TRY something new
Get to grips with pyrography! The age-old art of decorating wood with burn marks is back and it’s going to be one of the hottest crafting trends of the year…
The idea of burning wood may seem a little hair-raising at first, but don’t panic – this incredibly useful technique is easy to master with a bit of practice. It’s such a striking way to create personalised gifts – this set of utensils and a chopping board makes a fab house-warming present, while the addition of a monogram gives it a personalised flourish that’s ideal for a romantic anniversary or wedding gift.
Use unfinished, sanded wood to get the best burn effect, and remember to keep your patterns simple – we know how tempting it is to go OTT with a technique you’ve just learnt!
Your pyrography tool will come with an
1
array of detachable heads in all different shapes and sizes. Don’t feel overwhelmed – you’ll only need three for this project. Gather together the small, pointed head that looks like the end of a pen; the small straight-edged head, and the larger straight-edged head that works on a diagonal. All three are pictured (image 1).
2 To start, screw the small flat head into the end of the tool and then plug it in to heat up. You may have different settings, which will affect the shade of the burn. The highest setting gives a darker shade, which is what we used.
3 Many tools come with a wooden disc for checking the heat, or you could buy one extra spoon instead. Grip the tool as far down the plastic as possible to give more control, but don’t stray from the plastic as the metal will be very hot. Hold the tool upright so the head makes contact with the wood on its tip, rather than the side. You’ll quickly get a sense of whether it’s hot enough to burn the wood, and you can play around with how much pressure you need to apply. The heat will do a lot of the work for you – it’s not wood carving!
4 Have a practice on a larger object first, as it takes a while to train your brain to not use this tool like a pen. The tips don’t glide easily – particularly against the grain of the wood – so you need to create smaller marks that fit together to make patterns, letters or images. Straight lines are easier than curves.
5 Start with some straightforward patterns. The small flat head is great for making zig zags. Press the tip in once to make a mini zig zag, or take the line further to create chevrons. Always keep the tool upright to ensure clean lines. This head is also handy for making little love hearts – press the tip in once on a diagonal and then turn to create a diagonal in the opposite direction, meeting at a point. Then fill in with more diagonal lines. We also used this head for the leaves on the chopping board – these consist of two diagonal lines close together on either side of the vine – and the monogram.
If you have curved initials, use the tip to make smaller strokes to make corners easily.
6 Switch the tool off in between changing heads to allow it to cool completely. For the stem of the vine motif on the chopping board, we used the larger, flat diagonal head to create a long line. If your line has some stray marks, you can always thicken it up to even it out. Again, watch out for the curves by taking the tool onto the point slightly and guiding it round.
7 The dots are super easy – just change heads again to the small pen tip-style head and simply press down, keeping the tool upright. A series of dots in a row is a great cheat’s way to make a pattern look more intricate.