Charming pictures can be produced on holly and white mahogany; designs of fruit and flowers and conventional patterns may be applied to panels, tables, screens, frames, glove and handkerchief boxes; and on maple bedroom furniture designs in pyrography lend a pleasing and artistic appearance.
When working on leather do not cut out the form until after the work is finished, but pin the material flat on a board to hold it firmly while operating with the hot irons.
The entire design should be drawn on the face of the leather with a soft lead-pencil, and afterwards gone over with the burning-points. When the work is completed the piece of leather should be removed from the board, and the outline cut with a sharp penknife or a pair of scissors.
It may be desirable to varnish and polish some specimens, and it is possible to do so by coating the surface with a thin spirit varnish or thin furniture polish. This will bring out the density of the burned lines, and enrich a design that on certain woods might seem flat. Too much varnish must be avoided, and only a very thin coat will be necessary to obtain the desired result.
A Platinum-point Outfit
In preference to the hand-made irons, which must be heated each time before using, the modern devotees of the fire-etching art use the gasolene lamp and platinum-point apparatus. These outfits may be purchased at the art shops for a comparatively small sum, but the young craftsman may want to make his own apparatus. With the exception of the platinum-point and its metal holder, this is quite possible.
The parts of a gasolene outfit are the bulb, rubber tubing, platinum-point and handle, reservoir-bottle, metal union-cork, and a spirit-lamp. The latter may be purchased at a drug or hardware store for a few cents; but a good-working one can be made from a square or round bottle, a cork with a hole through it to receive a piece of brass tubing, and a piece of round lamp-wicking. (See Fig. 7).
Heat a piece of wire red hot, and burn a hole through the cork large enough to slip in a piece of brass tubing a quarter of an inch in diameter. Pass the lamp-wick through the tubing, and allow an inch or two of wicking to rest at the bottom of the bottle. This lamp should be filled half full of alcohol, and it is used to heat the platinum-point at first; after that the rush of gasolene vapor will keep the tool red hot. The gasolene reservoir is a square bottle with a fairly large neck into which is fitted the metal union-cork. If it is not possible to purchase this cork, then one can be made as shown at B in Fig. 8.
Fig. 7. Fig. 8. Fig. 9. Fig. 10. Fig. 11. Fig. 12. Fig. 13. Fig. 14. Fig. 15. Fig. 16.