pyrography pen, branding iron etc

[Dean]

I have been reading through the previous thread about signing your work. I'm am somewhat disappointed that I have not been signing my work, I guess because I mostly give it to family and friends. I am however getting more and more interested in selling some of my work to help feed this addiction. I have a few other ideas for things to process and sell. I have read through the previous thread and I think I want to know more about the pyro side of signing. I did not want to hijack the previous thread so I started this one.

I see this equipment is expensive so I really do not want to make a mistake in purchasing here. I need to know the ins and outs of this area I know nothing about. I see several differences in power supplies in terms of watts some real low others quit high. I figure i want to have a fine tip type pen to sign with but I think I want to have a unit that will heat a branding Iron as well. I can make this stuff to but I do not know how or what to look for. I am not against buying one but certainly if I can save money I am will to build one.

I'm not sure where this will take me, it always seams that I start with something for a need then off in a different direction I did not realize was there. An example of this is making fishing rods, needed a lathe to make the reel seats so I bought a little lathe, now I have a big one. You see, I just want to buy or build a unit that can do what ever my silly little brain comes up with.

If you can help I would really appreciate it, thanks in advance

 

[Perry Hilbert]

I started with a $3.00 sale soldering iron from Harbor freight and burned my initials and date. It works amazingly well as a wood burner for simple stuff. I actually burned some designs on wooden Christmas ornaments that were quite acceptable. (they sold) The charge for a real branding iron is outrageous. I must misunderstand the process because there is no way it should cost that much. I thought about making one using a brass bolt head and a dremel grinder

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

.............................................................. The charge for a real branding iron is outrageous. I must misunderstand the process because there is no way it should cost that much. ...................................................................

What you don't understand are the costs associated with manufacturing/marketing an item that's powered by electricity. Product liability insurance is incredibly expensive. It's unfortunate how many good ideas are left by the side of the road because of liability issues.

Have you noticed when you buy a corded power tool these days they come with a 20 page manual? And the first 15 pages tell you not to use it when you're sitting in the bathtub?

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

I have the Burnmaster Hawk but you can get the two port Eagle for 60 more. Has worked well for me and I would suggest even if you do not get the Eagle get two pens. By the way signing your name depends on a lot of variables from wood grain to heat to pen diameter (smaller diameter is not that good unless you are very good).

 

[Gary Beasley]

One of the costs of a branding iron is to make the custom brand, either by cnc or etching. Its very similar to the brass letterpress dies for engraving and those arent cheap. I would guess they could be used interchangeably with the proper setup.

 

[Donna Banfield]

The difference in wattage among the units, from what I have been told, is the higher watts allow the pens to heat up and cool down faster. If you are looking to do branding, similar to what Molly Winton (and I) have done, you’ll be better off with the higher wattage unit, like the Burnmaster. I have the Burnmaster Eagle (2-port), 2 Detail Masters, and the Colwood Cub. Only the Burnmaster gets hot enough for branding. I have also discovered that the Burnmaster pens (big fat red handled) work the best for high heat work. I have burned up several Colwood pens, and one Detail Master pen trying to do branding. And I have to wear a thick leather glove when using those other pens, too.

The Burnmaster unit will let you do the full range of wood burning and branding.

 

[john lucas]

For writing I find you don't need a lot of wattage. My pyro techniques improved dramatically after I met Cynthia Gibson and she told me to turn the heat down. Way down. Also what makes a big difference is a quality Pyro unit. The reason is recovery time for the heat. When you try to draw a straight line ( or write your name) as soon as you touch the wood it draws heat from the pen. Then it puts heat back in the pen etc, etc. If the unit does this job poorly you get blobs in your straight line that look terrible. This is because the less expensive units tend to overheat when trying to catch up or simply don't have that circuitry. The higher quality and therefore more expensive units have really good recovery circuitry and it makes it much much easier to write a nice looking signature. Of course it also takes practice writing neatly. Personally I use a Dremel Engraver to sign my work. It is not as bold by any means but stands out quite well and will never wear off. Some people fill in the engraving with colored wax but I find that only works good on really smooth woods. On porous woods the wax fill the pores as well as the signature.

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

If tip heat recovery is a problem buy an electronic soldering station with digital temp setting. They constantly maintain tip temperature within a couple degrees F..

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

If you only want a brand you can make your own.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpHTSr4rKsE&t=2s

 

[Dean]

Thanks everyone. So far its looking like higher wattage and good quality. The burnmaster seams like to one that could do all I might want to try from signing to branding to maybe some wood burn art stuff.
Donna are the burn master pens too big for signing with? if so what is your preference and why?

 

[Ely Walton]

I have a Razertip SK unit with a very fine tip. Heat is nicely adjustable and the pen is small, lightweight and stays cool... Just works great.

Ely

 

[Dean]

I just looked at the burnmaster on craft supply. What is the advantage of the duel eagle over the single Hawk. it looks like you can only have one hot at a time?

 

[Donna Banfield]

Dean, for signing my work I use a Colwood Micro-tip, that I have sharpened with a diamond card file to a pencil point. When ‘writing’ with that pen, I use it more like a paint brush. Imagine if you were trying to write your name with the tip of a paint brush-that’s how you should use any woodburning pen for writing. And it takes practice.

The dual port Eagle allows me to use two different pens back and forth without having to shut the unit off, remove the pen, plug the new one in and wait for it to heat up. Is it necessary for occasional woodburning? No, but if you’re doing a lot of it with different tips, it’s more efficient.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Take the power claims with a huge grain of salt.

The cost of the burners may not be unreasonable depending on the brand. I'm an electrical engineer so, like you,I also could design and build my own, but when you add up all the costs of components, fabricating your own PWB or haywiring a proto board, a suitable transformer, a metal enclosure, connectors, switches,and the time spent doing the design and fabrication, I suspect that you may not save any money and likely reinventing the wheel with several iterations of design changes. However, I agree that the Burnmaster units seem to be overpriced.

I started off about ten years ago with one of the soldering iron type pens that I got at Woodcraft and after a lot of practice I was able to do some decorating that I thought was nice at that time. But, in retrospect it was sort of heavy handed as shown below because it didn't allow me to do any burning that required a fine touch. I don't think it would be suitable for sighing a turning although I did try . . . . and then followed by sanding and taking a different approach.

A couple years later I took a class on pyrography and painting from Andi Wolfe and bought a Detail Master Excalibur burner because that is what she was using. Supposedly it is a 130 watt burner, but that is just marketing stretching of the truth. In reality it is around 50 watts which is actually far more than necessary. Detail Master is now out of business, but there are at least a couple burners that are suitable. Price notwithstanding I think that the best burners are the Optima 1 from PJL Enterprises and the Burnmaster. Here is some good information about burners to help dispel some misconceptions. Please read through all the FAQ: http://www.carvertools.com/customer.htm
Also, here is more good information: http://www.carvertools.com/wattage.htm

I can actually write using the higher quality pens:

 

[Bill Boehme]

BTW, of all the pens currently available, I think that the Optima pens are the best and I also really like their heavy duty cord which is more flexible than any other cord. With my power supply and the heavy duty cord and heavy duty Optima pens, heat recovery is essentially instantaneous.

Even though I can do branding, being a pyromaniac isn't my thing. My focus is doing fine detail type pyrography.

 

[Curt Fuller]

BTW, of all the pens currently available, I think that the Optima pens are the best and I also really like their heavy duty cord which is more flexible than any other cord. With my power supply and the heavy duty cord and heavy duty Optima pens, heat recovery is essentially instantaneous.

Even though I can do branding, being a pyromaniac isn't my thing. My focus is doing fine detail type pyrography.

Bill, is Optima still available? I had read that they went out of business.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Detail Master went out of business a couple years ago. Unless something has happened in the last few days that I am not aware of, Optima is alive and well. Now, you have me worried. Do you know something that I don't know?

 

[William Rogers]

Detail Master went out of business a couple years ago. Unless something has happened in the last few days that I am not aware of, Optima is alive and well. Now, you have me worried. Do you know something that I don't know?

I just ordered the beading pens from PJL (Optima). I also ordered the HD cable.

 

[Dean]

Great information, thank you all very much. I will look into the others mention and i have come across a nibs burner as well, any experience with these?

 

[Curt Fuller]

Ok Bill Boehme and William Rogers, I might be confusing Detail Master and Optima. I ordered two pens from PJL last week. He's a character to talk with on the phone. How long does it take to get them usually? He mentioned that he doesn't bill your credit card until the pens are made and shipped. He still hasn't billed my card. I'm a little antsy to get going with them and wondering if I need to be patient or give him another call.

 

[Bill Boehme]

You're right, Curtis. He talked my ear off, but he wanted to make certain that I got the items that I really needed and he told me that I didn't need some of the stuff on my list. He is full of good information such as telling me to open up my Detail Master power supply and adjusting the trim pot on the circuit board to optimize low end temperature control.

Our conversation wandered all over the map. We talked about Harvey Meyer, Jim Adkins, David Nittmann, and maybe even you, Curtis.

After telling me that it would take "a while" for him to make the bead burning pens, I had them in about three days. Give him another call ... it won't hurt anything except your ear.

 

[William Rogers]

Curtis and Bill, I would say a colorful character, talker. Yes, very knowledgeable. He will try and help you with any thing,

 

[Dean]

I like people who talk your ear off, I think it is because they are trying to make sure your happy with the out come, at least some of them. I guess there is that element that just likes to hear themselves talk. Conversation for another day, maybe! After reading the facts page that Bill linked, it is apparent the man is trying to be very detailed in his explanations. I think this is a good quality, especially this day and age of the best communication outlets ever invented with a population who generally does not communicate well. This is why I like forums people tend to communicate better.
I sure have learned a lot in the last couple days about this pyrography. All I really wanted to do was sign what I make but now, I am interested in enhancing turnings and carvings and using this to carve with and outlet I previously considered a knife or chisel operation. Wow, darn I hope this doesn't get too expensive............................

I like the price of the optima and I think I will like the fellow. The product certainly has good backing here and after reading and exploring the internet it appears that if I want to sign my work I will use one of these pens. The branding might be another unit all together or I may simply omit it from long list or thoughts.

I thank all of you in helping to get me off in the right direction

 

[john lucas]

I have the Optima burner and pens and it improved my burning tremendously. High wattage is not needed for writing. Low power works better and again it's the recovery circuitry that helps make writing easier. Donna gave you excellent advice on how to use the pen.

 

[Pete Blair]

one other pen (system) to consider is the Peter Child from England. I have another system mentioned above and had to replace the connector on the Peter Child to work on my system. It is simple to use and stays as cool as any I've ever used.

 

[Derek Lane]

one other pen (system) to consider is the Peter Child from England. I have another system mentioned above and had to replace the connector on the Peter Child to work on my system. It is simple to use and stays as cool as any I've ever used.

I have the Peter Child machine which is now sold under the Robert Sorby name. Great machine and make your own tips to suit your needs. But then it is easy for me to get it being in England