The Burning Post #5

What Can I Burn?

While burning on wood is very popular, did you know that there are many other materials you can burn with pyrography (woodburning) equipment? To name a few, you can also burn on leather, gourds, paper, canvas, cork, bone, tagua nuts, and artist conk mushrooms.

I teach a weeklong class at the John C. Campbell Folk School each year where students learn to burn on all of these materials. When we cover paper, we try several different types of paper from rice paper to Kraft paper. I believe it’s the only class anywhere that offers this experience. Most students are new to pyrography.  

Below are some photos showing a few of the non-wood items that students produced.

Besides differences in burning temperatures, transferring techniques, and coloring/finishing, the most important thing to address for each medium is burning safety. Some of these organic materials can cause health issues if not approached with some knowledge about what the dangers are and how to address them.

I’m going to give an overview of these different materials over the next several newsletters. Watch for the next Burning Post for burning on leather.

Parsons Razertip SK Single Burner Essential Starter Kit w/ 5 Tips

Razertip Quality at an Affordable Price!

The Parsons Razertip SK Single Burner Essential Starter Kit was created to give you Razertip’s world renown quality with the essentials you need to get started---all at the best price. The cost savings comes from packaging Razertip’s single burner with a replaceable tip pen handle and 5 of the best loved starter tips for pyrography. This system requires loosening the screws on the end of the pen handle, inserting a different tip, and then tightening the screws. Razertip has hundreds of replaceable tips available that will fit into the pen handle. In addition, the pen handle accepts handmade tips using nichrome wire.

The Razertip SK burner is powerful and is an excellent choice for beginners or as a second burner for serious artists. It has the same power and circuitry as the SS-D10 but with a few differences. The SK can only accept one handpiece at a time, so you'll need to unplug and plug in handpieces when changing over, and it doesn't have the extra-low-end temperature adjustment. However, it can still accept all Razertip pens and accessories, as well as available adapters and cords, and it will also accept almost any pen.

Get Ready… The 2025 Charlotte Woodcarving Show is Coming!

The Charlotte Woodcarvers Club presents the 42nd Annual Showcase of Woodcarvings to be held on April 4-6, 2025 in Charlotte, NC. This is the largest woodcarving show in the Southeast and they accept pyrography entries on wood.

As in the previous several years, the 2025 Showcase of Woodcarvings will be held at the Central Piedmont Community College in the Worrell building, 1228 Elizabeth Ave, Charlotte, NC 28204. Parking and admission to the show are FREE.

Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop will be one of the vendors at the show and will have sales on many woodworking and pyrography products. Michele Parsons will be demonstrating at their booth. Stop by to watch her burn and ask questions about pyrography techniques or equipment.

For more information, visit www.charlottewoodcarvers.com and click on Showcase in the menu banner.