I have been wanting to do this project for a long time now, but I have been struggling to find a piece of wood large enough. In my head, I imagined a large wooden gecko looking like it was climbing up the wall of my house. If you follow my blog you will also know I am mad about Shou Sugi Ban. And yes, you got it, the finish was going to be Shou sugi ban.

As a stroke of luck, one of the local people in our town contacted me and said she had a wooden sideboard unit that she wanted to get rid of. It was free I just had to go and pick it up.  It turned out to be the perfect size for this project. I got home and took the unit apart so I could upcycle the top for this project.

What is Shou Sugi Ban?

Originating in 18th century Japan, Shou sugi ban is a particularly striking method of preserving wood by charring it with fire. Traditionally, this practice is used with Japanese cedar to weatherproof it. The wood is burned until the surface is charred, and then coated with natural oil. The result is a scorched finish with magnificent charcoal-black colour.

The surface of the wood can take on a crackled or alligator skin look depending on the wood species and the burning intensity. Traditionalist utilizes only Cryptomeria japonica or Japanese cedar because it can take the heat for a deep burn resulting in pest, rot, and fire-resistant as well as becoming a natural water repellent and sun shield.

While this is the traditional method, over the years people have played around with it and this post will show another great way to use Shou Sugi Ban.

Do It Over Designers

Today we’re taking part in the Do It Over Designers Blog Hop hosted by Ann at The Apple Street Cottage.

We’re a group of bloggers who take something old and/or unused and ‘do it over’ into something new. These items can be found in closets, barns, garages, yard sales, thrift stores, you name it! Check out the other projects at the very bottom of this post.

DIY Wooden Gecko Wall Art

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Before we get started start with this tutorial be sure to subscribe to my bimonthly newsletter to be the first to see my latest projects.  You can also follow me on Pinterest and Facebook where I also include my unique mixed-media art projects.

Making the gecko template

I am a very creative person, but I cannot draw to save my life. So, I had to cheat and use a projector to blow up my image to a larger size for this project.  You can see the method I use in this post for the zebra bench I made. 

Once I have the outline of my gecko on paper It is time to add it to the wood. You can tape the paper template to your wood, but I find it better to use spray adhesive.  This stops the template from moving while you are cutting around the image.

Cutting the wood

For a project this size I think a jigsaw would be the most suitable way to cut it out.  For smaller projects, you can use a scroll saw. Before I started cutting around the outline, I used a drill and a large drill bit to add holes in areas I believed would be difficult to cut.

I am not the most skilled person using a jigsaw, so these holes help you turn the saw in hard-to-reach areas.

This was particularly useful when cutting around the hands and feet of the gecko. I cut really slow, and it took me nearly an hour to cut out the wooden gecko, with only one causality.

While I was cutting around the hands the wood started to vibrate, and the gecko lost a finger. This I think was because I did not clamp the wood to the table. I had no issues with the other hands and feet after I clamped down the wood. I was able to glue the finger back in place and I used duct tape to hold it secure while the glue dried.

If you are not going to give your wooden gecko a Shou sugi ban makeover you will need to sand around the edges to smooth them out. Because I would be burning all the wood it is not necessary for me to do this.

Prepare your work surface.

Before you start burning your wood you need to make sure you have a suitable non-flammable surface to work on.  I have some sheets of scrap metal that I keep for this purpose. You will also need to wear the appropriate safety gear, respirator, safety glasses and gloves.

Burning your wood

I use a small blow torch using disposable map gas bottles.  I prefer to use MAP gas as it burns hotter and the wood burns quicker.  In the past, I have used propane gas with good results but on larger pieces of wood the quicker you burn the wood the better.

Because propane is not as hot you need to burn the wood longer and on larger projects, this can cause the wood to warp.

I forgot to take a photo of the burnt wood, but this is an image from a previous project.  You are aiming to get this cracked effect on the surface.  While you are burning the wood move the flame around slowly try not to swipe the flame from side to side.

Sanding the charred surface

Before you start sanding the surface remove the charred surface with a wire brush.  This will prevent a lot of mess with dust flying around. If you can do this step outside in the garden even better.

Once the charred surface has been removed you can use a drill with a coarse nylon brush to remove more of the burnt surface. The aim is to sand down deep into the wood going down to the light wood.

When using the drill and brush be sure to go with the grain direction of the wood.  This will eliminate any ugly brush marks in the wood.

This is where you will start to see all the texture coming into the wood. The wood grain will stay a dark colour and the soft wood in between the wood grain will become lighter.  The deeper you sand into the wood to reveal the lighter wood the more vibrate the colours will be.

This step can be very time-consuming and can take a few hours to complete. I made this project last year before I got my new restorer machine.  This machine was a total game changer and a project like with can be done in about 10 minutes.  So, if you plan on doing more Shou sugi ban projects I would highly recommend this machine.

I was not overly impressed with the sanding wheel on the right as it seemed to jump around too much. But the brush and the paint stripper work brilliantly. It is a bit hard to see the texture in this image, but the surface feels amazing.

Sealing the surface

This was the wooden gecko after I had finished sanding the surface.  To seal the wood and make the natural wood colours pop, I added two coats of outdoor varnish to the surface.

After I sealed the wood, you can see the difference in the colours.

The images below show the texture of the surface.  This cannot be truly appreciated from the photos as they do not do it justice.

Adding colour to the wooden gecko

I was not 100% sure whether I like the plain wooden gecko, so I sanded down the surface and added so green Unicorn spit (dragon’s belly) to the wood. I would love to hear your thoughts on which one you prefer as I cannot make up my mind.

Believe it or not, I only added one colour to this wooden gecko, the other colours were created by how deep the wood was sanded.  To see how to colour the Shou sugi ban, you can find the methods I tried and the products I used in this post. 

For more ideas for Shou sugi ban wall art

These wall panels were made from wood recycled from an old bed frame.

For this project, I made a frame for a canvas print and left the Shou sugi ban natural.

Do over designers’ blog hop

As I mentioned, this is the ‘Do It Over’ Designers Blog Hop and there are some amazing projects!  Be sure to click on the links below for inspiration.

Exquisitely Unremarkable

Little Vintage Cottage

Modern on Monticello

Pandora’s Box

Purple Hues & Me

Southern Sunflowers

Unique Creations by Anita

Sum of Their Stories

Tea and Forget-Me-Nots

The Apple Street Cottage

Birdz of a Feather

Color Me Thrifty

If you are looking for any of the items used in this project, please consider using our links. By clicking on the links we will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.  Which helps us come up with new and exciting ideas to share with you. Please feel free to share or leave a comment we would love to hear your thoughts.