The Burning Post #6
Hello Pyrographers!
The flowers and bugs are out! Perfect subjects to use for pyrography images…
Included in this month’s Burning Post issue:
Keep burning!
Michele Parsons
Note: When you purchase pyrography items from Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop, Michele Parsons receives a commission (at no charge to you). Her recommendations are not based on receiving a commission but rather on the function and quality of the product.
Education
What Can I Burn? Leather
Leather is one of my favorite materials on which to burn images. It has a very different feel when moving the pen across the surface—it feels smooth with no bumpy wood grain giving you resistance. I enjoy burning leather so much that I’ve taken up leathercrafting to create items with pyrography on them.
Important safety notice: Not all leather is safe to burn. It is recommended that you should only burn on vegetable-tanned leather (also called veg-tanned). Veg-tanned leather is processed using natural tannins from leaves, bark, etc. It takes about a month to tan leather using this process so the leather can cost a little more. Other types of tanned leather can have serious health risks when burning it. When you are burning the surface, you are releasing fumes of what you are burning. Chrome-tanned leather uses chromium, which is so aggressive that the leather can be tanned in a couple of days. Imagine what chromium can do to your lungs! If you are not sure whether the leather is veg-tanned, ask the store clerk or contact customer service before ordering online. Many popular leather suppliers list the tannage online and in their catalogs
Leather burns at a much lower temperature than wood. If you are using a solid brass point woodburner (looks similar to a soldiering iron), then you should purchase a solid point woodburner with a maximum temperature of 675 degrees. Walnut Hollow sells one called a Leather Branding Tool.
If you use wire-tipped woodburners, you can use all of the same pens/tips you use to burn on wood. I advise you to clean and polish your tips before burning on leather—especially the shader. When burning with a shader on leather, make sure you keep it moving. If you hold it in place on leather, even for a second, it will stick to the surface and pull up the leather. If that happens, clean the excess debris off the tip with a razor blade held flat. Do not use the razor blade’s corners because they can scratch the tip. After removing the excess debris, immediately polish the tip.
When adding color, remember that the surface of leather is flexible, so use only well adhering color like acrylic or dyes when applying it to objects that will have a lot of handling, such as wallets, purses, belts, journals, etc.
For more details and in-depth instruction about pyrography on leather, get my book, Leather Pyrography. It also contains six projects, ranging from beginner to advanced. The Leather Pyrography book’s beginner projects are also available as a leather kit, complete with leather, hardware, lace, and beads. My Leather Pyrography book (# FX00442) and its companion Parsons Leather Kit (# PWA002) are available at Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop, both in stores and online at woodworkingshop.com
Product Highlights
Note: When you purchase pyrography items from Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop, Michele Parsons receives a commission (at no charge to you). Her recommendations are not based on receiving a commission but rather on the function and quality of the product.
Razertip Tip Sets: Expand Your Selection of Tips at Affordable Prices
Razertip Replaceable Tip Pen Handle
You’ll need at least one pen handle for the following tips.
Razertip has the largest selection of pens and tips in the world—over 900 to choose from! By purchasing Razertip’s replaceable tip pen (known as the BPH pen) you can purchase hundreds of tips at very affordable prices, most are under $8 each—snake scales are higher at $15 each. You can also purchase one of Klingspor's Razertip Tip Sets at an additional discount.
Klingspor’s stocks the following tip sets:
Set of 5 0.8mm(1/32"); 1.2mm(3/64"); 1.5mm(1/16"); 2.0mm(5/64"); and 2.3mm(3/32") tips
Set of 10 Extensive tip set for all your needs: 0.4mm(1/64"); 0.8mm(1/32"); 1.2mm(3/64"); 1.5mm(1/16"); 2.0mm(5/64"); 2.3mm(3/32"); 3.0mm(1/8"); 3.9mm(5/32"); 4.7mm(3/16"); and 5.5mm(7/32") tips
Razertip Feather Formers
Coil-wrapped shaped tips to create the feather barbs on wildfowl carvings.
Razertip Keeled Snake Scales
Keeled scales have a raised center line found on most venomous snakes.
Razertip Smooth Deep Curve Snake Scales
Smooth scales are found on most non-venomous snakes.
Additional Accessories
For use with the BPH Pen and Tip Sets.
Note: When you purchase pyrography items from Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop, Michele Parsons receives a commission (at no charge to you). Her recommendations are not based on receiving a commission but rather on the function and quality of the product.
News
The 2025 Charlotte Woodcarving Show
The Charlotte Woodcarvers Club’s 42nd Annual Showcase of Woodcarvings was held on April 4-6, 2025 in Charlotte, NC. This is the largest woodcarving show in the Southeast. As in the previous several years, the 2025 Showcase of Woodcarvings was exciting to see all the new carvings and wood pyrography.
Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop was one of the vendors at the show and Michele Parsons was demonstrating at their booth.
Best of Show Winner
The pyrography entries were not as numerous as the show at the Extravaganza. As a matter of fact, we only had one entry in pyrography in the Open Division! Please consider entering the show next year.
The following were top winners in the Pyrography catagory:
| Division | Color | Winner | Ribbon |
| Novice | Natural | Caroline Thorpe | 1st |
| Novice | Natural | Caroline Thorpe | 2nd |
| Novice | Natural | Caroline Thorpe | 3rd |
| Novice | Painted | Phillip Land | 1st |
| Division | Color | Winner | Ribbon |
| Intermediate | Natural | Cindy Wood | 1st |
| Intermediate | Natural | Cindy Wood | 2nd |
| Intermediate | Natural | Cindy Wood | 3rd |
| Intermediate | Painted | Cindy Wood | 1st |
| Intermediate | Painted | Christy Gaskill | 2nd |
| Intermediate | Painted | Jim Horn | 3rd |
| Division | Color | Winner | Ribbon |
| Open | Natural | No Entries | _ |
| Open | Painted | Al Gaskill | 1st |
Pyrography Winners in the Novice Division
Pyrography Winners for Show Theme
Pyrography Winners in the Intermediate Division
Raffle Winners of Michele’s pyrography (Joe Davis and Cindy Wood)
Next year, the Charlotte Woodcarving Show will be held on April 17-19, 2026 at the same location: Central Piedmont Community College, Worrell Building, 1228 Elizabeth Ave, Charlotte, NC 28235. Parking and admission to the show are FREE. The show theme will be: Help! I Need Somebody
Get Ready!!!…
The 2025 Extravaganza Woodcarving and Pyrography Show is Coming!
Mark your calendar and start producing work to enter your pyrography work into the Catawba Valley Wood Carvers’ annual competition, partnered with The Southeastern Pyrography Association (SEPA) at the Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop Extravaganza this October 18, 2025. There will be ribbons and cash prizes awarded.
There are 3 Divisions in the competition: Novice, Intermediate, and Open. Novice is for people new to the craft (in this case pyrography). Intermediate is for the more experienced, and Open is for very experienced and professionals.
Pyrography categories in each Division will include the following:
- Wood (includes painted and unpainted subcategories)
- Leather
- Paper
- Gourds
- Miscellaneous (canvas, cork, bone, tagua nuts, artists conk mushrooms, hats, etc.)
Come Burn with Us
The Southeastern Pyrography Association (SEPA) welcomes guests of all levels of experience to attend our meetings. We meet the first Saturday of each month from 2:00-4:00 at the Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop in Hickory, NC. Our meeting usually consists of a short program, followed by burning the rest of the time. We have burners available if you don’t have one. We have professional guest presenters demonstrate for us each quarter. Dues are $20/year and joining gives you access to our private Facebook group with videos of our programs and a 10% discount on most items at Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop (in-store and online).
If you have any questions, contact us at: SEPA.pyrography@gmail.com
SEPA’s June 7th Meeting: Burning on Miscellaneous Materials
The Southeastern Pyrography Association (SEPA)’s June meeting program will cover burning on materials for the show’s Miscellaneous category. Michele Parsons will lead the program. Please bring one or more of the following materials to burn at the June SEPA meeting. If you cannot get any of these materials, still come and learn about burning them.
Bring your choice of the following material(s):
- Cork (1/4” thick coasters from Klingspor’s or 1/8” thick coasters from craft stores like Hobby Lobby)
- Canvas (natural cotton canvas bags from craft stores like Hobby Lobby)
- Tagua Nut Slices (sold on Etsy)
- Bone or Bone Slabs (sold on Etsy or slabs from TreelineUSA)
- Artist Conk Mushroom (sold on Etsy; Make sure they are artist conks with white ‘canvas’ underneath)
Also bring your burner and, if you have one, a small fan or pyrography fan. Guests are welcome…
Upcoming Classes
Build Your Skills Faster by Taking an In-Person Class
Instructor: Michele Parsons is a professional pyrography artist and author for Fox Chapel Publishing's Leather Pyrography book (also translated into German), Quick-Start Woodburning Guide, Pyrography and Woodcarving Illustrated magazines, and a contributor to the Big Book of Pyrography Projects book.
Michele has been teaching pyrography for over 20 years, including venues such as the International Woodcarving Congress, John C. Campbell Folk School, Southeastern Woodcarving School, American Woodcarving School, and various regional clubs.
Burn the World Around You
Sunday-Friday, February, 8-13 2026
John C Campbell Folk School (Brasstown, NC)
Register at www.folkschool.org
(Available to register in July when posted)
Learn at one of the oldest and best loved Folk School venues in the US.
This weeklong class is a pyrography sampler class. You’ll burn on a variety of materials including wood, leather, gourds, canvas, cork, paper, bone, artist mushrooms, and velvet. One of the only classes available to cover this topic!
More classes to come…
Free Pattern
Free Silvery Checkerspot Butterfly Pattern
Enjoy this FREE original pattern from Michele Parsons, titled “Silvery Checkerspot Butterfly.” You have permission to use this pattern, in part or in full, to burn and use royalty free.
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