Pyro-Carpenter Bookmarks

Book marks come in various shapes sizes colors and materials. Me I always like a wood grain look to anything and decided, why not try and make a wooden bookmark that one can design themselves. (if they have the tools needed) I use many different woods(cedar,oak,poplar,pine,etc.) some in the picture are made from 200+ year old barn wood.

These bookmarks are not hard to make I recommend though just using a table saw to mill the bookmark instead of planing a board and cutting many from it that is a waste. I will list all materials and tools but some are optional.

Not only am I a carpenter I also damper in wood-burning as a pyrograpist. Wood Burners come in various shapes and sizes some that are smaller some that are bigger. I started off using a soldering iron with modified tips i made for it.(do not recommend) I then moved to what is called a "versa tool" Tool- witch doubled as a soldering iron and a wood-burning tool with a selection of tips. Now as it became more of a hobby and I wanted to become more detailed, I purchases a Nibsburner "Blue Ribbon" model, with detail master styluses. (http://www.nibsburner.com/) With these you have to get used to certain tips such as shading,drawing,curved,feather,scale,shading,writing, and etc. You can either purchase these tips or make your own but have to purchase a special nickle plated wire that is adaptable to your certain burner. There are many tutorials and books on pyrography, but i was self taught. Me myself recommend any Nibsburner wood-burners but be advised you will have to purchase different styluses.(Nibsburner's styluses are made out of a cheap plastic and melt under the heat)

Recommended Brands: Nibsburner, Detail-Master, Burn master, Raxor-Tip, Versa Tool (Hobby burner not expensive)

Materials and tools:

Wood(any choice of wood you would like)

Pencil/pen/marker

Ruler/tape measure

Planer/thickness planer(optional)

Table saw drill drill bits(preferred size)

Twine/string/rope

Sander(electric or by hand)

Wood burner(optional)

Wood stain/polyurethane(optional) "If you want to give it a finished look"

Step 1: Selecting

Find and locate the type of wood you wish to use. (I tend to go out to our pile of firewood and spit it into a board and throw it through the planer.

Step 2: Sizing

From this piece of wood cut out a block but that is not too thin. ( I used a poplar wood plank which I split. I made it a 2”x6” rectangle block of wood which was ¾” thick)

Step 3: Thickness of Bookmark

Take the straight edge on your saw and move it close to the blade of the saw. (for my bookmark I moved the straight edge less than ¼” of an inch roughly .125” away from blade.)

Step 4: Cutting the Block

Rest the wooden block flush with the straight edge and begin to cut. (Watch your fingers)

Step 5: Sanding

Take this new cut piece of wood and sand it down.

Step 6: Drilling

Drill hole in the top to allow twine(or string of choice) to go through and tie a knot

(You can choose to stop here and just have a blank bookmark or continue and add a picture or design to your bookmark)

Step 7: Design You Wish to Burn

you can do one of three things.

1)Draw the pattern you wish to burn on the bookmark

2)Print out a stencil and trace

3)Print a image then use carbon paper to transfer the image for burning

(the image above shows a carbon paper trace of an image I found)

Step 8: Heat

Heat the burner up(depending on price and model it may take longer)

Step 9: Trace

Trace the outline of the design or scene. (with the wood burner using a drawing/writing tip)

Step 10: Shading and Adding Texture

Shade in the out image you just outlined and adjust your heating to get darker and lighter shades. (use a shading tip)

Step 11: (optional Do Not Recommend)

Add a coat of polyurethane to give it a different finished look(I found this effects the art and often darkens it too much)