We had a little pyrography on wood with yesterday’s throwback, so today is my new obsession: pyrography on antler. I recently made nåls for nålbinding from the tines of deer antler. I’m experimenting with different shapes and curves and am quite pleased with the results. I was thinking of inking them for decoration, but the dried ink literally just wipes off the slick bone surface. I turned to pyrography instead. I have a Colwood Super Pro II wood burning unit, which can be fitted with a vast array of tips. No more messing with old soldering irons. I can also control the degree of heat, which makes a difference. For wood I use the detail setting around 5-6. For the antler I had to crank it up to 9. Even then, it took several back and forth motions to burn the color into the fine lines. I achieved the color without cutting into the bone, which left a silky smooth surface after a light sanding and buffing. I finish each nål with a coat of Renaissance wax. Here is a video short of a thicker nål with a wrap-around pyrography vine.

My nåls sold well at a recent Earth Day Market. The ones that remain I will be selling on Etsy.