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Pyrography or pyrogravure is the free handed art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object such as a poker. It is also known as pokerwork or wood burning. [1]
The term means "writing with fire", from the Greek pyr (fire) and graphos (writing). [2] It can be practiced using specialized modern pyrography tools, or using a metal implement heated in a fire, or even sunlight concentrated with a magnifying lens. "Pyrography dates from the 17th century and reached its highest standard in the 19th century. In its crude form it is pokerwork." [3]
Pyrography is also popular among gourd crafters and artists, where designs are burned onto the exterior of a dried hard-shell gourd.
Pyrographer Robert Boyer hypothesizes that the art form dates back to prehistory when early humans created designs using the charred remains of their fires. [4] It was known in China from the time of the Han dynasty, where it was known as "Fire Needle Embroidery". [5] During the Victorian era, the invention of pyrography machines sparked a widespread interest in the craft, and it was at this time that the term "pyrography" was coined (previously the name "pokerwork" had been most widely used) [6] In the late 19th century, a Melbourne architect by the name of Alfred Smart discovered that water-based paint could be applied hot to wood by pumping benzoline fumes through a heated hollow platinum pencil. [7] This improved the pokerwork process by allowing the addition of tinting and shading that were previously impossible. In the early 20th century, the development of the electric pyrographic hot wire wood etching machine further automated the pokerwork process, and Art Nouveau pyrographic gloveboxes and other works were popular in that era. Pyrography is a traditional folk art in many parts of Europe, including Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Flanders, as well as Argentina and other areas in South America.
Traditional pyrography can be performed using any heated metal implement. Modern pyrography machines exist, and can be divided into three main categories.
A large range of tones and shades can be achieved. Varying the type of tip used, the temperature, or the way the iron is applied to the material all create different effects. [8] After the design is burned in, wooden objects are often coloured.
Solid-point burners are similar in design to a soldering iron. They have a solid brass tip which is heated by an electrical element, and operate at a fixed temperature.
Wire-nib burners have variable temperature controls. The writing nib is heated by an electric current passing directly through it. Some models have interchangeable nibs to allow for different effects. [9]
Laser cutters can be set to scorch the material instead of cutting all the way through it. Many laser cutters provide software facilities to import image files and transfer them onto a sheet of wood. Some laser systems are sufficiently sensitive to perform pyrography on thin card or even paper.
Woods differ in hardness, grain, figure, texture, color, and other physical characteristics. [10]
Hardness: All woods can be classified into hard or soft. Usually softwoods are from coniferous (needle-leaved) trees.
Hardwoods are from broad-leaved trees. These hardwood trees can be classified into two distinct growing seasons each year (hot and cold season or a wet and dry season) such as:
Softwood will burn faster than a hardwood does. It does not require very hot temperature to burn as do the hardwoods. [11]
Light-coloured hardwoods such as sycamore, basswood, beech and birch are most commonly used, as their fine grain is not obtrusive. However, other woods, such as maple, pine or oak, are also used.
Grain: Grain is the direction of the fibrous elements of the wood cells. This is important to sand with the grain. Also the grain can cause deviation from its intended path with use of woodturning pen unless the artist applies more pressure and burns slower on the grain.
Figure: This is the natural design, or pattern, that can be seen on the cut surface of the wood. The figure present on the wood should always be taken into consideration when the artist is planning their woodburned design.
Texture: There is a texture on the surface of that wood that feels either coarse or fine, even or uneven.
Woodburners typically avoid using very fine or intricate designs on uneven, coarse-textured wood. Softwoods are more apt to be fine or moderately coarse-textured.
Color: Woodburning is mainly used to enhance the natural beauty of a wooden project, so woodburners take precious care not to obfuscate a beautiful figure, grain, luster, or color by over-charring.
Pyrography is also applied to leather items, using the same hot-iron technique. Leather lends itself to bold designs, and also allows very subtle shading to be achieved. Specialist vegetable-tanned leather must be used for pyrography (as modern tanning methods leave chemicals in the leather which are toxic when burned), typically in light colours for good contrast. [12]
Extremely fine wood dust is liberated when sanding wood. All wood dust is hazardous, can cause respiratory problems. For this reason, many woodburners wear quality dust masks/respirators while power carving, and use a good dust collection system to prevent indoor air pollution.
There are serious risks associated with burning pressure-treated wood. It is treated with chemicals that, although safely bound in the wood fibers for construction purposes, are inherently dangerous to woodworkers and woodburners when liberated through sanding or vaporized by heat. Similar dangers are inherent to stained, painted or sealed wood. [13] A well ventilated room with a running fan will encourage air circulation and displace lingering smoke. [14]
Fractal burning is a specific pyrography technique that can be extremely dangerous and has resulted in many documented deaths. [15]
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay into pottery, tiles and bricks. Various industries use rotary kilns for pyroprocessing and to transform many other materials.
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Meat, fish, and lapsang souchong tea are often smoked.
A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is
A censer, incense burner, perfume burner or pastille burner is a vessel made for burning incense or perfume in some solid form. They vary greatly in size, form, and material of construction, and have been in use since ancient times throughout the world. They may consist of simple earthenware bowls or fire pots to intricately carved silver or gold vessels, small table top objects a few centimetres tall to as many as several metres high. Many designs use openwork to allow a flow of air. In many cultures, burning incense has spiritual and religious connotations, and this influences the design and decoration of the censer.
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood contrasts with softwood.
Pulpwood can be defined as timber that is ground and processed into a fibrous pulp. It is a versatile natural resource commonly used for paper-making but also made into low-grade wood and used for chips, energy, pellets, and engineered products.
A stove or range is a device that generates heat inside or on top of the device, for local heating or cooking. Stoves can be powered with many fuels, such as electricity, natural gas, gasoline, wood, and coal.
Dry distillation is the heating of solid materials to produce gaseous products. The method may involve pyrolysis or thermolysis, or it may not.
Fire making, fire lighting or fire craft is the process of artificially starting a fire. It requires completing the fire triangle, usually by heating tinder above its autoignition temperature.
A chimenea or chiminea(US English) is a freestanding front-loading fireplace or oven with a bulbous body and usually a vertical smoke vent or chimney.
Wood drying reduces the moisture content of wood before its use. When the drying is done in a kiln, the product is known as kiln-dried timber or lumber, whereas air drying is the more traditional method.
A pulverized coal-fired boiler is an industrial or utility boiler that generates thermal energy by burning pulverized coal that is blown into the firebox.
Leather crafting or simply leathercraft is the practice of making leather into craft objects or works of art, using shaping techniques, coloring techniques or both.
A wood-burning stove is a heating or cooking appliance capable of burning wood fuel, often called solid fuel, and wood-derived biomass fuel, such as sawdust bricks. Generally the appliance consists of a solid metal closed firebox, often lined by fire brick, and one or more air controls. The first wood-burning stove was patented in Strasbourg in 1557. This was two centuries before the Industrial Revolution, so iron was still prohibitively expensive. The first wood-burning stoves were high-end consumer items and only gradually became used widely.
Wood ash is the powdery residue remaining after the combustion of wood, such as burning wood in a fireplace, bonfire, or an industrial power plant. It is largely composed of calcium compounds along with other non-combustible trace elements present in the wood. It has been used for many purposes throughout history.
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, called charcoal burning, often by forming a charcoal kiln, the heat is supplied by burning part of the starting material itself, with a limited supply of oxygen. The material can also be heated in a closed retort. Modern charcoal briquettes used for outdoor cooking may contain many other additives, e.g. coal.
Pellet heating is a heating system in which wood pellets are combusted. Other pelletized fuels such as straw pellets are used occasionally. Today's central heating system which run on wood pellets as a renewable energy source are comparable in operation and maintenance of oil and gas heating systems.
A pellet boiler is a heating system that burns wood pellets. Pellet boilers are used in central heating systems for heat requirements from 3.9 kW (kilowatt) to 1 MW (megawatt) or more. Pellet central heating systems are used in single family homes, and in larger residential, commercial, or institutional applications. Pellet boiler systems run most efficiently at full load and can usually be regulated down to 30% of full load. Since the warm up phase of pellet boilers usually takes longer than for oil or gas firing systems, short burning phases have negative effects on the fuel efficiency. In order to improve energy efficiency and reduce harmful emissions, pellet boilers are usually combined with buffer systems, such as insulated water tanks.
The conservation and restoration of wooden artifacts refers to the preservation of art and artifacts made of wood. Conservation and restoration in regards to cultural heritage is completed by a conservator-restorer.