I've been very busy lately doing woodburning, also know as pyrography, on hard shelled gourds. There are so many possibilities, I can barely get one thing half started when I've thought of three more I can do.

Lately I've discovered all this motivation because we bought a gourd saw. That's a special hand held power jigsaw just for the texture and curvature of gourds. I was cutting a particularly thick gourd and broke two blades. But it's not the fault of the saw as much as those gourds were unusually thick. That particular gourd is going to be a drum.

We also found something called pyrography paper.  You can print your design straight out of your computer printer, tape it to the ground and burn right through it. That way you take a lot of the guesswork out of it. Or you can draw on the paper and then tape it to the gourd. Gourds are usually curved a little or a lot so drawing directly on them can be challenging. Also the lines are a lot easier to see on white paper than on a gourd.

To erase pencil lines I like those little gray kneaded erasers that are used for sketching. Regular erasers smudge and leave debris. 

Study the photos for details made with the woodburner.

Remember a woodburning tool is basically a hot knife. Always be aware of where the tip is. Don't let children or pets play around your work area. The carbon build-up on the tip can be gently removed with a steel wool pad. On some brands, the handles can heat up too, so be careful where you put your fingers. Unplug when not in use, even if  you are just walking away for a few minutes. Wear safety glasses or your reading glasses just in case. If you are sensitive or allergic to gourd dust, wear a dust mask.

Start at a low temperature, try drawing on a gourd scrap, and slowly raise the temperature until you are burning a smooth line, but not burning too quickly or deeply to control. Gourds have soft and hard spots, so practice to get the feel of it. Let the tip do the work. Don't try forcing it to go faster or you could damage the tip.

Many tip shapes and sizes are available. Some are for cutting, some for writing, some for shading and so on. You don't need to buy every tip in the catalog. Just get three or four that do the basics I just mentioned, and add from there as needed.

For more about gourd art, see my other articles. In order to keep the articles short and easy to understand, I don't put everything under the sun in every article. Feel free to ask questions if you've never even seen a gourd before. We all have to start somewhere.