John, a participant on the recent Mires Beck woodcarving course, kindly lent me his pyrography kit to play about with. I must admit I found it quite enjoyable, and I fancy doing a bit more; I set my ambitions low and attempted a simple line drawing of a hare (what else?!) on a spare bit of plywood. A quick Google search told me that oak is not really suitable as the grain is too bumpy ~ a shame as I had a nice piece set aside; the cheap plywood seemed to work pretty well though, and was good enough for a learning curve.
I was reasonably satisfied with my first attempt ~ the trick is not to look at superior work on the internet! I’ve ordered a budget kit this week, so I’ll see if I can learn as I go along.