Did you burn a lot of ants as a kid?

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No I never burned ants as a kid what are you a psycho? But seriously, there are far better ways to use a magnifying lens than to torture insects. Go look at my burns and I'll prove it to you.

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Does the lens get hot?

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No. The glass is simply focusing the light. It will get warm over time the same as anything else left in the sun but no more so than anything else, less so even than your car in the summer.

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How did you get started?

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It was a perfect storm of events. I was building a hiking staff because my old staff didn't fit in my wife's car and I wanted to decorate it. I'd thought about burning designs in it but I didn't want to use a regular pencil burner. At around the same time I came across a youtube video of another solar pyrography, Jordan Mang-osan. By a stroke of luck or just because I'm a bit of a pack rat I had stripped a large projection screen TV recently so I could play with the fresnal lens. Along with the large fresnal lens I had three smaller lens and I decided to give it a try. It took a bit of trial and error but the rest is history. On an interesting side note for a while I always wondered if those TV lens were the best thing to use. After all they had just been an act of convenience, but I can honestly tell you after experimenting with other lens they are some of the best lens I've ever used.
 

Do you do custom requests?

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Yes. My art lends itself to solid black and white designs but I can do a wide variety of custom orders. Just shoot me a message at Hmcelhinny@cox.net and we can discuss your ideas and what it would cost.

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How long does it take to make a piece?

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Most my pieces are done on 7 x 11 inch boards and vary between 3-6 hours of active burning time.