wood burning tool comments

[pete00]

howdy all

While i was playing with my bird project i tried using all my old soldering irons for wood burning, had about 7 of them. Heres the results. The power rating on most of them were worn away. A few never got hot enough to to anything, the only way i could make a dent in the wood was to hit it with a hammer....lol

Most of them got hot enough to burn the wood. Im sure it was my technique, on first contact with wood it burned a dot, id try to burn a line, but ended up with dot, line,dot line etc. Either i moved too slow or too fast.
The tips on them were ...well used.... If you have any laying around give it a try.

To my supprise my sears solding gun(130watt), the one you pull trigger and a light turns on was the best. It would draw lines straight and curved, just like a pencil, and do all sorts of impressions. It was just awkward to use.

I went to AC Moore store and picked up a 25w woodburning kit with a few tips, im learning on that. Im thinking if my solder gun is easier to burn designs in wood then mabey i need to look into some of the bigger wattage units.

Not sure if this helped anyone but thought id share the info.
.......the end

[Neal Moore]

Soldering Irons for woodburning

Pete....the biggest problem with using a soldering iron for pyrography is that they don't provide a consistent source of heat. Typically they will char the wood upon contact and then rapidly cool until they won't burn a continuous line....thus you get dot...line...dot....line. Back when I carved decorative decoys I tried about every cheap iron I could find in an effort to burn feather barbs but couldn't get a consistent line width or a nice clean line. I finally bought a unit called a " Feather Etcher" which has a variable heat control and will accept "plug-in" burning pens just slightly larger than a pencil. I've had it for about 25 years now and it still works like new. There are several similar models on the market with a pretty wide range of price tags. If you plan to incorporate a lot of wood burning in your projects you might want to look into one of them. I've been thinking about experimenting with detail in my segmentation using the burner but have yet to make a serious effort at it. I figure as long as the unit is setting idle in the shop I might as well put it to good use!! I just dread starting a new learning curve at this point with no real idea of where I'm going with it!!. I did get real good at making feathers tho!!! LOL!!

[sheltiecarver]

Pete,
You might be able to use a rheostat (sp?) to control the heat a bit better. From my perspective though, after you buy the iron (about 25 - 35 $), and then the rheostat (could be just as much), you could have bought one of the less expensive variable heat units and be doing some really super work easily. I have had a burner from Colwood for maybe 13 or more years, and used the heck out of it, and it is still going strong. Back then it was around $65 - now it would probably run more like $90 - it depends on what price you put on frustration, and your budget, of course.
I think the work you did was great, by the way - no matter what tool you used. I've seen some done with a magnifying glass, too - but that is maybe taking the back to nature thing to extremes.
Of course, your mileage could vary!
Sandy

[pete00]

Neil and Sandy, thanks fo the info, ill check out the brands you mentioned.

now.... how to justify yet another expense to "her"

pete

[Pyrographer]

Pete, I would suggest you check out the Burnmaster. It is a real workhorse and is an outstanding burner and very reasonably priced. The single output is only $89.95...can't find anything better for the price and in my opinion surpasses any of the Colwood burners.

Nedra

[pete00]

Pete, I would suggest you check out the Burnmaster. It is a real workhorse and is an outstanding burner and very reasonably priced. The single output is only $89.95...can't find anything better for the price and in my opinion surpasses any of the Colwood burners.

Nedra

thanks Nedra ill check it out.

btw
you have some truly beautiful work on your site, im sure at leat nine million people have said that already, so now it nine million and one.....

pete