Pyrography question

[Finn Posner]

I'm looking for suggestions/opinions on which pyrography kit (controller and handle) to get started with. My first goal is to use it to sign my work and from there do some "artistic" things!!

And yes, PRICE IS A CONSIDERATION!

Thanks!

 

[Bill Boehme]

I would highly recommend the Optima system from PJL Enterprises. primarily because they have the best pens for doing fine detail pyrography. It's what I use for my basket illusion pieces. If you are just wanting to do deep scorching on the wood then any system will work.

 

[john lucas]

that makes 2 of us. I purchased an Optima after trying out 2 other less expensive units. I simply could not burn a clean a line. With the Optima it's much simpler. Still takes practice and you need to turn the power down to sign turnings but it's a lot better than the other units I had. Near as I can tell Razor Tip and Optima are 2 of the better units. I sign my work with a Dremel Engraver rather than a woodburner.

 

[William Rogers]

i have the Burnmaster, but use the PJL pens. The Burnmaster is a good unit, however like mentioned the PJL pens are the best. His patch cord is also the best.

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

The most important feature I would want is super fast tip temperature recovery after contact. The workpiece can be quite a heat sink cooling the tip enough that the user has to slow down while the temperature recovers. My digital Weller soldering station I use a bit only drops a few degrees F on initial contact which isn't even noticeable.

I'm not sure which if any of the commercially made units have feedback circuitry to monitor and maintain constant tip temperature.

Pens can be interchanged between power heads so they would only be a secondary consideration for me.

 

[Bill Boehme]

The most important feature I would want is super fast tip temperature recovery after contact. The workpiece can be quite a heat sink cooling the tip enough that the user has to slow down while the temperature recovers. My digital Weller soldering station I use a bit only drops a few degrees F on initial contact which isn't even noticeable.

I'm not sure which if any of the commercially made units have feedback circuitry to monitor and maintain constant tip temperature.

Pens can be interchanged between power heads so they would only be a secondary consideration for me.

I believe that the Optima does, but I don't know from firsthand experience. The Detail Master Excaliber that I have seems like it does because recovery is very fast. I generally don't need to pause and I generally work pretty fast for several minutes at a stretch until I need to give my hands and eyes a rest. Unfortunately, Detail Master is out of business now.

 

[john lucas]

The Optima was designed with heat recovery in mind according to what I've read. That's what makes it easier to write with.

 

[Tom Beatty]

Razertip makes a good system with very good customer support. I like their pens, but also use optima and burn master tips with my razortip unit. But it depends somewhat on what you want to do. Most wood burning uses rather low heat to build up shades and for that the razor tip unit is great. I bought it because of the versatility and recommendations from several recognized experts. However, if you want to do branding like Molly Winton then burnmaster seems to get hotter and recovers temperature quicker. I personally don’t like the burnmaster pens due to their shape and size. Suggest you google some of the wood burning sites since they have some good reviews of all of the different units

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

I forgot the brand, but I bought the one Dixie Biggs recommended when she was here. It's a big red pen/handle. You can use it for hours, very confortable, doesn't get hot. The one Bill and John posted, looks like the one I used before, gets kind of hot, maybe it's a different company, you 2 would not be speaking so highly if it was the same, LOL

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

I forgot the brand, but I bought the one Dixie Biggs recommended when she was here. It's a big red pen/handle. You can use it for hours, very confortable, doesn't get hot. The one Bill and John posted, looks like the one I used before, gets kind of hot, maybe it's a different company, you 2 would not be speaking so highly if it was the same, LOL

I just looked it up, I now have and it's a really good one, the Burnmaster.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I have a question for you, @Emiliano Achaval. Do you see smoke when you are doing pyrography?

(SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: This is an entrapment question.).

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

Lol. Well, what I mean is that some of the pens that I have, I believe that they came with 2 units, one was the Razor tip, they get extremely hot in your hand. I have a big fan that I aim away from me, hanging from the ceiling, I hardly get any smoke, still I wear a mask...

 

[Bill Boehme]

Lol. Well, what I mean is that some of the pens that I have, I believe that they came with 2 units, one was the Razor tip, they get extremely hot in your hand. I have a big fan that I aim away from me, hanging from the ceiling, I hardly get any smoke, still I wear a mask...

What I was getting at was if you see smoke then you're branding or deep burning the wood and using quite a bit of heat. I differentiate between branding which torches the wood and pyrography where you use very low smokeless heat to draw fine details and subtle shading. While the Burnmaster pens are fine fo branding, you can't use them like a pencil to write and draw on the wood with nearly as much dexterity as you can with the Optima pens. And with low heat your fingers don't get hot. If I were doing much branding then the Optima pens would get hot.

These are just two different types of woodburning. There isn't a right vs wrong. If I were doing branding then I think the Burnmaster pen would be better. Or perhaps the battery charger and Kelly Dunn type of homemade pen.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

What I was getting at was if you see smoke then you're branding or deep burning the wood and using quite a bit of heat. I differentiate between branding which torches the wood and pyrography where you use very low smokeless heat to draw fine details and subtle shading. While the Burnmaster pens are fine fo branding, you can't use them like a pencil to write and draw on the wood with nearly as much dexterity as you can with the Optima pens. And with low heat your fingers don't get hot. If I were doing much branding then the Optima pens would get hot.

These are just two different types of woodburning. There isn't a right vs wrong. If I were doing branding then I think the Burnmaster pen would be better. Or perhaps the battery charger and Kelly Dunn type of homemade pen.

Bill, look at the line below my name, "Jack of some trades" LOL, that's really me. I have not played enough with burning to know much... John Mydock is the master here in Hawaii, when I stayed with him, he started teaching me. Problem is, God forgot to bless me with the drawing gene... When I do use it is to do some embellishment, nothing fancy or very detailed. My daughter somehow is by far more talented than me drawing and has used my pyro equipment, I would be interested in her trying these better pens. I will keep my eyes open for some used one, eBay, maybe here ...

 

[Ronald Plumley]

 

[Bill Boehme]

View media item 15366

If you want to post an image in a thread don't post it in the gallery. The gallery is only for displaying your completed turnings. Anything else will be deleted.

BTW, I would have moved the image to this thread if I had known about your post before I deleted it from the gallery.

 

[Owen Lowe]

View media item 15366

Please repost the photo Ronald — it’s quite funny. Now if we can just alter it to a wood burning pen...

 

[Ronald Plumley]

If you want to post an image in a thread don't post it in the gallery. The gallery is only for displaying your completed turnings. Anything else will be deleted.

BTW, I would have moved the image to this thread if I had known about your post before I deleted it from the gallery.

Yah. No worries at all. I was trying to do it quickly as I had work things which were about to need some attention. I threw it up on my personal website and edited the link.
Apologies for going out of bounds.

R

 

[Zach LaPerriere]

I would highly recommend the Optima system from PJL Enterprises. primarily because they have the best pens for doing fine detail pyrography. It's what I use for my basket illusion pieces. If you are just wanting to do deep scorching on the wood then any system will work.

Thanks for the recommendation Bill. I have the Razertip SK and a couple of pens, but it's time to up our game and get some finer tips, especially for the tiny bowls. I'm planning to give them a call to make sure the Razertip SK is up for the job with their pens.

 

[Cynthia Carden Gibson]

I prefer the Razertip SS D10 unit and have been using it for 10 years. I find pens stay cooler with this particular unit. The SS D10 has two temperature controls with a larger range in the lower settings. Most units go down in temp only so far and then turn off.It is more expensive than the SK but well worth the extra $$ for it's performance.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I prefer the Razertip SS D10 unit and have been using it for 10 years. I find pens stay cooler with this particular unit. The SS D10 has two temperature controls with a larger range in the lower settings. Most units go down in temp only so far and then turn off.It is more expensive than the SK but well worth the extra $$ for it's performance.

The company that made the Detail Master that I have is no longer in business which is unfortunate because the control unit is excellent. I got it because that is what Andi Wolfe recommended when I took a class on pyrography from her many years ago. The heat setting works smoothly all the way down to zero when using the Detail Master pens. Their vented aluminum pen bodies were also the best, but that's ancient history.

When I switched to the Optima pens from PJL Enterprises, the owner Pat told me that I would need to adjust a trim pot on the circuit board and walked me through the process. With a tiny tweak of the trim pot I can get full control of the heat setting without having it shut off at the low end of the scale. I think that the nicest thing about the Optima system is the super flexible cord from the control unit to the pen.

 

[Matthew Ferriter]

Has anyone used one of the "branding iron" systems from Rockler?

http://www.rockler.com/custom-brand...i7OE4kl_ZIvk89iMUc_jdvf6BOwiMyJhoCqQ0QAvD_BwE

 

[Bill Boehme]

Has anyone used one of the "branding iron" systems from Rockler?

http://www.rockler.com/custom-brand...i7OE4kl_ZIvk89iMUc_jdvf6BOwiMyJhoCqQ0QAvD_BwE

Your link doesn't work. If it is something like this: Rockler Branding Iron my wife gave me one twenty something years ago when I was doing flat woodworking. The big problem with them is that it is very difficult to get a decent looking burn even on perfectly flat wood. The reason is that the head of the iron tends to develop a slight curve after a few uses ... probably because the heat softens the metal enough to easily bend. If you are wanting one to brand flt wood you might be a bit disappointed. If you are thinking of using them to sign turnings. it won't work

 

[Matthew Ferriter]

Your link doesn't work. If it is something like this: Rockler Branding Iron my wife gave me one twenty something years ago when I was doing flat woodworking. The big problem with them is that it is very difficult to get a decent looking burn even on perfectly flat wood. The reason is that the head of the iron tends to develop a slight curve after a few uses ... probably because the heat softens the metal enough to easily bend. If you are wanting one to brand flt wood you might be a bit disappointed. If you are thinking of using them to sign turnings. it won't work

Ah yes, I hadn't thought about the issue with curved surfaces. Thanks for the feedback. I just can't imagine having the control or patience to use a pen-style burner, not to mention my poor penmanship.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Ah yes, I hadn't thought about the issue with curved surfaces. Thanks for the feedback. I just can't imagine having the control or patience to use a pen-style burner, not to mention my poor penmanship.

You could probably use a round one on turnings. There is a video on youtube about making your own logo in 1/2 inch brass round stock and using torch to heat. I use a 3/4 circle in burning tool to make 3 interlocking circles and there are more designs you can create with nicrom wire.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEyTCOIcMIQ

and another

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpHTSr4rKsE&t=114s

 

[Matthew Ferriter]

Awesome links - thanks. That totally took me down a rabbit hole - just spent the last two hours learning how to make my own branding iron. I've got some scrap brass in the shop, just need some micro dremel bits and a steady hand.

 

[Craig White]

Here's a look under the hood of the Mastercarver Burnmaster Eagle and the PJL Optima 1 Dual.

Burnmaster: nice metal box, neat wiring and soldering, thermal overload protector, 1/4" TS pen jacks, beefy/bulky pen and A/C wires. It's a commercially manufactured, professional looking, package. All of it's internal parts are labeled made in Taiwan or China.



PJL: plastic box, nice heat setting pot plus internal trim pot, no thermal overload protector, RCA pen jacks, flexible/lightweight pen and A/C wires. It's a home made, project box, style of package.



These are probably both very capable power supplies. This will be my first foray into pyrography. My first class requires (3) Optima HD pens and (1) Burnmaster interchangeable tip pen. I am leaning towards the PJL. I believe the flexible pen wires will be helpful and (2) pens come free with the PJL burner which save me some change.