Wood for wood burning (pyrography)

[grannieannie]

Hi,
I've just started the hobby of wood burning (pyrography) and I'm wondering if anyone in the Perth Metro or general Mandurah WA area might have some wood which could be suitable for my hobby. Jarrah, or any sort of wood, preferrably in slices (cross cuts) no more than about 2 - 3 cm thick. It doesn't matter if there's bark on it, but something without too many knots, as the cleaner the grain the better for burning. I've bought pine and balsa from Bunnings, but don't know where I can get other types and I don't have access to electric saws, except a small band saw, and I don't belong to a wood working club. So any ideas or offers of suitable wood will appreciated. It doesn't have to be fancy....

Cheers, Annie

 

[Jen]

My friend is currently working (pyrographing) on ply, as she found other wood too full of sap. You would be better off finding a wood shop (sorry, the only one i know of is in Toronto NSW) because they can cure the wood correctly, so it won;t split on you in a months time.

 

[grannieannie]

I find pine has a bit of sap in it sometimes, as I've only been doing it about a month I really don't know what happens to it in the months ahead, but I do varnish each piece I do, but only with one coat. My sister is in a wood club and has been doing burning for a couple of years, her stuff is beautiful and very delicate, I don't think I'll ever be that good, I really just do it for fun. She gets lots of different types of wood from her club.

 

[Jen]

i'll ask my friend if she minds if i post some of her work here, she is an amazing artist. Like i said she is working on ply, but she has only just started with pyrography recently. (ah, she doesn't mind - this is the funnel web)

 

[AirCooled]

Thank your friend Jen,that looks great

 

[Jen]

I have, she is ok with me putting up more, so once i go through the rigmarole of putting the pics in the right form, I will . I am overwhelmed by her talent, but i knew how artistic she was back in high school!

Redback and huntsman.

 

[grannieannie]

wow, that's amazing stuff....what thickness does she use ?? I believe it can come in different thicknesses !!

 

[Jen]

I don't think the thickness would matter unless you wanted to frame it behind glass - I assume she uses single ply tho.

 

[grannieannie]

I haven't thought of using ply....will give it a try. Hubby just told me there were various thicknesses of ply, I know next to nothing about wood,.....but I'm beginning to learn. What does she do with her work...sell it ??? I've some at my church bookshop...with a Christian theme of course, but for myself I've also done female faces, profiles and silhourttes, next I'm going to try flowers. I really like working with balsa, it's soft and burns easily and I can work fairly quickly. The sizes I do are about the size of a small envelope, and I've been doing about 9 a day and varnishing them at night. Being retired has it's advantages lots of time to do what I like. I used to read a lot, but lately I haven't even bothered watching tv. When I decide to do something, it becomes a bit of an obsession for awhile.

 

[GeckoJosh]

What do you use to burn it? I presume a soldering iron?

 

[Jen]

What do you use to burn it? I presume a soldering iron?

My friend uses a soldering iron, but there are pyrography kits and tools available.

 

[grannieannie]

I use a Weller Wood Burning Kit, but it's basically a soldering iron with several different tips you can screw into the end. I generally just use two tips. One is like a chisel the other like a sharp pointed pencil. Mine only cost about $35 and is a one heat 30 watt, but you can get quite expensive ones that you can vary the heat. Some also have wires instead of the solid type tip, but I've only ever tried the solid tips. Maybe one day I'll try the other sort. I'd like to try one before I actually fork out the money for one though. People seem to like either one sort or the other.

 

[GeckoJosh]

Ok cheers guys, it looks awesome

 

[grannieannie]

I bought some 3 ply today, so it will be interesting to see how it goes.