The Tools

• Table Saw: More often than not when I get a slab from a lumber mill it can be upwards of 12 feet long. Generally, the mill will be happy to cut it down to size for you but, if you don’t know immediately what you are going to be using the piece for you may not know how long you are going to need it to be.  Getting familiar with a table saw is going to be key to cutting these larger pieces down to size. Table saws use large circular blades to cut through wood and can be raised and lowered to cut through multiple depths. They can also be tilted to cut at angles. Warning: These are some of the more dangerous tools in the workshop and you should take a safety class before operating one. In the MakerSpace they have a SawStop which can detect skin contact and come to an immediate halt. This will destroy the saw, but will also likely save your skin.
• Jointer: One thing that you’ll notice about unprocessed wood is that you aren’t going to have those smooth edges that you get from a piece of processed wood. They’ll usually be rigid and uneven. The jointer is a great tool for smoothing out those edges. You can run the edge of your wood over the jointer and it will create a flat, square, smooth edge to your lumber. Remember: When you are using a jointer you are shaving the edge off the wood so, if you are trying to conform to a particular length/width make sure you don’t have the planer set to a huge depth (should be 1/8” at most) and make sure you mark your desired measurements so you don’t shave off too much.
• Planer: These are one of the most important tools for a pyro. You want to be working on a smooth, level piece of wood. Often times wood is cut unevenly at the mill, or it warps over time. You can pass your wood through a planer, however, and get yourself a nice smooth, even slab. A neat trick to making sure your wood is level, after it comes out of the planer, is to scribble pencil markings on the wood. When it comes out the other end, if it is level, you should see no pencil markings.  Another useful trick: If you have a smaller piece you can use a sled to compensate for the length and make sure it passes through completely. Make sure that when you are doing multiple passes through the planer you adjust it lower in small increments so that the wood doesn’t get wedged in, especially on the first several passes.
• Drum Sander: A planner will level your wood but it won’t give you that smooth finish. In order to get that you need to sand your wood down. At home, I use an orbital sander for my wood, but that can be exhausting (not to mention hard on your arms, and waste supplies) so, whenever possible, I like to use a drum sander.  A drum sander will let you pass a piece of wood through and sand it uniformly.  This is great for larger pieces of wood that would take hours to sand with an orbital. Just make sure you know how to properly clean it and that you are running your wood through evenly so that you don’t completely wear the sandpaper down on one side and not the other.

Where to go from here

There are plenty of other tools you should be familiar with as well but these four will get you through most of the basics. You should also be familiar with T-squares, tape measure, levels, and the other standard woodshop tools. Do you have some tips on how to process your own wood? We’d love to hear them. Tag us @bz_furfur and, as always, stay unique.

The post Getting Started: A Beginner’s Overview of Essential Woodworking Power Tools appeared first on Burning with Purpose.

RZ Mask – When I first started woodburning I used to get headaches all the time. After hearing someone speak at a pyro summit I learned that it could have been from inhaling smoke. Since then I have used a mask whenever I burn. RZ masks have been my go-to as they are easy to find both online and in-store. What I love about RZ is that they have replaceable filters, they are washable, and filters are not that expensive. They also have regular and high airflow filters. The high airflow is excellent if you are burning for an extended period of time especially if you have respiratory issues.

Kotto Fan: Speaking of lung safety, in addition to a mask, I always keep my Kotto fan running and it pulls smoke away from my workspace. It lessens the chance of me breathing it in. What I like about this fan in particular is that it has a replaceable carbon filter, it’s cost-effective, it’s quiet, and it’s portable. This is advantageous when I am burning for customers on-site. The Kotto fan only has one speed but I generally don’t find myself needing any faster / slower speeds.

Turntable: I absolutely love this turntable. It makes burning wood like decorating a cake. Doing things such as turning my work and making curved lines is much smoother than working on a fixed surface. It also lessens the chance of scratching the back of the wood. This particular turntable tilts so I can angle it where it is comfortable for what I am doing. Depending on what I am burning I like the versatility of being able to burn flat or on an angle. I also added cat tongue tape so it holds the piece when I have it tilted.

Since I burn on high heat it produces a lot of carbon. This sticks to the nib and it makes it hard to burn evenly so I added a Razertip brass brush to the bottom of my turntable to clean my nibs frequently.

Brother Laser Printer I like to print out my designs on the laser printer and transfer them onto wood. This gives much finer lines than if I trace them using graphite paper making my patterns cleaner and easier to burn. It also saves me a significant amount of time when I am prepping my pieces leaving me more time to do what I love. Burning.

Bosch Orbital Sander Prepping wood and finishing wood is much easier with an orbital versus hand sanding. It takes less time, is far less painful, and gives a more even finish. I like to go down progressively from 120 to 320-grade paper when I prep. Believe me, that is a lot of sanding. I also like to overburn and then go over it again with a 120 to make the lines crisp so we’re looking at as many as four times that I will sand one piece. It’s also nice that I can attach my shop vac to catch the dust.

Bonus – The “Nib Crib”: I have a handful of interchangeable nibs. To make my life easier I made the “nib crib” to house all my nibs so I can easily organize them, find them, and keep them in pristine condition. We also bring this with us when we burn on-site so Brian can show off the different nibs to customers when he is describing the different techniques I use.

I hope that these suggestions help you on your pyrography journey. Please share this post and your own tools that you find useful that you discovered over time.

The post Five Things I Didn’t Know I Needed for Pyrography But Now I Can’t Live Without appeared first on Burning with Purpose.