Hi Group,

I would like to try some wire burning on some napkin rings I have turned.
I have a few questions which I hope you will answer for me.

1. Which is the best type of wire to use?

2. Should the wire be held taught or loose on the wood?

3. Should the the lathe be at high or low speed?

Thank you in advance. Tom

1. Which is the best type of wire to use?

I have used brass and stainless steel.

2. Should the wire be held taught or loose on the wood?

Gradually increase pressure until you get the desired result.

3. Should the the lathe be at high or low speed?

Higher speeds = more friction, more heat.

Just don't wrap the wire all the way around! Hold it against the wood so you
are covering about 1/4 or 1/3 of the cylinder.

Dan

Also, make some proper handles for the wire -- don't wrap them around
your fingers or anything such as that. Wire can 'catch'.

Bill

Dan Bollinger wrote:
1. Which is the best type of wire to use?

I have used brass and stainless steel.

2. Should the wire be held taught or loose on the wood?

Gradually increase pressure until you get the desired result.

3. Should the the lathe be at high or low speed?

Higher speeds = more friction, more heat.

Just don't wrap the wire all the way around! Hold it against the wood
so you are covering about 1/4 or 1/3 of the cylinder.

Dan

"Tom Dougall" wrote in message
...
Hi Group,

I would like to try some wire burning on some napkin rings I have turned.
I have a few questions which I hope you will answer for me.

1. Which is the best type of wire to use?

2. Should the wire be held taught or loose on the wood?

3. Should the the lathe be at high or low speed?


I don't use copper or brass. Conducts heat better than steel, and you don't
want to conduct heat away. Annealed steel picture wire, or home annealed -
heat and allow to air cool - wire of larger diameter work ok. Pressure is
more important than speed, since friction is a function of pressure and the
coefficient of friction. Problem arises when you try to press on a sloped
surface, and the wire slides.

Answer is to make a groove in advance to guide the wire. Tip of the skew is
the normal recommendation, but I prefer to lay my parting tool on its side
and scrape a spot. Much more secure, and you're going to burnish the rough
scrapes away anyway. Don't wrap more than halfway, as you can then get
caught up. I don't use handles, but I'm using less conductive material, and
not wrapping around my fingers, so it matters little. Couple of dowels will
suffice. Groove and wrap the wire around them.

You can do the burn with other things too. I use Formica samples, corner
and edge to do the job, but they're stinky. They will allow you to make
burned rings on flat surfaces, however. Or you may simply do the Boy Scout
trick and rub wood against wood. Leaves a possible ember on the rub stick,
so I consider it a bit risky around shavings and dust.

Tom
Here you go, third tip down.
http://aroundthewoods.com/tips.shtml
--

God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com


"Tom Dougall" wrote in message
...
Hi Group,

I would like to try some wire burning on some napkin rings I have turned.
I have a few questions which I hope you will answer for me.

1. Which is the best type of wire to use?

2. Should the wire be held taught or loose on the wood?

3. Should the the lathe be at high or low speed?

Thank you in advance. Tom

I use plain old "stove pipe" wire, it conforms to the shape better than
stiff wire, hold the pressure end with a pair of pliers and the other end by
hand, increase pressure until desired affect is achieved at a moderate/high
speed.

Walt Conner

Thank you,
As usual you guys jumped in and gave me the answer.

Tom

I agree with most of what was said.

I use whatever wire is handy--several widths. 1 is soft (iron) mechanics
wire. two are stiffer model airplane control wires. Always wanted to use
some wire violin strings, but never found any when I needed them.

I bought a some 1" wood beads, drilled thru them for handles. I figured
they would pull out of my hand if the wire got caught on something.

I found that a light groove, a touch with the corner of a skew or parting
tool, lets me start the wire right where I want it, and keeps it from
slipping.

I usually sand the wood down to about 240 grit before I burn, then lightly
sand the burn with 320 grit.

Speed about medium. Press down on the wire to start it, and heat it up,
then press hard for the mark.

Easier done than talked about. Do 5 then you'll be an expert.

Old Guy


"Tom Dougall" wrote in message
...
Hi Group,

I would like to try some wire burning on some napkin rings I have turned.
I have a few questions which I hope you will answer for me.

1. Which is the best type of wire to use?

2. Should the wire be held taught or loose on the wood?

3. Should the the lathe be at high or low speed?

Thank you in advance. Tom

Hello Tom,

I demonstrated the use of burning wires at The Woodworking Shows for a
several years (in addition to numerous other turning demos). If you want to
make your own, the best wire to use is piano wire. It will hold up the best
under the high heat and friction caused during the burning.

Check your phone book for piano repair folks and call them about getting
some of their broken piano wire. Replacing wires is not uncommon whilst
tuning a piano and a length of wire will make several sets of burning wires.
With a collection of different sizes collected over time (there are several
wire sizes in a piano), you will be well on your way to making a durable set
of burning wires.

Several of the other posters gave good safety and application advice as
well. The wires are held taught on the wood when burning. Always use the
proper grip and use insulating wooden handles to protect your hands. The
lathe speed is determined by the project... I burn pens at 3,900 RPM, 10"
bowls at 750-850 RPM etc. You can tell quickly if it is turning fast enough
to burn, adjust if necessary - if you can do so safely.

When you have completed the burning, a slight fuzzy black zone will be
visible next to your jet black burned line. This is because the heat from
the burning dissipates to each side of the line, causing a fading out of the
burned line.

To remove this, simply resand over the burned area with the last (final)
grit you used, before you began burning. A very light resanding will remove
the fuzzy black area and leave you with a crisp black line.

An alternate method to prevent the fuzzy black line is to use a product
called KT Sanding Sealer. It is brushed on the bare wood before burning and
allowed to dry. Then you can burn *most* of the time, without any fuzzy
lines. This is one of the products that professional wood burners use on
carvings that need to be burned, but can't be sanded afterwards. I have used
it for a couple of years and it works great.

Turn a starting grove in the wood before burning to prevent the wire from
skating on the surface. This is particularly important when creating complex
designs where the burned lines are very close together, say a few
millimetres or so.

One last caveat, police up and sawdust and shavings under your bedways
before burning. Occasionally, smouldering wood dust from the burning will
drop down onto the bedways. As we used to say in the Fire Department,
"Better Safe Than Sorry When It Comes To Fire Prevention". If you have any
questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Best wishes to you in all
of your woodturning endeavours!

Website: http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com
Free library of educational articles on website
--
Better Woodturning and Finishing Through Chemistry...

Steven D. Russell
Eurowood Werks Woodturning Studio, The Woodlands, Texas
Machinery, Tool and Product Testing for the Woodworking and Woodturning
Industries

Free Monthly Woodturning Newsletter * Your email is kept confidential
Sign up at: http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com/lathe-talk.html

On 1/29/07 7:53 AM, in article ,
"Tom Dougall" wrote:

Hi Group,

I would like to try some wire burning on some napkin rings I have turned.
I have a few questions which I hope you will answer for me.

1. Which is the best type of wire to use?

2. Should the wire be held taught or loose on the wood?

3. Should the the lathe be at high or low speed?

Thank you in advance. Tom

Hi Tom

Tom I have used different wires, not only different metal but also
size wise, copper won't stand up it'll break, brass is much better,
stainless is much better and just mild steel wire will work fine also.

Cut a starting groove so your wire is not running away from the spot
where you started, and keep your wire lined up with the direction of
the line on your wood, but on a curved or sloping sides the wire
wants to slip down even with a little groove cut.

For the curved sides I have used a sharp bone wedge, very dense wood
works also to make burned grooves.

Depending the width of the burn line you want, you need thinner or
thicker wire, and I find a thin sharp defined line looks better
usually on smaller pieces.

I used to just hold the wire with a pair of vicegrip pliers, but then
kept loosing the wires, so I made a Burning tool, one with 2 dowels on
the ends, wrapped around the dowel twice, then around itself a couple
of times, I used a length of piano wire, you can get that in different
sizes, haven't lost it yet, and it works well, it's easy to hold and I
don't get hot fingers.

The heat build up while you hold down the wire against the wood, only
if it turns, the faster the less time to cool down and the quicker the
heat buildup, the longer the contact area the greater the resistance,
and in turn the more heat generated.

So the more feet per minute the more heat for the same pressure and
the same length of surface contact, you van change these values, but
all the pressure with no slippage will generate no heat, a lot of
slippage needs only a little pressure for heat generation.

And Yes be careful, the wood will tend to grab the wire the moment the
wood surface changes and starts to burn, so no wires around your
fingers, also that wire gets VERY hot, don't burn yourself.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

http://homepage.mac.com/l.vanderloo/PhotoAlbum12.html

On Jan 29, 8:53 am, "Tom Dougall" wrote:
Hi Group,

I would like to try some wire burning on some napkin rings I have turned.
I have a few questions which I hope you will answer for me.

1. Which is the best type of wire to use?

2. Should the wire be held taught or loose on the wood?

3. Should the the lathe be at high or low speed?

Thank you in advance. Tom

Tom, you might like to try turning a tiny groove then burning it in with
the sharp edge of a sliver of ebony, padauk etc.


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter


http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

On 29 Jan, 13:53, "Tom Dougall" wrote:

I would like to try some wire burning on some napkin rings I have turned.

First tof all, make some simple wooden stick handles to hold the wire
without having your fingers anywhere near it!

1. Which is the best type of wire to use?

Soft, non-rusting, heat-resistant and likely to retain all three
qualities. I use soft stainless steel lockwire, from an engineering,
motor-racing or aircraft supplier. Every toolbox should have a roll of
this stuff! Aerospace baler twine.

For thin stuff I use nichrome resistance wire (heater element),
although I can snap this by hand if I pull too hard.


2. Should the wire be held taught or loose on the wood?

Loose, then gradually pulled tight around a small curvature of the
wood. Only an inch or so should be tight and burning at a time.

3. Should the the lathe be at high or low speed?

Low, so you can control it. Doesn't take long and it's easy to overdo
it.

If you get white lines with black sides, you're pulling too hard
(charring the sides, scrubbing through the middle)

All the wire options have been covered. As far as holding the wire, a better
alternative to dowels is to pick up a mini hacksaw from the dollar store (a
regular hacksaw works if you have an extra one laying around). Remove the
blade and replace it with a length of wire. This gives you one-hand
operation, good control, and insulates the hand from the heat.

B.

Hi Buddy

Yes Buddy, I've read this before and it is a very neat burning tool,
but especially on small turnings, you have only a small contact area,
I do like to go around a little ways.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

On Jan 29, 8:13 pm, "Buddy Matlosz" wrote:
All the wire options have been covered. As far as holding the wire, a better
alternative to dowels is to pick up a mini hacksaw from the dollar store (a
regular hacksaw works if you have an extra one laying around). Remove the
blade and replace it with a length of wire. This gives you one-hand
operation, good control, and insulates the hand from the heat.

B.

"Tom Dougall" wrote in ...

Hi Group,

I would like to try some wire burning on some napkin rings I have turned.
I have a few questions which I hope you will answer for me.

1. Which is the best type of wire to use?

2. Should the wire be held taught or loose on the wood?

3. Should the the lathe be at high or low speed?

Thank you in advance. Tom

On Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:53:09 GMT, "Tom Dougall"
wrote:

Hi Group,

I would like to try some wire burning on some napkin rings I have turned.
I have a few questions which I hope you will answer for me.

1. Which is the best type of wire to use?

Just would like to add that I use old electric guitar strings (wire)
that my son had. Comes in 5 different sizes and have held up very
well.

Acoustic ones work as well :-) We blugrass players tend to have too many
guitar and banjo strings around. On the other hand my son wants me to
refurbish my old electric guitar and build another one. Ok two, he wants
another one as well.

--

God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com


"Old Grey" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:53:09 GMT, "Tom Dougall"
wrote:

Hi Group,

I would like to try some wire burning on some napkin rings I have turned.
I have a few questions which I hope you will answer for me.

1. Which is the best type of wire to use?

Just would like to add that I use old electric guitar strings (wire)
that my son had. Comes in 5 different sizes and have held up very
well.

On Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:00:42 GMT, "Old guy" wrote:

I agree with most of what was said.

I use whatever wire is handy--several widths. 1 is soft (iron) mechanics
wire. two are stiffer model airplane control wires. Always wanted to use
some wire violin strings, but never found any when I needed them.

I bought a some 1" wood beads, drilled thru them for handles. I figured
they would pull out of my hand if the wire got caught on something.

I found that a light groove, a touch with the corner of a skew or parting
tool, lets me start the wire right where I want it, and keeps it from
slipping.

I usually sand the wood down to about 240 grit before I burn, then lightly
sand the burn with 320 grit.

Speed about medium. Press down on the wire to start it, and heat it up,
then press hard for the mark.

Easier done than talked about. Do 5 then you'll be an expert.

Old Guy

Gotta jump in here, softly...

DON'T buy those P.O.S. wire burners with the wood knobs on the end.. they really
suck...

I've used just about everything mentions, including a few of the wife's old
violin strings..... burn the plastic coating off on a piece of scrap.. DAMHIKT


mac

On 29 Jan 2007 20:12:22 -0800, "
wrote:

Hi Buddy

Yes Buddy, I've read this before and it is a very neat burning tool,
but especially on small turnings, you have only a small contact area,
I do like to go around a little ways.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

snip

Hey ol' timer!

I also like to bend the wire a bit...
this probably sounds weird, but on pens, I hold the wire either under the pen or
on the back side, so I can see the progress of the burn...

It's a real bitch to find out after removing the wire that you either burned too
deep, or that the wire made a nice groove but the wood didn't char...


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Mac ???
OK where have you been all those years, or is it months ?? seem like
it was a long time Mac !!
Good to see you are still alive and kicking.
I have been wondering how you where doing in your new place, got it
all set up the way you want ??, I assume not, seems like those things
always take longer than forever ;--))).
I've been kind of busy also, helping out both my sons, got 7 grandkids
now !!!!! and one more expected later this year, and they are a lot of
fun to have around, good reason to turn kid toys also.
I am at my youngest son right now, we build a good pick-nick table and
are working on a storage place for his garden equipment and other
stuff, like snow thrower.
We just got back from HD and Busy Bee, with a Delta Midi and Oneway
Chuck and a set of turning tools, my son does want to be able to turn
some spindle turning stuff, and I can use it also when I'm over
here ;-)).
Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo



On Jun 15, 6:39 pm, mac davis wrote:
On 29 Jan 2007 20:12:22 -0800, "
wrote:

Hi Buddy

Yes Buddy, I've read this before and it is a very neat burning tool,
but especially on small turnings, you have only a small contact area,
I do like to go around a little ways.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

snip

Hey ol' timer!

I also like to bend the wire a bit...
this probably sounds weird, but on pens, I hold the wire either under the pen or
on the back side, so I can see the progress of the burn...

It's a real bitch to find out after removing the wire that you either burned too
deep, or that the wire made a nice groove but the wood didn't char...

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing