[Pyrographer]

Originally Posted by Irish

Eddy!

You can burn on any surface that is created from natural fibers, including paper, velum, gourds, wood, bamboo, cloth I do believe that you can even scorch burn tin and copper but I haven't tried it.

Natural fibers burn, it's just finding a surface thick enough that will not burn all the way through and finding the right heat setting.

What you don't burn is man-made compounds as any form of plastic or composite boards. There you are burning either glues or acrylics which are toxic.

And you don't burn anything of unknown origin ... If you are not sure if that board, gourd or paper has been treated with a chemical don't burn it! That can include heavily bleached papers, pressure treated lumber, wood with a finish already applied.

I think Nedra can add more here as she knows the toxic listings better than I.

Susan

FYI ... the term velum originally meant a paper like surface created from the inner membrane surface of a sheep's skin! During the skinning and tanning process that layer was removed, process and dried giving a strong but semi-translucent sheet that could be written on.

Actually Susan you pretty much covered it. I do have a list on my website on the tutorial pages of the woods and some other information. It covers most everything you said.

Most everyone who knows me knows that safe burning is something I consider to be more important than sanding....

Nedra

[Pyrographer]

Susan, do you use a cooler or warmer temp (than burning on basswood or birrch as an example) for burning on canvas? I'm going to experiment on a 10 oz. canvas tote bag and don't want to ruin it right off the bat .

Nedra

[Lindy]

Hey Nedra,

I've found that a higher temperature is needed, plus I also found that anything sharp like Skews don't work very well whereas the writing nib is great.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you're doing with the canvas!

Lindy

[Pyrographer]

Thanks Lindy. Since I use my spear shader almost exclusively it should be no problem. I tested it out on a piece of canvas and saw that I needed to raise the temp a bit to get decent shading. Will put my pattern on today and see how it goes. It's just going to be one of my roses I've already done and made into a pattern but I wanted to test it out on canvas before the classes I'm teaching next month. I want to give people some other options for burning and this is one I hadn't tried myself yet.

Nedra

[Pyrographer]

Ok, I started burning on the cavas tote and it definately is different!!! I'm using 10 oz canvas and it is untreated.

I am working on this to give me some experience working with canvas before the class I'm teaching. It's actually quite fun although you do lose some of the detail that you get with wood but I like it. Not going to make a career of it though.

I've been using different pens but all are Razertip and performing quite well on the canvas. Much of the shading is done with the bent spear shader (5MP) but I'm also using the side of the round-heeled knife (#14D) as well for some shading. I did the outlining (something I never do with wood but needed here) with a ball tip (99.008) and my undercutting with the round-heeled knife. Unlike Lindy I'm having very good luck using it and while it does cut in to the canvas a bit that is exactly what I'm looking for and using a heavy duty canvas is helping but it is giving me the definition I like.

I have no idea when I'll finish this because I'm busy burning some designs to make more patterns for class but I'll try to get it done before I head to Kansas.

Nedra

[Irish]

Nedra, you canvas burning is gorgeous!

I do adjust the heat settings depending on what surface I am working. Basswood and poplar I am usually using setting two or three temps lower then birch. Basswood, I find, burns so easily it can become very dark very quickly. So I tend to be over cautious there. Tis better to burn again then to burn too dark.

The paper that I burn is usually 140lb or higher cotton rag watercolor paper. Cotton fibers and sometimes wool fibers are used to create the paper. I don't think there are any wood or other plant fibers in it beyond the cotton.

The cotton fibers in the paper are compressed. After the screen has been pulled from the fiber mash bath the screen is placed under a press to remove the excess water. That press squeezes the whosits out of the fibers and packs them tightly. The canvas that you just burned does not have pressed or compressed fibers. Instead the threads are simply twisted to become a weaveable thread to create the cloth.

Now, oddly, cotton can be very heat resistant. So of all the surfaces I have used watercolor paper needs the highest setting of all. With watercolor paper I have not yet been able to get my burner hot enough to really give me a true black tone ... just deep browns.

Susan

P.S. You can iron the canvas projects before you burn your design. This will get rid of the packing wrinkles that can cause uneven burn colors later in the work. I like to use straight pins to secure any canvas or cloth to a heavy layer of cardboard backing. This lets me stretch the cloth slightly, again to avoid wrinkle burns and to make sure the grain of the canvas is square to the pattern.

[Pyrographer]

I was in a bit of a hurry to get this started. Mostly trying to experiment and get a feel for it. Also, it was a tote bag and a bit of a challenge working through the layers.

In the future (and I do see a future) I will not only iron it but I will also probably use my quilters hoop to hold it tight and put some wood underneath to firm it up for burning...or perhaps try your method. This being an experiment wrinkles weren't too important and since I flattened it with my hand as I worked the wrinkles weren't a problem dealing with each one as I worked on the area. I will end up ironing this one later but for now it's fine and it hasn't caused any problems with uneven shading other than those that were intended. It's also fairly heavy so the wrinkles weren't more than just minor nuisances. Only problem I had was dealing with the coarse texture and shading using my smooth shading technique. It was a challenge but fun and it seemed to work fairly well. When I'm done with the class I'll do some more experimenting with different styles of burning on the canvas to see how it works.

I've ordered a bunch of these for my classes but now my wheels are spinning....what nice Christmas gifts

Oh and yes I totally agree about adjusting heat when burning on different woods. Basswood you really have to be so careful because it's so much softer burning than most others. Maple is definately a harder wood and I use a higher setting than italian poplar or birch. You really need to experiment on the woods to know what settings to use...and each burner is set differently.

I have noticed one thing about canvas...it's not as forgiving as wood. You can't go in there with a razor and scrape off any mistakes.

Nedra

[Pyrographer]

ok, I've finished scorching my canvas tote bag. For the leaves I cranked up my Razertip to about 8 and I finally have to admit my fingers got hot. I don't usually burn that hot so it's a new experience. When burning on wood I prefer to use a moderate temperature and burn in layers to create the deep shading.

Anyway, here's the finished master piece.....

Nedra