Pyrography
Our Club has recently extended its options for members by starting sessions in Pyrography on Monday nights starting at 6.00pm. Originally we met on Tuesday nights but we were sharing with the Spinners & Weavers and Beekeepers and were limited in space to the mess room area.
These meetings are a casual affair with us learning from each other, from books and any other resources that come to hand. It is a craft that, like most others, benefits from practice.
The group uses their own personal equipment at the moment but soon the Club will be receiving four complete sets, including five books, some specialised tools for general use and a couple of instructional videos, to add to the one that it already owns. This has been made possible by a successful grant application for $2,000.00 which we will soon be receiving. Thanks to Todd Beyers for his hard work in securing this and other very important grants for the Club.
The equipment will be stored and kept at the Club for the use of members and like woodturning, you will be encouraged to acquire your own equipment to continue your work at home.
Give Mike McGee a ring on 55907822 for more information.
What is Pyrography? (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Pyrography is the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object such as a poker. It is also known as pokerwork or wood burning.
Pyrography means “writing with fire” and is the traditional art of using a heated tip or wire to burn or scorch designs onto natural materials such as wood or leather. Burning can be done by means of a modern solid-point tool (similar to a soldering iron) or hot wire tool, or a more basic method using a metal implement heated in a fire, or even sunlight concentrated with a magnifying lens. This allows a great range of natural tones and shades to be achieved – beautiful subtle effects can create a picture in sepia tones, or strong dark strokes can make a bold, dramatic design. Varying the type of tip used, the temperature, or the way the iron is applied to the material all create different effects. Solid-point machines offer a variety of tip shapes, and can also be used for “branding” the wood or leather. Wire-point machines allow the artist to shape the wire into a variety of configurations, to achieve broad marks or fine lines. This work is time-consuming, done entirely by hand, with each line of a complex design drawn individually. After the design is burned in, wooden objects are often coloured, sometimes boldly or more delicately tinted.
Light-coloured hardwoods such as sycamore, basswood, beech and birch are most commonly used, as their fine grain is not obtrusive, and they produce the most pleasing contrast. However, other woods, such as pine or oak, are also used when required. Pyrography is also applied to leather items, using the same hot-iron technique. Leather lends itself to bold designs, and also allows very subtle shading to be achieved. Specialist vegetable-tanned leather must be used for pyrography, (as modern tanning methods leave chemicals in the leather which are toxic when burned) typically in light colours for good contrast.
Pyrography is also popular among gourd crafters and artists, where designs are burned onto the exterior of a dried hard-shell gourd, usually with dramatic results.
Here is a list of things you will need to get started:
(courtesy of Sue Walters Pyrography)
If you are planning to use plywood, it can be got from DMK Forest Products in Burleigh and Labrador. Birch and hoop pine are the best as they are light in colour and will not take away from your work. They only sell 1.2×2.4m sheets so I suggest a couple of you get together and share the sheet and cost. If you need to cut it to get it into your vehicle, they will not allow power tools on site so bring a handsaw.
• The setup of your work area basically consists of a pyrographic machine, a nib cleaner, a practice board, and a blade. The following is a list of the other equipment you will need in your kit for various stages of pyrography projects.
• Light source: Usually shines from the direction opposite your drawing hand.
• Sandpaper: To prepare the surface of the timber.
• Rag or tack cloth: To clean away dust.
• Scrap material: For practicing your strokes and testing the temperature of the nib. (Use the same material as the main project.)
• Tin lid of an old jar: For holding warm nibs.
• Old sheet of plywood: To place on a workbench as protection from scorches.
• Nib-cleaning materials: See Chapter 5 for suggestions.
• Pliers: For removing hot nibs from solid point and interchangeable wire burners.
• Leaning board to tilt work: As simple as a piece of plywood leaning against some books.
• Sharp blade: For picking out highlights, erasing mistakes, cutting patterns, sharpening blades, and cleaning stubborn carbon from nibs.
• Graphite paper: To transfer a design
• Tracing paper: Another method to transfer designs.
• Tape: For holding patterns down during transfer.
• Fine red ballpoint pen: For transferring patterns. (Red is more easily seen over black pattern lines.)
• Scissors: For cutting paper.
• Ruler: For ruling straight lines and measuring.
• #2B pencil: Soft enough to erase, for drawing on wood without leaving an impression.
• Pencil sharpener: To sharpen pencils.
• Eraser: Gum of other soft eraser.
• Varnish: Spray or brush on, to protect your work after completion.
• Plywood. Sue Walters suggests 5mm Hoop pine or Birch ply because of their pale and bland features, available at DMK Forest Products, 1 Davo Crt Burleigh Heads (07) 5593-4446 and Labrador (07) 5529-2977 They will only sell full sheets (1220×2440)for around $49.00.
IMPORTANT: DO NOT USE MDF. THE FORMALDAHIDE IN IT IS VERY TOXIC, BOTH DUST AND FUMES
Websites of interest – just a couple of hundreds
http://www.pyroz.com.au/menu01.html
http://carverscompanion.com/Ezine/Vol2Issue1/Menendez/Antiquep3.html
http://au.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-501&va=pyrography&sz=all
Just have your internet connected and click on any of these links or do as I did and type in Pyrography into the search bar. Its all there.
more information about our pyrography class coming soon!