[Irish]

Yep, Woodie! The basic writing tip and a temp setting around 3 to 4 so far.

Susan

[Irish]

Editted to remove excessive chat from the step-by-step.

Susan

[teeburn]

Sounds like a great time and a perfect day to me!!!

[Pyrographer]

Originally Posted by Irish

Nedra, for a chance to enjoy the afternoon with you and a Balloon Fest I'd sleep under the bridge

You put the coffee pot on, get out your poplar and special shading tip! I'll bring the donuts, my birch and writing tips. We'd have a GREAT day.

Susan

Well gosh Susan, I'm blushing and just for that you can sleep in our guest room

Of course you will have to put up with a lot of green chili which is a staple in these parts

Tina, come on along!!!

I do have some disappointing news though. I was told today they only have 650 hot air balloons this year

Nedra

[Lindy]

Susam,

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this step by step tutorial while testing your new Colwood. I am intrigued by the cork handle - does Colwood sell them separately and do you think they would fit the razertip pens?

Watching you do this post has been a joy and your generosity in doing it in this manner is a gift to everyone here from a very talented pyrographer.

Thank you!

Lindy

[Woodartist]

You could go to a hardware store and find a suitable cork and then bore a tappered hole in the middle??

[Irish]

Hey Gang,

Lindi, I don't know about purchasing separate cork handles. I may need to clarify here that I don't represent Colwood in any way ... not a resaler or rep! The questions I have been asked I have forwarded to Colwood through their website and I am still waiting on one answer.

The cork on my pens is an integrated part of the pen. I like it a lot more then the foam covering on my other unit. The pen with the cork is just a little wider and much firmer. I have noticed that the pen has not gotten hot at all until I reached the temp 10 setting and then it was really just warm.

It does let me use a gentle finger grip and I have easily been able to 'roll' the pen through the strokes. As an old timer at pin striping trucks and cars, long story not worth telling here, you learn to literally roll the squirrel tongue striper with your fingertips to move through a circle instead of trying to turn your wrist and hand. So instead of trying to turn your hand you roll the handle inside your finger tips so that the bristles follow through that circle.

The Colwood cork lets me roll the foam doesn't. Now, looking sort of sheepish and stupid here, I don't expect that most of you ever learned to roll as squirrels tongue so this may be a very mute point for anyone but me ...

Bill is right with the suggestion of cork at the hardware store but I am going to throw a corkscrew into his suggestion ... sorry, Bill! If you chose that idea you might have problems with how to secure the cork to the pen or itself. Do a test first because on any wood burning pen the handle area might, I stress might, become hot enough to effect the glue that you might use to anchor it.

I have already had the Colwood popping flames because I let the tip burn through the first layer of plywood sheathing ... I would be concerned that you could find yourself in a situation where the glue was literally melting out from under your fingers. Do a test ... I might be really way off here!

My apoligizes for not being around yesterday, hopefully things here in the studio are back on track. If so I will be burning and posting later today. We have a mouse and oak branch to finish.

Susan

[Pyrographer]

Susan, I do have to add my 2 cents here because I use that rolling technique all the time and usually use that technique when I do demonstrations to groups and when I teach my students in class to save wear and tear on their hands/wrists. I've never had a problem getting the Razertip/Optima pens (both have foam grips) to roll in my fingers. It might not roll as easy as the cork but it does work quite well for me. And while my students may have some difficulty at first learning how to do it, once they get the hang of rolling don't seem to have a problem with any of the pens they are using (the students usually have their own burners and pens which vary from cork, foam and no grips). I do allow students to try out pens so they can see the differences and experience how each one works as well.

Lindy, I still have a couple of Colwood pens and I do not think that you will be able to get the cork on the Razertip pens. They are a different style of pen barrel and you will not be able to get it on those pens. Perhaps you might want to buy a Colwood pen to try it out for yourself and it would be helpful in your classes to have them for students to try out as well. That way you can give your students the experience of the Razertip and the Colwood. Even though you sell one brand, you should let students experience both.

Nedra

[Woodartist]

Well Susan, I was thinking of a tapered hole in a cork stopper and just using a friction fit...no adhesive. I guess an insulating adhesive might work....or an epoxy? I do remember years ago the fixed temperature burners had cork grips. Of course that was before the "space age" materials

[Irish]

Good idea Bill!

OK ....

I did get an email back from Colwood this morning. The gentleman apologized for the delay in responding and said that the person that would normally answer the techno questions was been out of the shop last week. They had hoped he would be back by now but it looks like at least another week.

In the mean time he pasted on the info below and said that any other specs would be considered proprietary information. So I would suggest that anyone interested wait a week or so then contact Colwood directly if you have further or more specific questions.


Primary Voltage 120V 50/60Hz single phase

Max. Primary Current .5 amps

Max Power Input 47 watts



Grin - Mike is Back Seat Typing here.

He notes that even as a techno geck, which he is, knowing all the horse power specs and cubic inches and drive train and tork (what is tork?) info of a lawn tractor doesn't tell him anything about "how is will cut my grass!"

He still talking here saying that even having the exact wiring semantics in front of him and knowing everything about every wire, transformer and connection wouldn't show him how it looks when the tip meets the wood.

ROTF - LOL ! That laugh brought tears to my eyes .... Geeez! .... He made it sound just like "petal to the metal!

So, taking his fine advice I am going to ask that this subject go to another thread so that I can get back to putting the tip to the wood. And for me, not being a techno geck, that's all I am interested in and really all that matters!!!!!!

Susan