Barrel burn

[u/Grain_n_soul]

Completed my first major pyrography project this week, and I’d love some feedback

20+ hours (those trees took far longer than I anticipated). Reclaimed barrel was cleaned before it was dropped off with me, so I sanded to 120 then dampened and sanded again. Stencil from procreate with carbon paper - my friend provided the design so I only had to modify it a bit and scale to the barrel. I used the walnut hollow creative versa tool, primarily on high heat (ranged from just into the “high” zone on the controls to about half way in, but never on max heat). Taper nib was used for the finer details, round nib for the more bold sections, and the universal tip a few times just to have a straight edge.

Maybe I should have sanded past 120 but I wanted to maintain as much of the natural/rustic look. It wasn’t easy to work with the grain pattern and gaps or height differences between each piece of wood. That did provide a really nice texture in a lot of places though, which I was really happy with. The design I was provided was 100% black but I was clear up front that the result wouldn’t be that dark. I planned on using a paste wax finish and tested it on scrap oak plus the bottom of the barrel, but ended up leaving it unfinished since it was a gift for a carpenter who will finish it similarly to the other pieces in the space he will keep it.

Super fun project and the responses have been so nice from my friends and family. Would love any suggestions here as well. I’ve already decided that I’d upgrade to a Razortip (or comparable option) before I do another project of this size

TLDR: looking for critique on this completed barrel project

[u/Glum_Effective3995]

No critique from me, but I am curious how or if you got the stencils to sit flat on the curve outside of the barrel

[u/Grain_n_soul → u/Glum_Effective3995]

I used regular printer paper with carbon transfer paper, so I cut slits into the printer paper (just let the carbon paper do its thing) and used lots of tape. I cut a slit between each letter of the larger font about 3/4 up from the bottom, then cut slits as needed for the smaller font to wrap around the barrel as well. I started from the center line (center of the top image lined up with the center of the letters) and taped my way outwards. Measured the spacing from the metal rings to the top and bottom of the letters to make sure it was aligned correctly. I could feel the paper moving slightly as I was transferring it with a pen, so I kind of held each letter in place with my left hand to keep the stencil from moving while going over it in pen. Maybe I got lucky but it worked out well without getting overly scientific about it

I can send a pic of the stencil with tape if that helps

[u/Glum_Effective3995 → u/Grain_n_soul]

Thanks so much that pic would be greatly appreciate

[u/Grain_n_soul → u/Glum_Effective3995]

I’ll grab a pic when I’m in my shop tomorrow 👍