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Project 1

Basic Coasters for Beginners

Working on several identical designs to form a set is a good way of building up your confidence with the pyrography pen.

Once you have spent some time experimenting with the marks you can create with your pyrography machine, it is inevitable that you will want to start using your newfound skills to decorate and make useful items. Coasters are a perfect item for beginners: they are readily available as blanks from craft suppliers in a variety of shapes, are relatively cheap, and the small, flat surface is perfect for building up your confidence in a contained area.

Most coaster blanks are also made of woods such as birch, beech, or sycamore: the smooth, pale surface makes them ideal when starting out. The most common shape for coaster blanks are squares and circles, but you can use any shape available. Each shape will bring its own qualities and challenges when preparing a design.

TOOLS & MATERIALS

■ Shaped coaster blanks

■ Pyrography machine

■ Pencil

■ Eraser

■ Ruler

■ Pair of compasses

1. Preparation

The aim of this project is to practice controlling the pyrography pen and the marks you can make with it. In contrast to your practice experiments, the marks you make now will have a focus and a purpose—forming part of a decorative design. Each mark will relate not just to each other, but also to the shape and surface of the wooden coaster. The quality of each mark will need to be consistent, making this a very useful project to hone your skills.

Take time to study the trials you have made so far on your practice pieces of wood. Consider which lines and marks were your favorite to create, and which were particularly successful and appealing to the eye. It is useful to bear in mind the marks you intend to use when planning the design on the coaster.

2. Design and Lay Out

The next step is to start drawing your basic design lightly onto the coaster with a sharp pencil. Use a combination of lines to make a border, such as a number of parallel lines with smaller marks between them. You can make basic parallel lines by using your finger as a running guide along the edge of the wooden item. Hold the pencil firmly in one hand and place the tip of one finger against the edge. Keep your hand rigid and run it along the edge of the coaster. Repeat this on every side of a coaster and you will have drawn a basic border. Use your ruler to help draw straight lines if you prefer: measuring the distance for each line from the edge of the wooden shape will help to keep the pattern regular and even. Use the compasses or geometric stencils if you wish to include any circles or sweeping curves in your design. You can always try drawing curves freehand if you feel confident doing so.

I selected some blank round coasters for this project, but you could use any shape that you wish.

Use your fingers as a running guide to draw a pencil line parallel to the edge of the blank.

Use a ruler to add straight lines to your composition.

Use a pair of compasses to add circles and curved lines to the design on the blank.

The finished design I constructed contains curves and straight lines. You can also use other types of lines, such as wavy or jagged, if you wish.

Try to use no more than five different sets of lines to create a simple design. Use a variety of lines that will help to build up your control with the pyrography pen. Combine straight with curved lines, wavy with jagged, flowing with broken, so that you build up a design based on contrast of form. You do not have to copy my example exactly: it is only meant to provide one example and does not include every possible type of line by all means.

3. Burn the Pattern

Each different type of line included in your design will test your control of the pyrography pen. Remember to select different nibs if you need to, and adjust the temperature, angle, pressure, and speed that you work with accordingly to achieve the required results. This exercise is a good time to test the ways you use a range of different nibs: in my example, I used a skew, a spoon point nib, and a ball stylus writing nib to create a range of lines and marks. Try out some of the different types of marks you discovered while working through Chapter 1. Curves, straight defined lines, dappled lines with undefined edges, dotted lines, and more are possible—put yourself through your paces.

I used a medium skew to form the straight lines on the blank. I used two parallel strokes of the nib to make some of the lines slightly thicker.

I used the fine edge of a spoon point to draw the curved lines of the circle, as this can easily be moved across the surface without catching.

I used the skew to complete the long straight lines, making the most of the sharp edge of the nib to lightly cut across the surface in a smooth motion.

Decide which line of the design you will complete first. Set the pyrography machine up next to you. Ensure you have enough room to work comfortably. Turn the pyrography machine on and test the nib on a scrap piece of wood if you wish. Hold the coaster and move the heated nib smoothly across the surface, trying to keep the lines free of errors. If a line is too light, go over it carefully until you achieve the required result. Turn the wooden item around whenever necessary so that your hand moves in the direction needed to complete the line without restriction. Work on each separate line one at a time, completing one before moving onto the next so that you do not make a mistake or use the wrong mark. Your design and choice of line can change or adapt as you work if you feel the balance or structure is not right.

Using the soft edge of a spoon point nib can add a dappled soft line.

Repeatedly applying a ball-point stylus forms a line comprised of many small dots.

Detail was added with some fine broken lines by lightly drawing the point of the skew along the surface, parallel to some of the earlier marks.

If you wish, you can make each of your coasters identical so that you make a set. Making identical items is a good way to develop your confidence, as you will need to concentrate on achieving the same result every time. However, you can make each coaster slightly different in some way (by keeping the same layout but changing the marks used, for example), or make every coaster completely different: the choice is yours.

Once you have worked your way through some of the other exercises in the book, you may wish to come back to making coasters to use some of the other techniques in your designs. You may decide that you want to add a small handwritten word to the design: written words can be regarded basically as a complicated line with many different changes of direction. The use of lettering is covered in more detail later in the book.