I often get asked if I adjust the heat setting on my burner when I do pyrography.  The answer is no.  I am a set it and forget it type of person.  To accommodate this, I have other ways I use to control and alter the burn results.  In this blog I will explain the methods I use to change the color of my burns without adjusting the heat setting on my burner.

Click on the image to the left to watch a YouTube video version of the tutorial, or click on this link:  https://youtu.be/7ZNw01J1cNw

Let’s get started.

DIAL IN THE HEAT

Before I start burning, I always get the heat adjusted to produce a medium to dark tan result. 

I’ve been using my burner and pen tips long enough, that I have a general idea of the lower heat setting that I start to get noticeable burn results.  I start my burner at that low heat setting and check the results.

If I can’t detect anything, then I will slightly increase the heat setting and wait 5-15 seconds for the pen tip to warm up.  Then I blot the nib and check the burn results.

Blotting the nib means that I touch the nib to a scrap piece of wood.  This removes any excess heat that has built up on the nib.   

I continue this process of incrementally increasing the heat, waiting 5-15 seconds for the tip to warm up, and then checking the burn results. 

On this particular piece of plywood, I had to set my burner to 4.3 to get the results I was after.

Every time I switch pen tips or art projects, I start the whole process all over again.  Every board and pen tip will require different heat settings to produce a medium to dark tan burn result.

METHOD 1 – REBURN

Re-burning is my most commonly used method to control and alter my burner results.    

In this composite photo you can see that my burner is set to 3.5 (or close to it).  I am burning uniform strokes on the board, and have just about finished one layer in a small area on the upper photo.

The lower photo shows how I’m re-burning back over the patch starting on the left and working towards the right.  As you can see the color is darker on the left half of the patch where I’ve added a second layer of burn strokes.

It is possible to get extremely dark burn results by just re-burning over an area.  My burner remained on 3.5 for this entire demonstration.

This method works for any type of burn stroke. 

In this image the left patch of color that was created using circular motion.  

The middle burn was created zigzags.  Zigzags are my preferred burn stroke for creating fur. 

Depending on your heat setting will depend on how much reburning is required to get a dark result.  Reburning gives you a lot of control over how dark or light the area is since.  Once the desired color is achieved, you just stop burning. 

METHOD 2 – HAND SPEED

Altering my hand speed is another way to change my burn results.  This is hard to show with still photos, so I will just explain what the example in the photo means.

The far right burn result was created by moving my hand pretty fast.  This results in the metal not being in contact with the wood for very long, so the color is pretty pale.    I slowed down my hand speed a little on the second patch from the right, so it is a touch darker.   In fact, as you work your way from right to left, each patch of color was create by slowing down my hand speed a little more. 

If you have the patience to move your hand slow enough, you can get extremely dark burn results even with a low heat setting on the burner.  

I obviously lacked the patience to create a really dark burn result.  😊

METHOD 3 – BURN LENGTH

Burn stroke length can alter the color of the burn results.

This image shows 3 different burn patches.  Each one is slightly different in color and height.  The shortest burns are the darkest.  The longest one, that I’m burning in, is the palest. 

All of these patches of color were created with the same pen tip and heat setting as the previous two demonstrations.  

The reason why the color changes has to do with the amount of time the pen tip is in contact with the wood.    

With the really short burn strokes, the tip isn’t in contact with the wood for very long.  Plus, the time from when I lift the pen tip and set it back down to start another burn stroke is very short.  This combination means that the heat is building up on the pen tip and this produces darker burn results.  I tend to use this method when I need a really dark burn result in a small area.

The longer the nib is in contact with the board reduces the heat build up, so the color tends to be a touch lighter the longer the burn stroke is. As you can see from the picture, a wide range of color can be created by just altering the length of the burn stroke. 

Would I use this method to create dark burns in a large area?  No.  It would take too long.   Instead, this is a method I use when working in small areas that need to be dark.

METHOD 4 – PRESS AND PAUSE

Press and pause is another way to get darker burn results in a small area.

This burn stroke is exactly what it sounds like.  You press the pen tip to the wood and pause for a brief amount of time.   Then you lift the pen tip up and away from the board, and repeat the process in a new area. 

The pen tip does not move while it is in contact with the board.  Also, I don’t exert pressure on the pen tip.  Instead, I let it sit gently on the board and let time and heat do the work for me.

Obviously, the longer you hold the pen tip in place, the darker the burn results will be.

Also, darker burn marks tend to have the pen tips shape.  Look closely at this burn patch and you can see that it’s not creating a solid line.  Instead, I have a row of half-moon shapes. 

I don’t use this method often and it’s another method I only use in small area.  Unless I’m trying to create a texture that needs needs this style of burn.

METHOD 5 – LIFT AND WAIT

My last, and least used, method is the lift and wait technique.

My burner is on heat setting 2 and I burned a patch of color, but they are so pale and tough to see.   I lift the pen tip up and away from the board and wait.  This lets the heat build up on the pen tip.

When I touch the tip to the board, I get darker results.  The results are not sustainable, so I can only create a very short burn stroke on this heat setting.

The longer the nib is not in contact with the board the darker the burn results will be.   

Can you get super dark results this way?  That depends on your heat setting.  With the low heat setting I was using I would have to wait for a long time (much longer than I have patience for) to get a dark result.

After increasing the heat setting to 3, I was able to get darker burn results.  Again, the longer the wait, the darker the results will be.

This technique can be handy when I’m working on something really pale in color.  I can get slightly darker results in a small area quickly without having to reburn over the spot numerous time.

The down side is that the color output is always a surprise.  I’m sure that if I get technical by using a timer I could work out how long of a pause was needed to generate a specific color.  

COMBINATION

I do want to mention that I often combine the second and third techniques (hand speed and burn stroke length).  For example, I might slow down my hand speed and shorten the burn stroke length to get a really dark result.  Or vice versa, I can speed up my hand speed and increase the burn stroke length to get much paler results.

IN CONCLUSION

That’s it for this blog.  I hope the information is helpful.  One thing I’d like you to keep in mind, is that I’m just sharing things that I do in my artwork.  It is up to you to decide what, if any, of the techniques you want to incorporate into your own artwork.   The most important part of pyrography is learning what works best for you!

Until the next blog,

Brenda

Nov 1, 2022

Want to subscribe? 

• Click on the “Leave a Comment” field at the end of any post (blog) and a subscribe option will appear.
• Put something in the comment field (if you put “test” or “just subscribing” I won’t make your comment public)
• Fill in the sections for your email address and name, and then click on the “notify me of new posts via email.”
• You will get a confirmation email from WordPress confirming you want to subscribe.
• Click on the confirm button in that email and you’re done.

Please note that I do not send out emails.   If you have a WordPress account there is a way to subscribe within the WordPress system, but I cannot provide specifics on how it works as I don’t know.