WoodBurning

My mom recently purchased a woodburning tool for me. She has a friend at work whose husband does it and sells his pieces. She thought I could do that too so she bought me a tool (Walnut Hollow Versa Tool from Hobby Lobby). I have been playing around with it for a little while. It is a very interesting tool to work with. It takes a little getting used to. It is easy to make mistakes and since erasing isn't an option it can be frustrating at first.

Initially I was just playing around with the wood burning tool on a scrap piece of wood so I could get used to how it works and how the different remperature settings affect how it is used. Below is my first real try with the tool.

To prepare the surface I sanded it smooth and then I sketched it out so I had some guides for my lines. The pencil lines are not an issue either because they can be sanded off afterwards. The shading is accomplished by using a tip with larger surface area and then adjusting the temperature to get lighter or darker as needed. For my first go I think it turned out pretty good.

My attempts after that have been around designing and making some Christams ornaments to possibly sell. I came up with about a dozen designs then chose six to try out on some pre-cut disks I bought at Hobby Lobby. The plan is to get some 2 inch birch branches and cut my own disks so they have the bark around the outer edge for a natural look. Here are the designs I chose.

These ornaments will still need to be stained and then finished off with a metal eylet and ribbon but they show the direction I am going.

So far I have some birch pieces cut and I am sanding and preparing them for the design. I will update with my progress soon.