Pyrography, aka, The Art Of "How Cool Is That?!?!?"

Pyrography is, in layman's terms, woodburning.  Take a hot piece of steel and hold it against a piece of wood to create a dark, charred image.  I have wanted to add these techniques to my woodturning for some time.  Countless others have gone down this road including Molly Winton, Graeme Priddle, Jennifer Shirley and Terry Scott and their work has inspired me for ages.  Recent discussions on the forums finally urged me to get off my butt and make some smoke.  I only wish I had done this sooner!

Graeme Priddle of New Zealand is a wood artist.  He figures that 10% of his work is done on the lathe while the other 90% is done through carving and burning.  His burning techniques are harsh and demand sustained, high levels of heat.  Graeme figured out a way to take a car battery charger and turn it into a unit to meet his needs.  The great thing about this is that it is much cheaper than buying a commercial pyrography system.  All that is needed is a manual battery charger, a dimmer switch, some lamp cord, nichrome wire (for the brand itself) and some basic electrical parts.  He calls it a 'wood vapourizer' (go ahead and google it because I cannot tell you how to build one.  I've done it but there is no way I could tell you how).

A friend of mine provided me with a charger which he procured while dumpster diving at the industrial plaza where his shop is located.  Heck, he even wired up the dimmer because I am inept where electrons are concerned.   Molly Winton has produced a booklet on how to make the handpieces and the brands for the type of work she does.  If you are interested in going down this path, email her and order a copy.  It is brilliant and Molly is about the nicest person you could ever hope to come across.  I followed her instructions and made a couple of handpieces and a few brands to play around with.

This bowl is an "oops" piece in my shop and as such, I use it to test techniques.  The basket-weave pattern on the left was made with directions from Molly Winton's booklet.  The circles on the right are just something I came up with. 

The whole point of this exercise is to see what I can come up with and find out how pyrography can be used to enhance my wood turnings.  I have not yet completed a piece using these techniques and tools but just from playing around for a few minutes, I can see great potential.  My Night Series will benefit in a significant way and I can see some amazing possibilities for my bowls and hollowforms.  Be sure to check back soon as I will post my first completed pieces soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

First Friday Art Walk on Etsy!

Visit AWEteam


It is March 5th (in 16 minutes) and this is the first Friday of the month. That means it is time for First-Friday-Art-Walk on Etsy!

To find shops which are participating, enter "firstfridayartwalk" in the search box or go to the AWEteam page on Etsy for a list of members.

Different shops do different things during this event. At my shop, I am offering FREE SHIPPING in North America. Details are on my shop's front page.

So get out there and support HANDMADE!

Thanks for stopping by.

Smaller pieces continued...

A few posts back I was telling you about my recent work with an enjoyment of working on some smaller pieces. Here are 3 hollowforms which I have finally put finish on.

From left to right:

-Ash, 3" x 3", painted black as part of my Night Series. It may end up getting a coat of wax. Maybe it won't. Not sure yet. Hmmm...

-Curly silver maple, approximately 2½" tall x 3" wide. This little guy was dyed 3 times with different colours, sanded in between each and finally topped with 3 coats of polyurethan. It was turned green and allowed to warp and distort as it dried, resulting in a very organic feel to it,

-Ash, 4½" tall x 2½" wide. This piece presented a bit of trouble as it is deeper than my hollowing tools wanted to go with vibrating terribly. No problem... I built a new tools and bought another! It's a really neat piece with contrast heartwood and sapwood and a little bit of curly grain in the sapwood. This one is already up on my Etsy page and the other two will be shortly, once I get decent pictures of them individually.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

And now back to your regularly scheduled blog

So, now that the Games are over (and finished with Gold for our hockey team, naturally), maybe I'll actually get some work done and post some new creations. I have managed to get some woodturning accomplished lately (details to follow). Also, I have a pyrography tool which needs burning tips to be made and a bowl-drying kiln to build. Stay tuned for fresh creations and thank you for your patience.

Smaller Pieces

I have had a lot of fun in the woodshop over the past couple of weeks. I am a very lucky woodturner because a local arborist brought me a bunch of ash and some soft maple logs which he thought I could use and enjoy. He was right! Most of this timber is smaller than I would normally look for. The largest finished piece will end up being around 10” wide (small salad bowl). The cool thing about this is that I’ve been forced to focus on smaller forms and shapes…and it has been a blast!


These little guys demand that the artist focus on nice shapes and pleasing forms. A piece which is 3” tall and 3” wide will never be a success, no matter how beautiful the wood is, if the curves, flow and proportion are out of balance. This could be said of any piece of any size but it is especially true here. If you “miss” the curve or have a catch on a 14” salad bowl it is easy to adjust the form. Do that on a small hollowform, and you will probably have a nice chunk of decorative firewood on your hands. Oh, and sharp tools are always important but they are critical when the walls of your form are only and eighth or sixteenth thick. There’s not much room for sanding in those cases.

One last thing that is truly wonderful about working on this smaller scale… The log you start out with only weighs a couple of pounds, not 50 or 60. It is nice to work without sweat!


So, go to your firewood pile and look for a solid piece or 2 with no major splits or checks. Cut it in half or thirds and get it on your lathe. Have fun and strive for pure excellence. Remember, if you manage to really mess it up it can always go back to being firewood.

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S. The last picture doesn't reflect the actual size of these pieces very well (the ones in front look bigger than they really are). To give you an idea, the ash vases at the back left is 4½" tall and about 2½" wide, the black one in the middle row is roughly 3" x 3" and the little apple burl piece in front and on the right is around 2¼" wide and 1½" high.

We may not be perfect but....

I realize that this is a blog about woodturning. Yes, I am Canadian and will continue to be long after I hang up my gouges. I am damned proud to be Canadian and it does not take medals to make me so. In fact, hosting a money-sucking event like the Olympics does nothing for my national pride. However, there has been a lot of criticism for this great land by media from other places and I think it is time to set the record straight....

Sure one arm of the torch didn't rise, but when Katirna hit New Orleans and the earthquake struck Haiti, Canadians raised their hands to say…”we’ll help”.

And yah, there is a fence around the torch but you can walk right up and shake hands with our prime minister and most famous Canadians

We put Gretzky in the back of a pick up, in the rain, not surrounded by police…and he was okay. And by the way... the Great One is Canadian…and HE wasn’t complaining!

We do have security at the games, of course, but most people don't even have a gun they have to leave at home.

It has been pointed out that some buses broke down last week... But, let’s not overlook the fact that our banking system didn't.

We didn't get the "green ice maker" right this time….but we will, eventually just like we did when we invented the zamboni.

So big deal…one out of four torch arms didn't rise. But remember, the Canadarm works every time…in outerspace! And, insulin turned out to be okay.

We don't have the tax base of the US or the power of the Chinese but, per capita, we ponied up for some pretty kick-ass venues in the worst global recession ever.

Sure, some folks couldn't afford tickets but our health care is universal and nobody has to mortgage their home when they get sick.

We have shown the world that we can raise our voices in celebration and song but moments later stand in silence to respect a tragic event...together..spontaneously…and unrehearsed.

What's more, we don't need permission from anyone to have a slam poet, fiddlers with piercings and a lesbian singer tell our story to the world while our multilingual, female, haitian- born, black head of state shares a box with her first nations equals.

So take your cheap shots Guardian newspaper and cynics of the world. We're bigger and better than that.

I AM CANADIAN!!!

Night Series

Woodturning can be somewhat noisy, especially when roughing out fresh wood, rounding blanks on the bandsaw or using the chainsaw. As such, many woodturning-related activities are best suited to daylight hours. For some strange reason, I like working at night.

I have never considered myself a night-owl though reflection on recent habits is forcing me to rethink this. Over the past year or two I often find myself in my shop/studio past midnight and getting some really good work done at that time. Ideas seem to flow better when the rest of the world is asleep and there is a certain calm in knowing I will not be interrupted by the phone, neighbours, children or a myriad of other distractions.

Lately I have also been rather obsessed by the colour black (debate all you want whether black is a colour or not. For this conversation, let’s just assume that it is). I have seen works by others in which black has been the dominant colour. Black comes in the form of dyes, inks, scorching, burning and waxing and I have seen other woodturners use all of these and more. My first foray “into the black” came with this bowl. I was inspired by the work of fellow-woodturners Jennifer Shirley and Molly Winton and this bowl was my humble homage to them and their influence. I used black gesso over the entire outside of the bowl and then went back and carved through the black to reveal the wood underneath.

More recently I have been making a lot of wood black. Really black. India ink and gesso have been my main weapons in this pursuit. In fact, I have taken a pile of wet, green wood and been so intent of getting to the point where I can begin to colour it that I have forgotten a few basic principles of good design. A few recent pieces have been left too thick and have split while drying. Others are too thin and, as a result, very fragile. One success is this little bowl/pot. The curves and beads remind me of pottery from the southwest. At about 3” tall and 3” wide, it looks and feels happy in the hands. Liming wax help to make the grain a bit more prominent while also helping it feel soft and smooth. I am really pleased with how it worked out.

I have a pile of freshly cut ash logs in my driveway that I am slowly making my way through. A good amount of this wood is going to be used in my pursuit of black and night in general. Perhaps some purple, red and orange from a deep sunset will find its way into this series. I am not sure. I intend to have fun with it and I hope you will join me as I explore this idea. Hmmm, I hope I don’t wake the neighbours.