Woodburning is an extremely rewarding, relaxing, and profitable home based business which anyone who has a little time and patience can learn to do. It is fairly inexpensive, requiring only a small amount of wood inventory of your choice, project ideas, and a good quality woodburner.
How My Business Began
I began woodburning over 20 years ago with a big bulky soldering iron which looked much like a drill. I had to stand up to woodburn, using both hands to pull the trigger to produce the heat to the rounded tip. It was awkward at first, but I greatly enjoyed what I was capable of producing so I continued in this way for about two years.
A friend purchased an actual woodburning tool for me which only required the use of one hand and was held much as a person holds a pencil. It took me nearly a year before I finally decided to try this new tool as I was afraid I would not be able to woodburn as effectively as I could with the soldering iron. I was wrong. The new tool was a delight to work with, allowing me to sit down to burn and giving me much greater control over my work.
This was the start of my home based business as I began to woodburn custom animal keychains, getting about ten orders per week, charging $8 a piece.
The Technique
A woodburning tool has many different tips which you can easily practice with on scrap pieces of wood. Each tip creates varied effects on the wood. I, personally, use only one tip called a mini universal point. It is beveled on both side and comes to a point.
My technique is pointillism. Every woodburning project I have ever done is created through dots. I do one dot at a time which I have found gives me much better control over my woodburning tool when doing straight lines or curved lines. I do shading with dots as well, but have also learned to do shading with one of the beveled sides of the tip.
The technique you choose will be based on what you are most comfortable with. Practice with varied tips and see what feels best to you. You will develop your own personal technique over time.
The Best Wood
I have burned on many different types of wood, but my favorite is basswood. I prefer to purchase my basswood from Walnut Hollow as they offer high quality basswood products which my customers have always been pleased with.
Basswood is a soft wood which is perfect for woodburning. It is a light colored wood which allows the wood burned projects to stand out beautifully on its surface. Basswood also has very few knots in it which, in other woods, tend to bleed sap when heated and burn darker than the rest of the wood.
Harder woods such as oak and walnut are very difficult to burn on. I can burn for about ten minutes at a time on these hard woods before my hand is cramped and tired, needing a break. With softer woods like basswood and pine, I can burn for several hours before needing a break.
Creating a Design
Designs for woodburning projects can be taken from photos you have taken yourself, by mixing various pictures from greeting cards, calendars, or anything that strikes your fancy. These designs can be hand drawn onto the wood or transferred on with carbon paper, so even if you feel you have no drawing talent, you can still learn to woodburn.
Walnut Hollow Farms has produced a number of woodburning books which teach varied techniques, give instruction on using different tips, and offer free patterns of woodburning projects which can be seen as finished products within the books.
Types of Profitable Projects
Over the years, I have made hundreds of keychains, custom jewelry boxes which play music, cedar chests, Ouija boards and bread boxes. Custom orders have been requested for burning on the stripped stocks of rifles, on stripped guitars, and on stripped furniture. There have been requests for signs and logos.
Woodburned projects can be done on any wood surface as long as it has been stripped of any paint or stain. Oftentimes, I check out the local Good Will store as people will drop off interesting wood items which I can purchase for a couple of dollars. Whenever I see something made of wood, I immediately consider how it would look with woodburning. This has become a habit over the years.
What started out as a hobby for me, turned into a profitable business, mostly through word of mouth. With a bit of time and effort, you can also create beautiful woodburned products, allowing you to start your own profitable home based business.
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