Most people like hobbies of one kind or another. I like wood burning. Wood burning is quite easy, and fun. here’s how to do it.
Wood burning is a way people make pictures on wood. The basics you need for wood burning is a piece of wood (preferably basswood) and a wood burner, a pen like instrument that you burn designs onto wood with.
A wood burner, at least a halfway good one, can accommodate screw-on and screw-off tips. These tips might include a thick tip to burn thick lines, a calligraphy pen tip to make very small lines, and a small tip, to make fairly small lines. There also might be a flat tip available to make it easier to blacken large areas at a time with the tip.
Wood burning tips may be sold together or separately. I like buying them separately, as that way I can get what I need and don’t have to pay for what I don’t. These tips aren’t very expensive. Michael’s Crafts has a good sale of 40% off an item around holidays with a coupon, so make sure to buy those tips even cheaper by shopping with a coupon in hand, on a holiday.
Make sure you sand your wood surface thoroughly before you start wood burning. After that, make sure you get all the fragments from sanding off of your wood, as any leftover fragments will probably get on your tips, making it harder to burn wood since debris is there.
Wood burner tools need to have a burner holder, in case the wood burner at work needs to set the wood burner tool down. This prevents the wood burner from burning through a table, a chair, etc. if it needs to be set down. I prefer to make doubly sure not to burn down the house by keeping a cup of water at hand to douse any fire, and parchment paper underneath the wood. Do not put paper underneath the wood.
Usually you can plug in the wood burner tool after you have screwed on the tip tightly, and wait for it to heat up to about 500 degrees Fahrenheit. This is how hot it needs to be to burn wood well. Do not put you fingers or any other part of your body on the hot metal. Singed hair can be a danger by making the wood catch on fire. The hair that is singed acts as tinder would to a fire.
Have sandpaper on hand throughout your wood burning project. If there is too much debris or charcoal on the tip you are using, you have to cool the tip(s) down and sand the charcoal and debris off.
You will determine how deep and what color you burn your wood by how long you put the tip to the wood and how hard you press. Logically, pressing hard and putting the hot tip on the wood for a very long time will make a dark, deep mark.
You must wood burn away from you to have the easiest time. Some people burn a thin, very whitish line wherever they want to burn before the wood burner gets heated up all the way. That makes it so the tool they are using, when it is heated thoroughly, has an easier time of following the lines it should be following.
Some people burn freehand, and some people mark a design on the wood before they burn it, or do a mixture of both. If people want to mark a design on the wood, they usually mark one with pencil, or with tracing lines on carbon paper after it is placed on the wood surface. Either way is fine.
When you wood burn, remember that wood is not forgiving. You can repair a mistake, but it will take a long time. It requires a lot of tedious work, sanding in one spot until the line you made is sanded out of the wood. At this point your surface you have burned may be unfortunately uneven. Many people just change their design when they make a mistake that is very obvious.
When you are first trying your hand at wood burning, expect to make lots of mistakes. Practice a lot in order to get good enough to burn well-crafted designs.
When you are done, make sure all of your hot items, including the burned wood itself, is cool before you put them away.
You may lacquer the item(s) you burn with a clear varnish or a stain. Let dry thoroughly before moving or touching.
Now, go wood burn.
