Can I apply pyrography to other types of materials?

Pyrography is also popular among gourd crafters and artists, where designs are burned onto the exterior of a dried hard-shell gourd. Most often, though, pyrography is used on paper, leather, or cork. In his book, An Introduction to Pyrography, Stuart Grainger discusses these mediums:

 

· Paper – Choose a paper or card stock with the thickness of at least one millimeter. The surface of cards or paper must be porous. A smooth surface burns too much, or worse, burns through making it difficult to introduce texture.

· Leather - Leather lends itself to bold designs, and also allows very subtle shading to be achieved. Special vegetable-tanned leather must be used for pyrography, as modern tanning methods leave chemicals in the leather which are toxic when burned. Light colored leather works best. Leather can be worked faster than wood and any points or brands suitable for wood can be used on leather. However, special care should be used, as all leather is easily scorched. Work in a well-ventilated room or use a small fan to draw the fumes away from the face.

·  Cork - Cork is an inexpensive material but the texture needs to be as firm and consistent as possible. Cork burns very easily. Branding tools work really well on cork.