A few months back I was asked how to burn a straight line in pyrography.  I gave them my standard answer, but that got me to thinking about whether or not this was the best way to do things.   In this blog I’m am going to use a number of different mediums to see what will work as a straight edge.

Click on the image to the left to watch a YouTube video version of the tutorial. 

GENERAL  GUIDELINES

There are some guidelines that will help with burning straight lines. 

First, always start at the top of the board or where you want the line to be.

Second, always pull the pen tip down towards yourself.  Don’t try to burn in a horizontal direction.

Keep your hand, wrist, and forearm in a locked position.

As you pull the pen tip down towards yourself, move your arm from the shoulder.

This type of movement will produce the smoothest results.

Don’t flex at the wrist or fingers.  This reduces the length of the burn stroke to your range of motion.   Once that is reached, you have to reposition your hand and that can create problems.  The pen tip might move off the line, or the pause as you reposition might cause a spot of overburn.

If at all possible, burn with the grainline of the board.   I’m using a skew pen tip in this demo.  To the left side of the blue line, I am burning against the grain.  To the right of the blue line, I am burning with the grain.

The burn on the left isn’t as dark or as smooth looking as the one on the right.

The size of the pen tip can also impact how smooth the line results are.  In this composite photo I’m using a standard writer pen tip to burn several lines.  The difference between them is how much metal is in contact the with board.  More metal means that the pen tip tends to sits more on the board surface.  This can make the pen tip more prone to catching on any irregularities on the board.

In this photo I’m using a micro writer.  It has a very small tip, so it tends to sink down into the board surface; especially when compared to the standard writer pen tip I just used. 

The resulting burn stroke is smoother looking than those created with the standard writer.   The only one that looks better is the far right one that was created with a skew.

That same micro writer pen tip tends to bounce and skip when used to burn across the grain.  Burning lines against the wood grain is a lot harder than burning with it.

Lastly, I’m using a large ball pen tip.  Sorry the right side of the image is blurry.

You can see how the pen tip tended to move off course anytime it encountered a grain line. 

I highly recommend testing out different pen tips on scrap wood before burning on your actual project.  If nothing else, use the backside of the board you’re going to use or are using.

STRAIGHTEDGE  MEDIUMS

For all of my medium testing, I will be using a skew pen tip.  More specifically, Colwood’s MR tip which is also called a rounded heel.  Also, I will be burning with the wood grain. 

First up I will burn freehanded.  For this I use a straightedge to draw a line with a pencil.

Then I pull the pen tip down following the line.  This works well, but not everyone is going to feel comfortable with this method.  Plus, I would not use this method if burning a line across the grain because it’s too easy to get off course.

Next, I used a metal ruler or straightedge. 

This did not work!  You can’t see any burn mark except the little heat check I did at the very top of the board.

I turned up the heat a lot of my burner.  It was just starting to glow red, and you can see smoke coming from the burn stroke.

At least I can see part of the line, but the top of it has a lot of overburn.  The metal ruler did not work.

I reduced the heat to its previous setting, and now I’m using a very thin metal sheet.  I believe it is aluminum.

This worked better, but eventually the metal became a heat sink. 

If you are not familiar with the term heat sink, let me explain.  It simply means that the material sucks away the heat from a hot source.  In this case that hot source is the pen tip.

This is a comparison photo of thickness between the ruler the metal sheet.  The metal sheet was half as thick as the ruler.

Next up is the method I have traditionally used; creating a cut groove for the pen tip to follow along. 

This begins by cutting a line into the board using a sharp knife and a metal straightedge.  This creates a shallow groove.  If I want a deep groove, I just re-cut over the line.  I always re-cut the line if I am burning lines across the grain.

Then I place the pen tip into the groove and gently pull the pen tip down towards myself.  

This method works well, but it permanently mars the board.  Good luck removing the line.  It’s pretty deep, and if you’re burning on plywood you will not be able to remove it without removing the top layer.

In this photo I’m using 140 pound (300 gms) 100% cotton watercolor paper. 

I cannot tell you the brand.  I keep a number of left over pieces of paper near my burner for testing purposes, writing a note, testing out colors, etc. 

A few years back I got on a mission to test out different brands of watercolor paper to see which one worked best for pyrography.  I’m still in the process of testing.   I had no idea there were so many different brands of watercolor paper!

Back to the blog subject.  The watercolor paper worked wonderfully.  I’m not sure I would trust it to keeps its edge for more than a couple of lines.     

Since the watercolor paper worked so well, I grabbed a piece of thick cardstock paper. 

I have no idea of the weight.  It’s not as thick as the watercolor paper, but much thicker than drawing paper. 

The cardstock worked well too.  Again, I wouldn’t trust it for prolonged use. 

Next, I tried cardboard.  This the backer from a pad of drawing paper.

It did not work.  It was too thick, and became a heat sink.   

I even tried burning at a higher heat, but it still didn’t work.

Then I tried a piece of really thick leather.   

I had turned the heat back down to where I had it before.  The smoke you see is the result of the fact that leather has a much lower heat requirement than wood does.   To put that another way, the heat necessary to create visible burn marks on wood, is too much heat for leather.   Once the pen tip touched the leather, smoke was produced.

What surprised me is that the leather acted as a heat sink.  For some reason I really thought that this would work.  

Since I was positive that leather would work, I grabbed a piece of really thin leather to try.

It did better, but not great.

I refused to admit defeat with the leather.  Not sure why.  My next idea was to wet the edge of the leather with water, and then run a slicking tool over it.  This burnishes the edge, making it super smooth.

Even after doing all of that, it still didn’t work.  Leather was a complete failure.

I’m holding a piece of really thin die-cut plywood. 

It is 1/16 of an inch thick (0.15 cm).  

This worked rather well.  I didn’t try other thicknesses of plywood.  I’m sure there comes a point where it is too thick and turns into a heat sink.

Next I tried a piece of glass. 

I’m pretty sure I saw Valarie of Drawing with fire demonstrating this method a few year back.

It didn’t work for me.   

2m.  Now I’m trying aluminum tape.  This stuff is heat resistant.  It’s normally used in heating and duct work applications. 

The tape is very thin, so it was really difficult to keep the pen tip next to the edge of the tape.

I was able to create a line, but it’s not very straight.

I would put this in the category of: okay at best.

Next up is Cricut’s heat resist tape.

This stuff was horrible.  This tape doesn’t have the strength the aluminum tape does.  Plus, it’s harder to see the edge of it.  My pen tip veered into the tape and cut the tape.   

Once I realized this, I remove the pen tip and started burn a new line adjacent to the tape.

You can see where the first line ended, and where I had to start a new line.

Lastly, is Todd’s idea of using a guide.  For this you use a block of wood, book, etc., that is thick enough to allow the handset to rest on it.  The pen tip does not come into contact with the material.

This worked extremely well. 

Be aware that if the material isn’t thick enough (my wasn’t) you will have to hold the handset at a angle, so that the handset is resting against the wood.

THE  WINNERS

This photo points out the winners of the test.   Let me list them:

1) Freehand

4)  X-acto knife

5)  140 lb watercolor paper

6)  Cardstock

11)  Very thin plywood

15)  Todd’s idea

IN  CONCLUSION

I cannot say that there was a medium that was the absolute winner to use as a straight edge.  I think instead it depends on what you have on hand, and what you are comfortable using.  

If nothing else, I hope that this blog let you know that there are a number of things that could be used as a straightedge.  I know I was surprised at how well some of the mediums that works.  I was also surprised at some that didn’t.

Until the next blog,

Brenda

Oct 24, 2023

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