[Helen]

To seal or not to seal before burning. Curt at Curt's Tee-Kay said not to burn over his sealer. On page 40 of the new Spring 2008, Kaiser seals his eagle before burning. Does the sealer let off fumes that are harmful? Is it really necessary to seal first? Does the sealer make the burning easier?
Thanks for your replies,
Helen

[aulddiy]

Helen I'm new to burning and your questions is interesting. But, what would be the benefit of sealing and then buring? Would n't it mean you then have to seal after burning? It will be interesting to hear what the more experienced among us do. Thanks for the topic its got my solitary brain cell jumpin'.

[Helen]

Hi,
I guess sealing before burning makes the burn show up better. I don't know, that's why I'm asking.
Thanks,
Helen

[Mottles]

Hi Helen, I personally don't seal a piece prior to burning. The biggest reason are toxic fumes which are emitted from this kinds of process. Yes, I can see where you might get a deeper furrow, but is it worth it?
I have to wonder too, if burning the sealer wouldn't cause bubbling and detract from your hard work in the carving process.
Just my thoughts,
Kathy

[Lindy]

Hi Helen,

Welcome to the wonderful world of Pyrography!

As for your question, I strongly recommend against sealing your work because of the toxic fumes. I always burn on raw material and then treat the wood with whatever I'm going to finish the piece. It's the same with burning through acrylic paint, not recommended.

What type of work are you doing? Are you carving and using burning to detail your piece or are you doing straight pyrography?

We would love to see your work.

Lindy

[Irish]

I have not read the article ... is he sealing the wood so that he can burn it ??? Or is he using sanding seal to assist in a hard sanding before he burns it ???

If you are carving a realistic bird decoy often the carver will add sanding seal to bring up the fine fibers left over from the carving process. Sanding sealer hardens and lifts those fine fibers to make them much easier to remove.

The general process is to first carve the basic shape of the entire area, perhaps a wing. Then shape the feather groupings as the fine shoulder down versus the flight feathers. Next the general outline of each individual feather is carved. The decoy carver next will sand everything extremely hard (not with pressure but with persistence) until there are no gouge marks left.

If this is what Curt is doing he is most likely using a light coat of sanding seal once all the general feather shapes are carved. During the sanding process 90% of the sanding seal will be removed!!!! If so, again I will have to go read the whole article, the sealer is for sanding purposes not for wood burning purposes.

If what you are doing is a scene burning not burning feather lines into a cared decoy you would not use any sealer until all burning is complete as Lindy and Mottles have suggested.

Susan

[BobD]

Hi Helen,
What article are you referring to? Page 40 in Spring 2008 WCI is the middle of the Chris Pye article on line carving...

Bob

[Helen]

OMG,
Sorry..sorry..sorry...got the article from another magazine. Thanks for all the imput, my face is tooooo red.
I guess burning over lacquer is sorta dangerous.
Helen
(very senior citizen)

[BobD]

No problem Helen!!!!

I think Susan Irish had it right...a light coat of sanding sealer to get a perfectly smooth surface to start from is not a bad idea. Just make sure it's light enough that you remove it when sanding the surface smooth.

Bob

[Helen]

Thanks, Bob,
The actual sentence reads, "Before I burned, I sealed ... with Deft cut with 50-60% lacquer thinner and applied a very thin, even coat".
I'm woodburning tupelo, little tiny barbs in the wings. I was wondering if putting a little sealer on first would smooth out the places I'm burning, or color the area so it's easier to see.
Thanks,
Helen