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Walnut Hollow Wood Burner

Randy Anderson

Beta Tester
Beta Tester
Joined
May 25, 2019
Messages
987
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Location
Eads, TN
Website
canthony.gallery
I decided to start burning my signature on my pieces rather than use the archival ink pens. After some searching I settled on the Walnut Hollow Creative Woodburner Tool. You can find it on Amazon but it's good bit cheaper to order from Hobby Lobby - $60. I like that it comes with a ball point small round tip. I'm much better at my signatures with this tool than my pen, easy to control, burns well but not too intense, has temp settings, different tips, etc. I find setting at 7.5-8 on the dial works great for most all I sign.
 
I decided to start burning my signature on my pieces rather than use the archival ink pens. After some searching I settled on the Walnut Hollow Creative Woodburner Tool. You can find it on Amazon but it's good bit cheaper to order from Hobby Lobby - $60. I like that it comes with a ball point small round tip. I'm much better at my signatures with this tool than my pen, easy to control, burns well but not too intense, has temp settings, different tips, etc. I find setting at 7.5-8 on the dial works great for most all I sign.

Hmm I am blocked from entry to the site

ACCESS DENIED
ERROR 16
WWW.HOBBYLOBBY.COM
2023-08-13 10:18:33 UTC​

Access Denied — HobbyLobby.com cannot be accessed from this area​

What happened?
This request was blocked by our security service
Your IP: 115.69.5.19
Proxy IP: 103.28.250.120 (ID 10811-100)
Incident ID: 811002340116912280-98077919014500997
If you’d like to speak with us, please call 1-800-888-0321. Customer Service is available Monday–Friday 8:00am–5:00pm Central Time.
 
Hmm I am blocked from entry to the site

ACCESS DENIED
ERROR 16
WWW.HOBBYLOBBY.COM
2023-08-13 10:18:33 UTC​

Access Denied — HobbyLobby.com cannot be accessed from this area​

What happened?
This request was blocked by our security service
Your IP: 115.69.5.19
Proxy IP: 103.28.250.120 (ID 10811-100)
Incident ID: 811002340116912280-98077919014500997
If you’d like to speak with us, please call 1-800-888-0321. Customer Service is available Monday–Friday 8:00am–5:00pm Central Time.
It might be related to GDPR.
I understand that any company allowing access to their website to those based in UK/Europe must comply with GDPR regulations or be subject to the fines even if the company themselves are not based within Europe/UK.

Some US companies have made the decision that rather than spending money on meeting the requirements it is easier & cheaper to block access.
 
I decided to start burning my signature on my pieces rather than use the archival ink pens. After some searching I settled on the Walnut Hollow Creative Woodburner Tool. You can find it on Amazon but it's good bit cheaper to order from Hobby Lobby - $60. I like that it comes with a ball point small round tip. I'm much better at my signatures with this tool than my pen, easy to control, burns well but not too intense, has temp settings, different tips, etc. I find setting at 7.5-8 on the dial works great for most all I sign.

I got one of these from the clearance section of a JoAnn's fabric store about a month ago for a little under $40. I haven't tried it yet but I figured at that price it was worth the risk to replace my glorified cheap soldering iron. Glad to hear that it's working well for you!
 
I may go to laser. 40+ years of doctor handwriting and my pyrography looks like a drunk caveman.

For those of you who burn signatures, do you do it before oiling the piece—at what stage?
 
I burn in my signature before any oil or other finish. Sometimes I forget and do it after, which works just not as well (some finishes don't like being tortured like that).
My "bank signature" is also illegible. But I developed an "artist signature" that's different and I can do fairly legibly with a woodburner.
 
I may go to laser. 40+ years of doctor handwriting and my pyrography looks like a drunk caveman.

For those of you who burn signatures, do you do it before oiling the piece—at what stage?
I've heard that it helps to think of it as drawing the letters rather than writing. I too have chicken scratch that I can barely read after a short period of time. I've also made a branding iron from some cheap brass drawer pulls and heated it with a torch. I would do it before finish and do some touch up sanding before oil.
 
I may go to laser. 40+ years of doctor handwriting and my pyrography looks like a drunk caveman.

For those of you who burn signatures, do you do it before oiling the piece—at what stage?
I used to do a big readable signature with a sharpie.
Christian Burchard told me it was off putting and to make it small.
I said know one can read it then. His reply everyone will know who you are.

I now use a woodburner signing slowly. Usually on bare wood or after 1 coat finish.
 
Hmm I am blocked from entry to the site

ACCESS DENIED​

ERROR 16​

WWW.HOBBYLOBBY.COM

2023-08-13 10:18:33 UTC​

Access Denied — HobbyLobby.com cannot be accessed from this area​

What happened?
This request was blocked by our security service
Your IP: 115.69.5.19
Proxy IP: 103.28.250.120 (ID 10811-100)
Incident ID: 811002340116912280-98077919014500997
If you’d like to speak with us, please call 1-800-888-0321. Customer Service is available Monday–Friday 8:00am–5:00pm Central Time.
Yup, Welcome to reality.
 
I burn in just my initials and have gotten fairly consistent with how it comes out. No way I could write out something that's predictable. Like Dave, I try to remember to burn it in before I finish but sometimes I forget. Right at the moment I've just wiped walnut oil or finish across the bottom usually. I haven't had it be an issue to do it after but prefer before. Here's a pic of how mine looks, typically. The ball end of the burner works fine for me and on the initial pass it creates a very light groove that can guide the follow on strokes needed to burn deeper, depending on the wood.

I know, simple and somewhat crude but it's what works for me.
 

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I got a small laser at a good price and have been using it to brand the bottom of my pieces plus many other uses on exteriors for fun pieces. I definitely recommend trying them and having some fun.
 

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I just got the Laserpecker 1. It works great and is easy to use. I didn't even read the setup manual. Just installed the app and figured it out. It's pretty intuitive.

The only issue I have is that the app hangs at the end of every engraving. I have to close it every time. On the other hand, I can just share an image from Google Photos straight to Laserpecker so it's no big deal.
 
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