[Hanna]

Can you burn on.....I think it is called MDF. It is like melamine without the white stuff on it.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Not healthy breathing any of that stuff......

[Kenny_S]

Nope, I wouldn't burn in that stuff at all. Hi Ho said it all, Not healthy.

[Hanna]

That is what my concern was....breathing it. Thanks Sure would be nice however if fumes weren't a problem.

[BobD]

A lot of times they use formaldehyde in the resin that glues the Medium Density Fibreboard together...essentially the wood is made of ground up wood fibers glued together...

Bob Duncan
Technical Editor

[AlArchie]

Hanna, for about the same price as MDF, you can stop by your local lumber company and get a nice 4' x 8' sheet of 1/4" or 3/8" birch or aspen plywood. If you talk nice to them, they might even cut it up into a bunch of whatever size pieces you want. They may or may not charge you a couple bucks extra for the cutting, but you will wind up with some nice flat plywood pieces for burning on.

Al

[Pyrographer]

As everyone else has said....NO, NO, NO!!!!

Plywood is fine in most cases but be sure not to burn too deep or you will run into the same problem when you hit the glue

I have a section on safety on my Pyrography 101 tutorial. I keep adding to it as things come up. Things to definately avoid....anything manmade which is probably chemicals such as acrylic. Some people actually have been burning on acrylic mirrors...talk about dangerous.

Nedra

[BobD]

<Gag...choke...snarf...klurk> I can't imagine flat out burning on acrylic...it's plastic!!!! Anyone who's tossed a plastic bag into a fire has seen that puff of black smoke...and wouldn't want to breath that! I have enough trouble with some natural woods (oak gets to me for some reason when I burn)...I'd never want to go for something obviously chemically created!

Bob

[Pyrographer]

I totally agree Bob, but the worst part of that is that this individual was teaching people in a class how to do it and continued to do so even after being told (and provided documentation from the manufacturer) that it was unsafe.

Go figure.............

I do have to admit that after seeing the results it was actually quite unique but arggggggggg that smell

Nedra

[Lindy]

Hi Hanna,

I have to agree with everyone else. I would recommend that you avoid plywood as well. Most lumber stores carry maple, aspen and other "white" or pale woods. Depending on what your project is and how big it is, I find they usually work quite nicely. Here in Calgary we have a store called Black Forest Woods and they even carry "thins" of basswood as well as a lot of other types of wood and they are wonderful for burning on. Another source is Michaels, they have some really nice basswood plaques with bark still on them which I really like as well. Be careful of getting glued up pieces from them as the join is not that great and it can be really tricky not to get that line showing through on your burn.

Good luck and please post pictures of your project as you progress on it.

Regards,
Linda