Ever heard of pyrography? Well, pyrography is just the fancy name for woodburning. Oh, there you go. Woodburning is definitely simpler and easier to remember. You might think woodburning is just an act you do to pass the time, to sit around with friends. But a closer look will tell you. It has far greater benefits than just giving you warmth. In fact, it can actually throw you a rope when unable to cope with the pandemic you’re hitting rock bottom and desperately needing one.
Chances are you have dealt with different phases of boredom these days, thanks to the “new normal” brought about by the virus. Don’t worry though, getting your hands busy should do the trick. You can take a page from the story of McCauley who dealt with negative emotions by getting her woods burning. Without batting an eyelid, the lady shared with pride how anyone can get tremendous therapeutic benefits from keeping those fires last, for the longest. Just make sure you factor pyrography essentials right from the onset.
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Get acquainted with the materials
Woodburning on its own is an interesting adventure. And one of the most interesting parts is getting your materials ready for the whole journey. Luckily, going into wood burning won’t drill a huge hole in your wallet. The materials are affordable making it worth hopping on to in this most challenging time.
You can even invest in a professional-grade pyrography pen. By doing so, you could enjoy a lifetime of woodburning projects for just under $200. And that means giving you a way to enjoy your time without allowing boredom to set in, and cure a classic pandemic curse.
Obviously, wood is the number one material you need. Bear in mind that not all woods are created equal. They vary in size, texture, shape, hardness, and many more. For this reason, you have to be careful about choosing a wood type.
For beginners, the best option would be softwood and not hardwood. Why? It’s simply because it’s a lot easier to work with softwood rather than hardwood. Softwood burns easily making your job a cinch. Because of this, alder and maple wood are a good fit for beginners.
Should you want to explore more wood options, please check out some other good alternatives here.
Next, we have the equipment for burning. Typically, this is divided into three main types namely: the laser cutters, wire-nib burners, and solid-point burners. ;
Laser cutters are the fancy ones. They are quite advanced as to function. For instance, some people proceed to import images, so they may embed it on the wood itself. Imagine that.
Needless to say, it’s a very sensitive type of work which could give you eye-popping results. As powerful as these are, laser wood-burning machines are a great option to create a design on the wood and other surfaces. Over time, these laser machines have gained a great following.
For their part, wire-nib burners are known to have different temperature controls. With this, you can control how hot you need things to be. Even better, some of the models provide different nibs. Thus, you can get varying effects with the same equipment.
Solid-point burners have a striking resemblance to the soldering iron. However, note that with this design you are limited to one preset fixed temperature to use.
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Start doodling
Yeah, this is the part you have to draw something on the wood. Don’t fret. Know that even the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, the great polymath artist from Italy, had a teacher to learn the rudiments of art and master sculpting. Just sketch your design on wood.
You should not have a problem putting your design in. You can incorporate ideas from the internet. Of course, if you are inspired everything should be a breeze.
But no worries. If on the other hand, you are not so great at drawing then choose to get someone to draw for you. In a worst-case scenario, assuming you can’t get anyone to draw for you then a template online should be the order of the day. Print it out and lay it on the wood. All you have to do now is to trace the design and voila!.
In this regard, you can find some nice designs on Pinterest. And just like that, you have your design ready.
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Time to burn
Now that you have your design ready it’s time to burn your wood. First, you have to heat your equipment. Ensure it is well heated before you start burning.
How will you know the equipment is ready? Simply test it. Test it on any scrap wood that you have around. If within seconds it burns the wood you are good to go. If it takes a longer time to burn then wait some more for the equipment to heat up.
When it comes to burning there are two important things you should not forget. The pressure you apply while burning and how slow or fast you move will affect how dark the burn would be. For instance, if you move slowly and apply a lot of pressure then the burn would be very dark.
Woodburning can bring in an ocean of satisfaction for you. It can definitely give you a lift in these times when boredom could be knocking at your door during the pandemic. Moreover, you can enjoy the hobby with your inner circle. Best of all, you don’t need to develop amazing skills just to enjoy it, unlike piano or chess which takes years to master. Indeed, you don’t have to be great to start pyrography, you just have to start in order to be great.
