Pyrography: Wood Burning Method

Pyrography, such a fun word to say.

Pyrography is the art of decorating by burning marks on wood (or other material) using a heated brass-tip tool. The word pyrography comes from the Greek words, "pur" meaning fire and "graphos" meaning writing. So, there you go, Pyrography is writing with fire! Muahahaha!

Did you ever burn holes into leaves as a kid? Watching for the smoke as you held the magnifying glass in the sunlight. Yea, well this is the glorified version of that passion.

Once you get started, you can't stop. I had to hold myself back from scouring the kitchen to find more wooden things to burn.

My first project was for my soon-to-be husband. Amidst other old fashioned hobbies (like straight razor shaving) he had developed a love for shoe shining. I wanted to make him a storage container for all his shoe polishing equipment. The container needed to be large enough to fit his brushes, waxes and polishes.

My mom always has stuff around for these sorts of endeavors, so I asked to use her wood burning kit. Then she unearthed a wooden box with slide lid. Perfect.

Using clip art for reference, I sketched a dapper-looking man wearing a vest and tie on the lid of the box.

Sliding lid of shoe shine box.

Detail of wood-burn artwork

He likes to keep his wedding shoes looking spiffy

My second pyrography project was decorating wooden kitchen utensils. These were a birthday present for my sister.

Using the tip and side of the wood-burning tool, I etched lines and tribal patterns into the utensils. The design on the spoon (second from left) was the hardest. I extended the lines so they would wrap around the back of the spoon... but not all lines met up.

The design continues around the sides and back of spoons.

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