens by their primary purpose makes it easier to select them, especially when some manufacturers make as many as 900 pens from which to choose.

Writers

Writer pens have a rounded tip that burn lines with soft edges. The tip can can be a round endpoint, bent wire, or ball. This allows it to glide over the surface without getting caught in the wood grain or texture.

Writers’ rounded tips allow them to move in any direction, such as in circles and loops.

Skews

The knife edge of skew tips allows them to make straight lines or slightly curved lines.

Skew pens are named for the tilted, skewed angle of the knife edge. The point (or toe) can be pointed or rounded, and the heel (lower angle from the point) can be squared or rounded. A skew tip cuts into the wood while it burns, which restricts its movement and creates very sharp, dark lines.

Shaders

While shader pens are similar to skew pens with their knife edges, shaders are usually bent at about a 45º angle. Place this angled tip flat on the wood in the same way you would hold a clothing iron on fabric. There are a large variety of tips available—extra small to extra large, pointed or rounded toe, spoon shaped, and closed/solid “iron” or open shaped.

Shader pens burn the wood in different shades of brown, resembling the effects of a paintbrush.

Branding and Specialty

Examples of these pen tips are circles, squares, and a variety of shapes that are all pressed onto the wood and held until the shape is burned, much like a cattle brander.

Branding/specialty tips are those that don’t fall into the previous three categories. These tips are used to create unique burned designs in the wood. Pens from left to right: Razertip Keeled Snake Scale, Razertip 3.8mm Circle, Optima Basket Weave Coil, Colwood Basket Weave Coil, Colwood .240” Circle, and Walnut Hollow® Geometric Design.

Cords and Adapters

If using a woodburner with a pen of a different brand requires a switch in orientation, you’ll need to use an adapter cord or adapter connector.

Wire-tipped woodburners have cords of different weights available. Cords can be wired directly into the burner, or they can have lug endings for screw connections, phone jack plugs, or RCA plugs. The end of the cord that attaches to the pen will have either a male or female RCA connection, depending on what brand of pen you are using.

An adapter connector will add a little extra weight onto the end of your pen. For this reason, some pyrographers prefer to purchase adapter cords that will connect to their woodburners so they can use pens from multiple brands.

Other Equipment

Tilting easels and slant boards allow you to burn the top of a large piece while sitting. A tilted table or slant board can also prevent overhead lighting from reflecting off your burning at an angle that can cause glare.

A rotating table provides the benefit of being able to quickly turn your work while burning. This eliminates the need to stop burning in order to turn your artwork. It allows you to follow curves in a continuous motion while using skew tips. Turning your piece is also very important for stroke direction and to create shading fades without putting your hand and arm into uncomfortable positions.

Tip Adapter connectors are inexpensive and look similar to audio connectors. However, you should avoid using audio connectors. Only use high-current connectors.

Care of Equipment and Materials

Burning causes carbon to build up on your pens, which causes uneven burning or carbon smudges that do not erase. To achieve the best burning, you will need to clean and polish your pens.

Cleaning and Polishing Your Pen Tips

Wipe your pen tip on a piece of denim when you notice black specks (carbon dust) while burning. Protect your table or project by placing the denim on a scrap piece of wood or heat-resistant silicone mat.

Tip Polish the edges and surfaces of thetip that will touch the wood. For the beveled knife edge on a skew, lean the tip to one side and run the beveled edge on the compound several times. Then lean the tip to the other side and polish the remaining beveled edge. For a writing tip, lean the tip in multiple directions to polish all sides of the rounded tip surface.

Polishing uses a leather strop (piece of rough-side-up leather attached to a piece of wood). A polishing compound, such as aluminum oxide or jeweler’s rouge is then added to the strop. Rub the cooled tip on the strop until polished then wipe it clean before heating the tip again.

Avoid polishing too often so you don’t round the edges of your tip over time. Only polish when using denim stops working or when you feel the tip dragging across the surface of the wood.

Excess debris buildup is especially common on shader tips. Hold a razor blade flat and parallel to the tip surface and gently scrape without letting the blade’s corners scratch the pen tip.

Branding/specialty pen tips are best lightly buffed with a very soft brass wire brush. Do not use brass brushes commonly found at hardware or home-improvement stores. Those coarse brushes are designed to remove rust and will scratch your pen tips.

Tip Only use sandpaper when deliberately reshaping your tip.

Protecting Your Equipment

Do not place your pen tips loosely in a box or case. Instead, use the manufacturer’s storage tubes that they were sold in, a tool roll for pens/gouges, or an artist’s paintbrush case to protect your pen tips from damage.

Carry and store your woodburning equipment in a case when not in use. Whether you use a specially designed case, a tool bag/case, or a box, ensure that your burner’s cords are protected from being cut or damaged.

Laying a hot pen on the table, where it can roll away from its placement or be touched accidentally, can cause you or your belongings to be burned. A misplaced hot pen can also touch your cord, which may then need to be replaced.

Tip To understand your equipment, please read the manufacturer’s instructions provided with your unit.

Protecting Your Material

Using a SmudgeGuard® or a cotton glove will protect your wood from hand oils or sweat.

Before you apply a finishing product to your wood, the surface can be damaged by water, hand oils, sweat, and lotions. Avoid damaging the wood by wearing a cotton glove or a SmudgeGuard® (a specialty glove designed to protect the wood while only covering part of your hand for comfort). Instead of using a glove, you can place a clean, dry cloth or paper on your working surface to rest your hand.

When not burning on your project, either place your woodburning piece where it cannot be damaged or wrap your project to protect it. One method is to bubble-wrap the wood and place it in a box. You can also use clean T-shirts, towels, or blankets to wrap it.

Preparing to Woodburn

Equipment Setup

Place your burner and electrical connections on the side of your dominant hand. This positioning stops your cords from crossing your artwork.

Place the fan blowing away from your work, or if you have an activated carbon filter fan, place the fan very close to your work so the fumes go through the fan. Open the doors and windows if possible for additional ventilation.

Inspect the pen tips you will be using to ensure they are cleaned, polished, and ready for burning. See here for cleaning and polishing instructions.

Preparing the Wood

The smoother your wood is sanded using sandpaper with a higher-number grit rating, the more even the wood surface will be, causing your lines and shading to burn smoother. For a list of suitable woods to burn, see here.

Depending on how rough the wood is, you may want to start with coarse sandpaper at 80 or 100 grit and increase to 120, 180, 220, 320, and 400 or 600 grit. Sand to 220 grit or higher. Clean off the sanding dust with a cloth or tack cloth so your pen will burn directly on the wood.

The left side was sanded with 320-grit sandpaper and the right was sanded with 80-grit. Notice how visible the woodgrain lines are under the burn mark on the right as compared to the left.

Putting Your Design on the Wood

You can use a soft graphite pencil (2B to 6B) to draw a pattern directly on the wood, or you can transfer your pattern onto the wood using the following method.

Transferring a Pattern

Tape your pattern in position in two places on the same side to avoid the pattern shifting. Place a piece of unwaxed (lighter gray in color) transfer/graphite paper under the pattern, graphite side down.

Do not use waxed (very dark black) transfer/graphite paper because it is hard to erase when you are done burning your project. Also, do NOT use carbon paper (the old typewriter duplication paper). Carbon paper will transfer carbon lines that, once heat is applied, will not erase.

Trace a few lines and then check the results on the wood before continuing. Using a red red pen allows you to easily see which lines have been transferred.

When checking the transferred lines, make sure they are dark enough to see but not so dark that you’ll have trouble erasing them when you are done with your project. Transfer paper will transfer many times before you need to throw it away. When the lines get too light during the transfer process, it is time to replace the sheet.

To lighten lines and smudges, use a tape pickup. Tear off a piece of painter’s tape and stick it down on the smudge. Lift the tape quickly. Repeat this process until you lighten the area. The tape pickup will stop working after too much graphite gets stuck to it. Just tear off a new piece and continue the process.

Erasing excessive transfer paper smudges or really dark lines will smear the graphite into your wood. A tape pickup or artist’s kneaded eraser work well to lighten graphite and remove smudges.

TIP Methods that use solvents or heat to transfer ink or toner patterns is not recommended. Avoid burning solvent residues, ink, or toners. These methods are also difficult to erase.

Avoid smearing or erasing your transfer lines before you burn them by placing paper on the transferred lines or wear a SmudgeGuard. Avoid too much hand movement on any particular location until that area has been burned.

Tip Start your burn on the side closest to your dominant hand and work your way across the picture. Your hand will now only cross areas that are burned.

Techniques for Woodburning

It is easier to learn woodburning techniques on flat, two-dimensional wood before working on a three-dimensional surface. There are several techniques that are similar no matter which pen you are using.

Pen Temperature

Most wire-tipped woodburners have a temperature dial to adjust the heat, allowing you to control the burn of lines and marks from light to dark. Avoid setting the temperature so high that the pen tip starts glowing fluorescent red. It is okay for the tip to have a faint red glow when burning high temperatures on materials such as bone. However, allowing the pen tip to glow bright, fluorescent red anneals the tip metal, leaving the thin wire tip brittle and susceptible to breakage.

Choose a solid-point burner based on its maximum heat rating and intended purpose. For example, a general-purpose solid-point burner can have a heat temperature of 950°F (510°C), whereas a leather solid-point burner can have a heat temperature of 675°F (357°C).

If the heat bothers your hand, use a leather glove, a self-sticking finger tape, or silicone finger guards.

For most projects, the temperature setting on a wire-tipped woodburner will usually stay between 3.5 to 7.5 on your dial.

Pen Speed

When using a one temperature burner, create lighter lines by burning faster or burning while the pen is warming up or cooling down.

The speed of your pen stroke makes your line light or dark. The faster you move your pen, the lighter the line will be because the pen does not spend enough time in contact with the wood to burn it dark, and vice versa. Changing the pen speed while drawing a line will make it appear unevenly light and dark in places.

Avoid burning really fast and then turning the heat up higher to make a darker line. This will not only make your fingers feel hot but it will also produce blobs.

A slow and consistent speed burns better lines. When used in conjunction with adjusting your temperature dial, you will be able to adjust the tones from light to dark as needed.

Pen Angles

When learning to woodburn, hold the pyrography pen like a writing pen and observe the following angles to achieve the correct position.

Side-to-side angle: Avoid leaning the pen to the side in either direction. Leaning it to the side can change the width of the line, especially in a curve, resulting in an inconsistent burn.

Vertical angle: Observe how high or low you are holding the pen by looking at the angle from the table surface to the vertical position of the pen. The majority of the time, a comfortable 45° angle is used.

More vertical angle: There are times when raising the end of the pen to a more vertical position is useful to achieve a different mark, but it is tiring to hold the pen in a vertical position, and it allows the heat to rise directly onto the fingers.

Hand Support

Hand support is very important when burning because it gives you additional control over the pen. With a wire-tipped pen, simply rest your pen hand on the wood.

Since solid-point burners have a longer distance between where your fingers rest and the pen tip, gain hand support by placing something under your pen hand, such as a piece of wood, a rolled sock, or your other hand/wrist.

Maintaining hand support while working on 3D surfaces is more difficult with any pen type. See Working on a 3D surface here for more information.

Pen Pressure

Applying pressure while repeatedly drawing with a writer or skew produces texture.

The amount of pressure you apply (how hard to press your pen against the wood’s surface) will impact the depth of burn achieved and thus the depth of color. Heavy pressure will result in a deeper, darker burn; light pressure will have the opposite result.

Playing with pen pressure can create interesting texture in your pieces, especially when using a writer or skew tip. The more pressure you apply, the wider your line will look because the pen will push deeper into the wood as it burns the bottom and sides of the depression. Too much pressure with a writer pen will cause a bumpy line when crossing wood grain (seehere for an example).

Direction of Burning

There are instances when the direction in which you move the pen is important. If possible, rotate your project to achieve the burn direction without contorting your hand or arm. For instance, when burning a border frame pattern that changes direction as it moves from horizontal to vertical, rotate the wood when it changes direction so you can comfortably continue to make your pen strokes.

When burning whiskers or hair that extend off the head, turn your project so that you can start the pen stroke on the head and then pull the pen toward the elbow of the arm holding the pen. Rapidly lift the pen so it causes the end of the line to be thin.

If you want to shade the inside of a circle or other shape, rotate the shape so you can put the toe of the shader on the line and have the rest of the shader on the inside of the shape. This way, the shader is not blocking your view of the line, and you can avoid possibly burning outside of the line.

When shading an even gradation from dark to light, rotate the project so you can start the stroke on the image where you want it to be its darkest, and pull it in the direction where it needs to be lighter.

Techniques for Different Pen Types

See the Pen-Tip Categories section here for information about how pen tips are categorized and their different characteristics. Each of the four categories—writer, skew, shader, and branding/specialty—has its own special needs and techniques.

Writers

For a smoother straight line, pull the bent-wire tip in the same direction that the wire is bent.

Writer pens are designed with rounded edges on the tips to allow lines to be burned in a freeform style in any direction, such as when drawing circles and loops. Writers draw on the surface of the wood and produce soft lines.

Hold a writer pen similar to a ballpoint pen. Avoid holding the end of the pen too high in a vertical position because this position will allow the heat to rise onto your fingers. When using a bent-wire writer, draw straight lines in the same direction as the wire is bent.

Ball writers (left) make circles with perfectly even lines. Bent-wire writers (right) are better for natural-looking lines and writing where slightly thick and thin lines are desired, such as when a calligraphy effect is needed.

Ball writers (left) make perfectly round dots and even lines, no matter which direction the pen is moving. Bent-wire writers (right) make oval dots to the degree the wire is bent.

Ball writers (left) make a granular, dotted texture when scribbling. These are helpful for texturing a dog’s nose or anything needing a bumpy appearance. Bent-wire writers (right) make an even, soft texture when scribbling.

Skews

A skew’s knife edge allows it to cut while it burns. Because the knife is below the surface while burning, the skew can only make straight or curved lines. Circles can be made in segments as explained on next page. The skew burns sharp, dark lines.

The square-heel skew is designed for self-tracking, perfectly straight lines. (You can make curved lines only by lifting the heel out of the wood.) The longer the measurement is from the toe to the heel, the longer you can draw a straight line; the shorter this measurement, the sooner the pen can drift.

The round-heel skew is designed for curved lines. (You can make a straight line by using a metal ruler or manually controlling the pen by eyesight.) Hold the pen like a writing pen and twist it in your fingers as you pull it across the wood. Creating curved lines in both directions takes practice before it begins to feel natural. Avoid leaning the pen to either side since this changes the width of the line and results in an inconsistent burn.

A skew pen can’t move sideways to make a circle in one motion since it’s cutting into the wood while it’s burning. Trying to make a circle will result in the tip skipping out of the wood or breaking when you move it sideways.

When using a skew pen, burn smaller curved segments to make a circle. After burning a short segment of the circle, turn the wood and continue by burning the next segment, connecting the new and old segments.

Shaders

Shaders are usually bent, so you can hold a shader like a pen while the majority of the tip is flat on the wood like an iron. The tip allows you to burn different-colored tones, from very pale to dark brown, almost black. Shaders take a little more practice to use well compared to other type of pens. In particular, the pen angle and the direction in which you burn make a big difference. (Review Pen Angles on here and Direction of Burning here.)

A difficult technique to master on the shader pen is the control of the pen temperature. A one-temperature solid-point burner can make lighter tones by burning faster or burning while the pen is heating up or cooling down. Practice this technique on a test piece of wood before using it on your project.

Wire tips heat up and cool down quickly and are very sensitive to changes in temperature. A shader tip will heat up to the dial setting temperature while in the air but cool down significantly after it comes in contact with the wood. To avoid creating a dark blob when starting to burn, cool the tip a little by touching it very lightly on the wood a couple of times before you start burning.

After a couple of very light strokes, bring the shader fully down on the surface while in motion, making short, overlapping strokes. This will help you maintain a consistent tone because you’re allowing the pen to recover from the dropped temperature every time it’s lifted into the air and placed back on the wood for the next stroke.

Tip If your shaded burn appears uneven in tone, you can make it even by using a “level-setting” technique. See here.

To shade a larger area, burn a second overlapping row. Keep repeating this technique until you fill in the desired area.

Moving the shader in a circular motion can create a modeled look. This produces fluffy shading similar to clouds, smoke, or lambswool, depending on the size of the circular motion and the wood grain.

Tip If your shader pen starts burning too light, hold the tip up in the air for a second to let the tip recover its heat.

Branding

Branding pens allow the burning of shapes and patterns by holding the hot tip on the wood using a branding technique. The resulting burn can texture the wood surface depending on how much heat and pressure were used. The scale tip, shown in the photo, is made to brand interlocking shapes to form the pattern.

Branding tips can create realistic textures like these snake scales.

Lettering Techniques

One way to burn small lettering that looks handwritten is to begin by drawing evenly spaced letters first with a soft pencil (2B to 6B hardness). Then use a writer pen to burn the letters.

Another lettering technique is to transfer the letters as a pattern. Print words or phrases on plain paper using the instructions here. Burn very lightly with a writer pen to adjust the letter shapes that did not transfer well. Then go back over the letters to burn darker lines and fill them in.

For larger letters, transfer the letters and lightly outline them with a writer pen. Fill in the letters using a writer or shader, depending on the letter size. If you want sharp edges, outline the letters with a skew pen, burning very slowly while using magnifying glasses.

To curve computer-generated lettering, print the letters and closely trim around them. Cut deep slits on the top and bottom between each letter and bend the text to fit the curve. Use clear tape to secure the lettering in place and photocopy to create a fresh pattern for transfer.

Shading

There are several techniques for creating shading in your pieces.

Smooth shading

Shader pens are designed to produce flat, tonal shading. Tones are the different shades of brown and black that burning produces.

Cross-hatching

You can also create shading using either writers or skews by creating parallel lines. This method is called hatching (parallel lines in one direction) or cross-hatching (parallel lines in two different directions). If the lines are closer together, the shading will appear darker. If the lines are farther apart, the shading will appear lighter.

Stippling

Scribbling

You can create shading using a writer pen by stippling (creating overlapping dots) or scribbling (creating overlapping looping circles, similar to writing a lower case e or o). For dark shading, overlap the dots or loops a lot. For light shading, spread out the dots or loops.

Problem-Solving Line Issues

Problem: There’s a blob at the start of the line.

Cause: Setting the pen down on the wood, pausing slightly, and then beginning to move the pen to draw the line.

Solution: Start moving the pen as soon as it touches touches the wood.

Problem: There’s a blob at the end of the line.

Cause: Drawing the line and then hesitating before lifting the pen off the wood.

Solution: Lift the pen immediately upon finishing a line.

Problem: There’s a blob at both ends of the line.

Cause: Starting and ending the line properly, but drawing too quickly, causing the line between the start and stop points to be too light.

Solution: Slow down your drawing speed.

Problem: The end of the line becomes thinner and eventually disappears.

Cause: Drawing a good line, but then too quickly whisking the pen up at the end. (Note: This is a good technique to use to create a thin end, such as for the ends of whiskers.)

Solution: Don’t panic at the end of the line; practice finishing and lifting calmly and smoothly.

Problem: The signature is not a consistent color.

Cause: Changing the speed while writing. Adults use a tempo when signing their name; usually slow for the first letter or two and then speeding up for the rest of the name. If this change in tempo is used while burning the signature, the name will start dark and end light.

Solution: Sign your name with the same speed throughout the signature.

Problem: The line skips and appears bumpy.

Cause: Applying too much pressure while drawing a line across the wood grain using a writer pen. The pen is pushed down into the soft grain and snagging on the hard grain as the line is drawn.

Solution: Draw the line with less pressure, while keeping good contact with the wood.

Working on a 3D Surface

Burning on a 3D raised surface is more challenging than burning on a 2D flat surface. The challenges when working on a 3D surface are:

• Maintaining hand support

• Controlling the pen angles

• Managing the pen in convex, concave, and tight areas

Maintaining Hand Support

Maintaining your hand support is important to controlling the pen and, therefore, your burning. (See the Hand Support section here.) How you want to manage hand support on your 3D project is going to depend on the size and shape of your project.

Place your pinky finger on the object while holding the pen above the surface with the rest of your fingers. Your pinky becomes the stationary point on the surface, allowing you to pivot when a new pen angle is needed. Your finger muscles will have to strengthen over time if you’re new to this technique.

Add support under you pen hand until it is at the same height as the object you’re burning. This method allows you to rotate the object while your hand is on the support. If needed, use a beanbag or other nonslip material under the object to keep it from slipping.

Controlling the Pen Angles

Adjust your pen angle so that it does not lean to the left or right and is at a 45º angle in relation to the surface’s plane at each moment. (Review the Pen Angles section here.) Your hand must be fluid, allowing you to change angles easily. You may also need to rotate the object while burning.

Managing the Pen in Convex, Concave, and Tight Areas

On complex 3D surfaces, begin by burning the areas you can easily reach, such as the tops of the ridges using a shader pen as shown in this photo.

Next, burn the hard-to-reach areas using a smaller writer pen or miniature pyrography pen. Start by burning the bottom of the channel first, then burn your way up the channel wall. Turn your temperature down so you can mover slower. Also, use magnification when needed to avoid overburning the area.

Tonal Values

Make a tonal scale using the shading technique you plan to use in your woodburning.

Burn light, medium, and dark tones in your picture.

A burning can look “muddy” if you don’t use a full range of tones.

Pyrography is monochromatic (one color), so it’s important to burn using a range of light, medium, and dark tones (shades of brown) to create some drama and have the elements in the picture stand out. If you do not use a full range of tones, the elements of the picture can blend together, and the image becomes “muddy.”

A tonal scale is a gauge showing the even progression from light to dark over a set of numbered steps, usually five or ten steps.

To make a tonal scale, cut a piece of the same wood you will be using to burn your project. Draw lines to create ten squares at least"½ (1.3cm) wide. Label the squares 1 to 10. Leave the first square unburned. This is your lightest tone. Fill the last square, square 10, with the darkest burn you can create without scorching the unburned wood next to the square. Use the same shading technique you will be using on your project (smooth, stippling, scribbling, hatching, or cross-hatching). See here for more on these shading techniques.

Next, fill square 2 with the lightest burn you can achieve. Fill square 3 with a slightly darker burn than square 2. Continue until you fill square 9. It’s best to make small changes as you fill each square, which will allow you to adjust the tones once you reach square 9. It’s always easier to burn the squares a little darker when adjusting the color than trying to lighten them.

The easiest way to match an image to a tonal scale is to print or photocopy the photo in grayscale or sepia (brown shades only). Hold the tonal scale next to each area in the image and match it to a square on your scale. Write the tonal values on each area of the image for reference while you burn.

When working with a color image, squint your eyes to find the best tonal match for the colors in the image.

Identify the tonal scale for the highlights (light tones), base color (middle tones), and shadows (dark tones). For instance, a red ball’s base color may match a 6 on the tonal scale, while its highlights match 3 to 4 and the shadows match 7 to 8.

Lighter tones are used for burning highlights, but reflections or glares are lighter and will match square 1 (unburned wood). You might have to scrape these areas with a razor on occasion. On darker wood, a touch of white color can be added to the final picture to create the reflection/ glare spots.

Touching Up Mistakes

It is best to leave all touch-ups until the end of the project because sometimes mistakes are covered up by additional burning, or you may decide to make that area darker later. You want to avoid reburning a touched-up area.

When you make a mistake, first assess whether the design can be altered to hide the mistake. You may be able to add a few elements, like extra leaves if you are working on a tree. You may also be able to add a background pattern.

Methods for Fixing Burned Mistakes

Use a razor blade to scrape off burned mistakes when a redesign isn’t possible. Use a strong magnifier and a single-edge razor blade. Lightly scrape the burn you’re fixing, keeping the blade very flat and only scraping with one lifted side (not the corner or the whole blade). Tilt the blade and scrape. This technique will leave the edge very defined and clean.

Use sandpaper, a carving burr, or a sand eraser to remove burned mistakes. These may leave very fuzzy edges, so experiment to find your favorite method.

If you burned with a skew pen, the burn cannot be removed by scraping. Instead, fill the cut line with a wood dust and glue mixture or with wood-colored paint. When the line is filled, gently scrape the surface to contain the fix to the cut.

Leveling an Uneven Shading Area

The first step to make this uneven shading one color is to assess where the spots of lighter, middle, and darker tones are with a strong magnifier. The leveling process will darken the lighter tones and lighten the darker tones to create an even middle tone.

Using a lower heat, burn the lighter spots darker by bringing the shader tip down then lifting it before you reach the end of the lighter area. This fades the shading on both the start and end of the touch-up stroke. Avoid burning into the surrounding middle and dark tones.

Gently scrape the darker spots lighter with a single-edge razor blade or sanding method of your choice (see here). Make sure to not scrape or sand into the surrounding middle tone.

Now the lighter, middle, and darker tones are all at the same level and appear as one color.

Coloring Woodburning

If you decide to add color to your project, burn the natural wood, add color, and then add the finish. This sequence is necessary so you are not burning color or finishing products, both of which would release toxic fumes into the air. Color is added before the finish so that the finish can help protect the color.

Dyes and markers will soak into the wood and will not hide the burn. Very diluted acrylics, oils, and watercolors will also allow the burning to show through if applied sparingly.

Thicker pigmented paints and colored pencils will hide the burn.

Dyes and markers can spread on wood. Do not apply dyes or markers touching a burned line. Instead, apply the color close to the burned line and let the color spread the rest of the way on its own.

Tip Erase any transfer lines before applying color or finish. Use a white eraser or artist’s kneaded eraser. Avoid scrubbing the burn too hard so it not lightened.

Artist-quality colored pencils contain more pigment and can easily be seen over other colors. Regardless of the quality, any colored pencil can be layered to increase intensity. Seal each layer with a workable spray fixative, UV-filter spray, or clear acrylic spray, and always keep your piece clear of pencil dust, especially in skew cuts.

Tip Cotton swabs can remove colored pencil dust from skew cuts by rubbing the cut while heating with a hair dryer. Cotton swabs also make good colored pencil blending tools.

Since wood can change your colors, always test your colors on a scrap piece of your project wood or the same wood species.

Wood color affects the color of dyes, markers, and thinned colors. Experiment with layering and washes on a piece of scrap wood to make sure you like the result. Once color is added to raw wood, it’s extremely hard (if not impossible) to remove.

Tip Some types of wood, such as cherry, cedar, butternut, etc. turn darker over time when exposed to sunlight. Dyes and markers allow the wood to show through, so the color will change as the wood darkens.

Finishing Woodburning

Sealing your woodburning with a finishing product will protect the wood, the woodburned design, and any color. A variety of wood-finishing product can be used to seal your project. However, there are a few things to consider.

Some finishing products can alter the wood so that it is hard to see your woodburning. Test your finishing product on a similar piece of wood before applying it to your project.

Finishing products can interact with color mediums and cause disasters, such as making your colors run. Test your finishes on a scrap piece of wood before using them on your project. On the test board, make note of the wood type, color medium, and finishing product for future reference.

Tip Wood expands and contracts with humidity changes and should be sealed properly to avoid warping your project (bending or twisting out of shape). If your project is on a board, apply your finish to the front, sides, and back to prevent warping.

Sun and Food Safety Information

Similar to watercolor pictures and fine fabrics, woodburning can fade if placed in strong sunlight. Use finishing products with UV inhibitors in them or a product like Krylon®UV Archival spray in matte or satin. If a piece is to be outside, use marine varnish or heavy-duty varnish with UV filters. These products will not eliminate the fading but they will slow it down.

If your project is to be used for food, ONLY use a food-safe oil such as Masters Blend Preserve™ Woodenware Oil, Behlen™ Salad Bowl Finish, and General Finishes Wood Bowl Finish. You can use walnut oil, butcher block oil, or mineral oil, but these oils will need to be reapplied often. Do not use vegetable or olive oils, which turn rancid.

Polyurethane or polycrylic can help seal bark edges on boards, preventing flaking. Although polyurethane will age with a slight yellow tint, both products have very little affect on most color mediums, the wood grain pattern, or darkness of the wood.

Tip If you sell or gift your work, add a note to the piece that lets the recipient know whether the product can be used with food and advises the person to keep the piece out of prolonged direct sunlight to avoid extreme fading.

Troubleshooting

If you are having trouble with your equipment or woodburning, this section will help you troubleshoot some basic issues before you contact or send your equipment to the manufacturer. Refer to your woodburner’s user manual for additional troubleshooting advice.

Issue: Blobs on the Wood

If your pen is leaving lots of blobs on your wood:

❏ Check your burning technique for your pen speed here.

❏ Check your burning technique for your pen pressure here and here.

Issue: Bending or Breaking Pen Tip

If your pen tip keeps bending

or breaks:

❏ Check your burning technique for skews here–36.

❏ Check your burning technique for your pen pressure here.

❏ Check that your pens are stored properly. See gere for pen care.

Issue: Glowing Red Pen with a Low Dial Setting

If your pen is starting to glow red when you are on a low dial setting such as 2:

❏ Refer to your woodburner’s user manual.

❏ Adjust the setting so you can burn at a higher temperature range for woodburners with a low-end calibration access. The low-end calibration access is typically a hole in the burner casing that allows you to use a small screwdriver or Allen wrench to make the adjustment.

❏ Switch your cord to a highly flexible, standard (18-gauge wire) cord if you’re using the same brand of pen and woodburner, and your pen is getting hot at a lower-thanparab setting (but not as low as

2). The heavy-duty cords (16- or 14-gauge wire) allow more current through to the pen, which can be too much for some delicate pen tips.

❏ Contact the woodburner manufacturer.

Issue: Really Hot Adapter Connector

If your adapter connector is getting really hot (warm is normal):

❏ Check that you are using a high-current connector, not an audio connector.

Issue: Very Hot, Burning Pen

If your pen is hot and burning your fingers:

❏ Check your dial setting and refer to the information on pen temperature here.

❏ Check your burning technique for your pen speed here.

❏ Check your burning technique for pen angles here.

Issue: Pen Is Not Burning the Wood

If your pen is not burning the wood:

❏ Check that the machine is plugged into the power receptacle and the power switch is on.

❏ If you have a dual burner, make sure the switch is toggled to the correct cord.

❏ Check the connection between the pen and the cord to make sure it is pushed in all the way.

❏ Check that the cord is not damaged.

❏ If you are using a replaceable tip, check that the tip is connected well to the pen handle.

❏ Check the connection between the cord and the woodburner to make sure it is attached well.

If none of the foregoing steps fixes the problem, try switching out each component. If you do not have an extra pen or cord, see if you can borrow one from a friend.

❏ Switch the pen and/or pen tip.

❏ Switch the cord.

❏ Plug the woodburner into a different power receptacle.

❏ Plug the machine into a power receptacle in a different location (your office, a friend’s house, etc.)

❏ Test each component with a continuity tester (also part of a multimeter) to see if the electrical current is continuous or has a break. If you don’t have this device, check with a friend who has electrical knowledge.

❏ Contact the manufacturer.

Issue: Fluctuating Pen Temperature

If your pen temperature is fluctuating:

❏ Check that there is no airflow across your workspace. Fans, including ceiling fans, blowing across your work can change your pen temperature, especially as you move the pen in and out of the airflow.

❏ Notice if you are keeping your pen tip on the wood too long, allowing the cold wood to pull the heat out of the pen. This is more noticeable with a wire-tip shader pen. See here for techniques to avoid this issue.

❏ Plug the woodburner into a different power receptacle.

❏ Plug the machine into a power receptacle in a different location (your office, friend’s house, etc.)

❏ Check your power receptacle with a receptacle tester and a voltage meter.

❏ Contact the manufacturer.

Other Resources

Check out the following resources from Fox Chapel Publishing when you’re ready to expand your knowledge of pyrography techniques.

• Leather Pyrography by Michele Y. Parsons

• Learn to Burn by Simon Easton

• Yearn to Burn by Simon Easton

• Woodburning with Style by Simon Easton

• Big Book of Pyrography Basics by Editors of Pyrography Magazine

• Woodburning Realistic Animals by Minisa Robinson

• Little Book of Pyrography by Lora S. Irish

• The Art & Craft of Pyrography by Lora S. Irish

• Landscape Pyrography Techniques & Projects by Lora S. Irish

Fox Chapel Publishing also carries many pattern books; check out their website at www.FoxChapelPublishing.com.

About the Author

Michele Y. Parsons is an artist, instructor, and author that derives her inspiration from living in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina. She has been immersed in art and nature her entire life, spending her childhood drawing, wandering in the woods, and exploring nature. Finding a way to combine these interests resulted in her gravitating toward creating art in wood—woodcarving and pyrography.

Since starting her business Parsons Wood Artistry in 2010, Michele has created and sold artwork for commissions and through galleries. She has also created an online store called The Pyrography Store (www.pyrographystore.com) where she offers equipment and accessories and helps pyrography students learn the craft. Michele has been teaching pyrography classes since 2006 and has taught well over a thousand students across the US.

Michele has been an author for Fox Chapel Publishing since 2012, writing numerous articles in Pyrography magazine and contributing to Woodcarving Illustrated magazine, Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts magazine, and The Big Book of Pyrography. Michele’s book, Leather Pyrography, was published by Fox Chapel Publishing in 2019.