Woodburning(or pyrography) is a fascinating activity closely related to the traditions of Russian folk art. Pyrography is a technique used in artistic graphics and decorative arts.

Story

Wood burning is quite a popular activity. It turns out that the first products with a burnt pattern, dating back to 700 BC, were found during archaeological excavations in Peru. In one form or another, pyrography can be found in the culture of any nation. Russian craftsmen excelled especially in this area of ​​needlework. Wood burning in Russia appeared in the 9th century; even then people used wood in many types of applied arts. Initially, craftsmen burned with fire, but a little later they began to use red-hot metal rods and nails sharpened at a certain angle.

In Europe, wood burning was turned into a real art, going beyond the scope of folk art, and in Russia pyrography continued to develop as one of its types. In the 17th century, in the city of Sergiev Posad, wooden toys, spoons and bratinas (drinking vessels) were decorated using pyrography, and at the end of the 19th century, the production of nesting dolls framed by burning was established there.

At the beginning of the 20th century, glasses, salt shakers, ladles, caskets, boxes, etc. began to be decorated with scorched patterns. All patterns of that time were dedicated to the theme of old Russian life and ancient Russian architecture. In 1917, the number of products decorated with pyrography was reduced. Around the same period in the village of Polokhovsky Maidan Nizhny Novgorod region Turning production appeared, on the basis of which craftsmen began to decorate turned products by burning.

In 1964, the production of objects made of linden wood, which were also decorated with burnt patterns, was established in Bashkiria. Craftsmen created ladles with lids, salt shakers, honey storage containers, figurines of people in national costumes, etc. During the same period, an electric device for burning was invented, and then this type of handicraft began to be popular among adults and children. Special clubs were organized in schools where students learned the basics of wood burning. Despite the fact that this pyrographic device is quite bulky, it is still used by amateur craftsmen to this day. A more advanced device for wood burning was invented in 1962 by Roy Child, and ten years later the industrial production of pyrographs with wire tips was launched.

Today, anyone can practice wood burning, even those without special education. Pyrography can become not only a hobby, but also a way to earn good money. After all, products decorated with burning are always in demand. A little patience and imagination, and burning will give you the most positive emotions.

Tools

In order for the process of wood burning to bring as much pleasure as possible, you should take care of acquiring all necessary tools and materials. So, for pyrography you will need a music stand board. It plays the role of a stand for the board on which it is planned to burn the pattern. There are movable music stands, their height and tilt can be adjusted. Of course, the most important tool For this type of needlework there is an electric burner equipped with replaceable wire figured pins. Also in pyrography, a thermal causter with a gasoline or gas burner is used, on which the body pins are heated.

In general, you can use an end-mounted electric iron as a burner, but instead of a rod, you should equip it with a head with a screw thread for pins.

The working part of the pyrograph is a pin; it can be body or wire. Thanks to wire pins various shapes complex and small details can be completed. Body pins are usually used for deep and flat burning. Pliers play an equally important role in burning; they are designed to give the wire the desired shape. You will also need an anvil (or hammer), wire cutters, a screwdriver, and of course, a table lamp.

To apply a design to a wooden surface, you need a soft pencil that does not leave grooves on the wood. When finished, it can be easily erased with an eraser. The work may require a scalpel and adhesive tape. It is recommended to have carbon paper available; it is necessary to transfer the design from paper to wood. Tip: It is best to use charcoal black carbon paper.

For pyrography, you may also need the following items: a steel ruler, a square, sable or squirrel brushes, metal stands for pins and a burner, sandpaper.

Materials

One of the most important issues Pyrography is considered a choice of materials, since the final result depends on the quality of the materials. So, it is best to purchase wood in stores in the form of ready-made wooden drawing and cutting boards, plywood or veneer.

When purchasing wood, you need to consider the following factors:

• the wood must have a uniform, finely porous structure, without knots, cracks, resin pockets, tars, swarms and other defects;
• It is not recommended to purchase resinous wood;
• Hard wood is ideal for burning; soft wood will be more difficult to correct;
• the surface of the wooden material must be smooth and clean;
• the choice of wood color depends solely on the intended pattern; a more saturated and expressive pattern will be obtained on light-colored wood.

The best materials for burning are considered to be linden, alder, poplar, birch and chestnut.

The art of pyrography or wood burning is very ancient. The earliest objects decorated by burning to be discovered in Peru date back to 700 BC. Ancient people heated the tips of rods on a fire and used them to create their drawings.

Currently exists a large number of wood burning devices.

The best option would be to purchase a device that has the ability to change attachments and adjust the intensity of the heat, since when performing rather complex subjects or patterns, such as animals or people’s faces, you will need to draw very slowly, since similar works must be performed very carefully and carefully.

Of course, you can purchase a very ordinary burning device and then change the handle on it in order to be able to change the nozzles, which can easily be made of nichrome wire.

You can also purchase a second “Stayer” burner, which is designed in the form of a soldering iron. It will be very convenient when burning wide strips.

In addition, it comes with replacement attachments.

It is best to do burning on wood that has a uniform wood texture. Such trees include pear, birch, aspen, alder and linden. Ash and oak are not very suitable for burning.

This article will show you how to burn on a cutting board. To do this, you need to purchase an ordinary cutting board made of birch.

The surface of the board must be thoroughly sanded and the selected design applied to it with a pencil. If you don’t know how to draw, then you can find a drawing you like and use carbon paper to transfer it to the board.

Then the edges of the picture need to be outlined with a burner.

After this, you need to darken the background using parallel strokes, which should be made darker towards the edge of the picture for greater expressiveness.

You can also slightly shade the pattern itself, but the main thing is not to burn it out, smoothly making transitions from the dark side to the light side.

There are two known methods for applying a pattern using burning:

1. A lighter pattern is set off by a darker background.
2. With a light background, a dark picture is drawn.

I’ll tell you about my hobby, which is gradually turning into work) It's about about wood burning, which is gradually becoming a new trend, but is still perceived by many as amateur crafts from Soviet childhood.

As I once wrote in my journal, many people associate wood burning with labor lessons, hooligan burning with a magnifying glass on benches, or a creative outlet for dads in serious professions) However, today pyrography (literally - painting with fire) is gaining more and more distribution, and if you ask a specific query in the search, you can see simply masterpieces!

Nowadays, there are also a great variety of devices for burning, prices start from 500 rubles and go up to... In general, they come well) They come with a constant temperature and adjustable, with or without replaceable nozzles, domestically produced and imported. For now, I’m making do with the same thing with which I started mastering this technique - an inexpensive Chinese device with replaceable attachments.

I only have five attachments, and - what’s sad - I can’t buy additional ones, there aren’t any, except to look for used ones.

And although from time to time I really want to change the device to the same one, but with 21 attachments, in fact I understand that this is greed, and in my work I mainly use one, or sometimes two. What's really missing is a thin needle or blade.

I carry out all my work with a flat and at the same time sharp attachment, such a “spatula”. With it you can both draw thin lines and paint over large surfaces.

There are as many options for drawing in this technique as with a simple pencil: you can draw with dots, strokes, you can limit yourself to a contour, you can completely shade and highlight the volume tonally, in general, whatever you want)

Using a pyrograph, you can create various textures, again, the limitation is only the author’s imagination.

With a burner like mine, you can create a fairly voluminous texture. When the hot tip is pressed onto the wood, the top layers of wood are dented and secured in this position. For example, a cat’s fur is made exactly like this:

And, despite the fact that this is a rather labor-intensive method that hurts your fingers, it can be very justified. Look - in different lighting conditions, a cat's fur shimmers differently and looks voluminous:

Mixing techniques, for example, wood burning and painting, or staining, can look very interesting. You can make fun designs like this or imitate a wooden mosaic.

The technique, by the way, is slow and requires perseverance and a certain amount of ability to concentrate. I also want to say that burnt wood, and especially plywood due to the glue content, does not always smell pleasant. And after several hours of work, you may not want to return to it, so it’s better to work on large jobs in the fresh air)

Otherwise, this is a very interesting technique worthy of attention. I hope my story will be useful to someone or just inspire) Thank you for your attention!)

Julia Pyatnitsa

Wood burning - an old new art

More recently, wood burning - pyrography - has found a second life. Perhaps this is due to the emergence of new professional devices for work. Or maybe people have begun to pay more attention to hand-decorated items. In any case, the wood burning technique is simple enough that even a beginner can master it!

Wood burning: materials

Every woodworker faces the problem of choosing wood for the background. Use several parameters to choose best option background blank.

Color

The lighter your background, the better the design will contrast with it. If desired, you can use darker varieties. But when the work is coated with varnish, the image will become less distinct.

Texture

Many artists prefer to work on backgrounds with the least amount of texture. The smooth surface without veins or protrusions makes it possible to easily create any design.

But if you show your imagination and use texture in your work, the result will exceed all your expectations. For example, you can use texture stripes like ripples in water.

Hardness

Wood burning directly depends on the power of the device used. The more powerful the device, the harder the background you can process.

Still, it is better to give preference to soft types of wood that are easy to work with with any burner.

Form

The shape of the background blank should be selected depending on what you want to do with the work in the future. If the workpiece will hang in a frame, choose workpieces of the correct geometric shape. These can be found among construction boards and unnecessary parts of old furniture.

Sometimes original saw cuts of irregular shape appear in specialized stores. The bark that frames them can become an excellent frame.

The best varieties for wood burning are linden, beech, aspen, cedar, cherry, cypress and maple. All trees have fairly light wood, a smooth or fine-grained cut without veins.

Wood burning: tools

The main tool of a woodworker is a specialized pyrographic device with a pencil-pen for burning. There are 2 main types of such devices:

• pencils with hard nibs;
• pencils with wire nibs.

Devices with hard pens, as a rule, have a constant heating temperature. Although they come with additional nibs, these devices perform better in background burning due to the width of the nozzle.

Wire nibs are more comfortable - thanks to their thinness and temperature control, you can perform different types works: from subtle and unnoticeable to wide contrasting strokes.

Both solid and wire feathers come in 3 main forms:

• oblique feather;
• writing pen;
• retouch pen.

An oblique pen has a beveled, straight surface. Use it to draw thin, clear lines. The writing pen is rounded at the end: it is also convenient for drawing lines and words, for example, writing poetry on wood. Unlike the first two, the retouching pen has a flat, wide surface and is designed for burning out backgrounds or wide elements.

Execution techniques

Wood burning is not limited to one technique. If you get acquainted with at least a few high-quality works, you will find that each of them is distinguished by the use of some special artistic technique!

Below you will see a list of the main wood burning methods.

Standard

This basic method, from which beginners begin to master pyrography. A drawing is applied to a wooden base using a graphite pencil or copy paper. After this, the master begins to burn the image along the contour, giving it contrast in relation to the background.

Negative

The negative pyrography method is based on highlighting the design with a light color by contrasting burning of the background. This method can be done in two techniques: by adding a background and by adding a picture.

In the first case, the background is burned out around the prepared design. The second method involves completely burning out the background, after which the artist cuts out a design on it, forming light areas.

You can combine these techniques to give your product extra volume.

Pre-thread

Masters use this method so that, as in the case of a negative one, the drawing becomes embossed. To do this, the image is cut out on the base according to a previously transferred sketch and only then cauterized in certain places.

In addition to these methods, there is also wood burning with hot metal and sunlight through a prism. But due to the complexity of implementation, few people use such techniques.

Master class for beginners

If this is your first time dealing with wood burning, try making a simple drawing. To do this, choose a simple stencil in the form of an image outline without small details and complex patterns.

• The surface of the background workpiece should be cleaned using sanding or a blade.

• Draw the drawing by hand using a graphite pencil or redraw the finished sketch using carbon paper.

• Start burning the image along the outline. If you can't complete the job in one sitting, the finished outline will tell you where best to retouch.

• After the outline, start finishing the background - darken it evenly with a retouching pen or gradiently using different types of pens.

• Wait until the drawing cools down. When finished, brush off any excess and use an eraser to wipe off any remaining pencil.

Cover the finished product with clear varnish to seal the result and slow down the aging process. After mastering basic techniques try burning wood with a more complex design, as in the master class in this video.

While working on your drawing, do not forget about safety precautions. Try to work for a limited time to avoid overheating of the burning device. And do not touch the heating elements - this can cause burns.

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Wood burning is an extremely interesting thing. This process involves applying a design to a wooden base using a specialized soldering iron. It relieves fatigue and tension well, and also creates comfort in the house through homemade art that can be used to decorate the walls. It can also serve a wonderful gift for a holiday to friends or relatives, work colleagues. Now we will introduce you to the rules for working with a burning device.

Burning Basics

To ensure that wood burning brings you only happiness, treat this process with great attention. Below are some useful rules that should help you in this process.

So, you have already purchased the device. Now we need to create the outline of the drawing on a wooden base. You can also buy some additional elements of the device for later convenience of woodworking.

The devices themselves come in two types: a simple one, with one thermal mode and replaceable attachments, and a more advanced one, which has a wire tip, 2 pens and adjustable heating. The price of these models is from 700 rubles to several. tens of thousands.

• Nozzles of different thicknesses will make it easier and faster to work with a variety of lines and contours.
• Aluminum oxide and belt - they are needed for regular cleaning of the attachments and the device itself.
• Pliers.
• A special holder or clay pot for the soldering iron, where it can be placed to cool.

Material for burning. If you are new to this business, it is better to start with soft wood, the process will be much easier to master. For example, choose pine, birch, linden, maple or ash, but in general the softest material is balsa, it is considered number one on the hardness scale, pterocarpus closes this scale in 10th place. The stiffer the wood, the darker it appears. Inspect the board on both sides and choose the smoother one to work with.

Now we take the burning device. It will heat up for a couple of minutes, it is better to keep it on a stand or in a clay pot, we have already mentioned this above. It’s better to pick up and put down the soldering iron with pliers to avoid burns.

The board must be sanded before starting work; 20-number sandpaper will help us with this. It must be wrapped around the board or attached to a block and the surface must be sanded evenly. It is better to sand along the fibers; if across, unevenness will appear, but sanding in accordance with the natural growth of the fibers will help avoid this problem. When finished sanding, wipe the surface with a damp towel; it will remove wood dust and sawdust. Drawing will become much more convenient.

Apply the drawing with shading, this will make it easier to erase incorrect lines and control the pencil. There is no need to put too much pressure on the stylus in order to draw the drawing more clearly.

No rush when burning. Regardless of the wood material, the process will be slow, so be patient. And when working, keep in mind:

We need to put pressure on the burner. For beginners, uniform pressure throughout the entire pattern is important.

Hold the soldering iron in one place longer - the line will turn out deeper and darker.

It is much easier to move the soldering iron along the grain, so turn the board with the grain facing down as you work. There will be resistance against the fibers and some effort will be required.

Experiment with attachments. On small boards, try out all the attachments you have. Then you will already have an idea of ​​their effects, and know where it is best to apply them, on which elements of the picture.

Transferring the design to a wooden base

Everyone is interested in how to burn wood. Therefore, this article provides information for beginners. There are three main methods of applying/transferring a design to wood; see for yourself which one to choose. You can also draw a picture yourself, or you can take a ready-made version.

If you are an artist or have artistic inclinations, it will be easy for you to draw or copy the design with a pencil on a wooden base.

Graphite paper can also help you if you are not very good at drawing. It works on the principle of carbon paper - place it with the oily side on the wood, secure it with tape, and put a piece of paper with the image on top, trace its contours. Then remove the tape and graphite paper and draw fuzzy drawing lines on the wood with a pencil.

There is also an ink nozzle, it will also help you when applying a design to wood. This happens when the nozzle heats up. It is better to print a printed picture from the Internet on laser printer, place the leaf pattern down on the wood, and move the heated nozzle along the contours until they begin to seal on the surface of the wood.

Practice

It is worth noting that burnt pictures on wood look very interesting. And in this article we propose important rules for this work. It is necessary to place the board so that it is at an accessible distance at any point of burning, and at the same time safely, so as not to get burned during the work.

It is better to start burning from the outer contours of the design. If something doesn’t work out right away, it can be corrected a little later by simply sanding the area that didn’t work out.

On some tree species you need to go through one place with a soldering iron several times. If you don't press the burner too hard, it will remain more strength, and your hand will get less tired, and then you can leisurely do high-quality work. Start by moving towards yourself, not away from you.

Burn out the primary, main lines first, then apply the strokes of the drawing.

Next, move on to texture and shadows. You can make a regular 2D drawing, or you can use special attachments to master a more interesting and trendy 3D. First, practice on the wrong side of the work, or on an unnecessary board.

Color it in. You can leave everything as is, or you can make the drawing colored by using watercolors and watercolor pencils for coloring.

Clean the attachments regularly to ensure quality work. After all, with clean nozzles, heat transfer will be as efficient as possible, and aluminum oxide and a belt or grinding pad will help with cleaning. It’s better to remove the nozzle with pliers so as not to worry about whether it has cooled down enough, then dip it in cold water for a couple of minutes. Well, then comes the actual cleaning process.

Fan. If you get a lot of smoke while working, it would be a good idea to use an exhaust fan. After all, smoke is not the healthiest thing for the lungs, especially indoors.

Now, upon completion of the work, you need to thoroughly dry the board and apply the finishing touches.

Please note:

• The soldering iron is hot, and if it is left unattended for a long time, this can lead to its ignition and subsequent fire.
• It is better to carry out the burning process in ventilated areas, because smoke can have a detrimental effect on the lungs, including death.

The most interesting process is wood burning. Here you can burn out drawings or patterns. However this work implies the presence of certain devices. Necessary things for work:

• Burning device.
• Variable temperature equipment.
• Graphite pencils.
• Painting tape.
• The white eraser is a nag.
• Emery files - several types.
• Sandpaper 200-250 or cloth coated with silicon carbide.

Finally

We hope that our article allowed you to learn about how to burn wood correctly. Know that this activity is extremely exciting. But in this case, some effort and also skill may be required.

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