Bright Ideas: 7 Tips for Wood Burning

1. Choose a nice selection of wooden items to practice on. I liked having a variety to choose from.
2. If you want to try intricate designs, it can be helpful to lightly sketch these out in pencil first. For patterns and geometric designs, you can probably just freehand it.
3. Test out the heat levels of your woodburning tool. If the heat setting is too low, your designs won’t burn into the wood. Or, if the setting is too hot, the wood will burn too quickly and could ruin your design. Test the heat levels on a scrap piece of wood if possible.
4. Use multiple tips for different looks! While you will have to wait for the tool to cool down between tips so that you can change them out, Using different tips gives your design nice texture. You can use a simple tip to draw with, circular tips, or even letter tips to spell out words.
5. If your woodburner came with a stand, it can be helpful to tape the stand to your table while you work so that when you set the burner in the stand, it doesn’t fall over or slip off of the table. We like to stick ours down with a little bit of washi tape so that when we’re finished, it comes right up!
6. Use a wood conditioner to seal your wood. Wood conditioner is an oil or wax based treatment that is typically used to pre-treat wood before you stain. If you’re using inexpensive wooden items, it also makes your wood look more finished and less cheap.
7. This may seem obvious, but be careful! The tool gets really really hot. Always wait until the burner has cooled down before touching it with your bare fingers.

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These wooden spoons are going into our 2014 Gift Closet, so when we need a handmade gift these awesome spoons are ready to go!