It has occurred to me many times that it ought to be possible to combine my two new interests of Marquetry and Pyrography, so I decided to have a go. I grabbed the next draw from my small unit and drew out a design. I chose a piece of very plain veneer for the middle section, and a grained but similarly coloured veneer for panels either side. My plan was to burn an old Oak tree onto the plain middle section and cut some shapes to create acorns in the side panels. I chose a grey veneer to use for an edging.
The initial burning of the tree went well and I glued all the pieces to the drawer but as I sanded the wood for a smooth finish I found the tree getting fainter and fainter. I'd half expected something like this to happen but, as a novice, I needed to see the effect unfold before I could decide what to do about it. The answer was to go over the tree again with the burner and darken it throughout. Though it was much harder burning on the raised draw front rather than a flat surface, I achieved an acceptable result.
The French Polishing process has yellowed and darkened the wood much more than I would have liked, which is disappointing, but overall I found the process quite successful and I'm now happy that I can add 'pictures' to my marquetry designs.
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Gorgeous tree! Interesting technique, pyrography. My grandmother did that, making outlines that she later painted in. I was to young to ask her about it, sadly.
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall you telling me about your Grandmother before. I've never tried the "painting in" technique but I hope to one day. Thank you for visiting Jusy - it's much appreciated.
DeleteJohn this is a great project. Pyrography really interests me. The oak tree is so well done.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Debbie. The oak tree was one of those subjects that just lent itself perfectly to wood burning.
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