[Thomp]

My experience is limited to Dial-A-Temp and the el-cheapo kid's burners. However, The Dial-A-Temp does have a variable dial and does burn good. Only problem it used copper and brass tips lsimular to the el cheapos. No nice knife tips or shaders. Have used it on some carvings.

Kenny_S
thanks for the information...

walmarts here sells a woodburner i think its a weller not sure. with 5 replaceable tips, and sells the little copper tips seprately in a assortment 5 pecies, if the copper end will unscrew from your burner maybe you could use one of thes assortments.. it has the exacto knife tip with hot blade for working plastic or wax.. but it was one thing i was thinking about for doing super fine lines like duck feather grain... but how it would hold up over time?
---
as i understand the dial a temp woodburner is a configurement old woodburner, style I only found one example posted pic.
but it had a seprate box that plugged in the wall for power adjustment. correct?
pic posted as well.


I have a small weller woodburner/soldering iron. in the same configuration,
and a ingersol ram Soldering pistol.
the ingersol ram is an old one with lots of power. it can solder copper water pipe but the copper whip is so big its useless besides the thing weighs 5 pounds...

but as you mentioned the little weller woodburner soldering iron, i have heats up too hot to handle comfortably after 5 minuets, i have made new nibs for it through the years as soldering with acid core solder dose eat them up. but i just used a solid copper 3/16 wire, and threaded it with a die... then files it to shape.

still you cant make the nib - heating tip too long or youll never get it hot with these little pencils...

plus the heating element is big on mine and i usualy get my fingers burnt by the element carelessly paying attention to the tip of the tool. and not watching the element barrel as well..

i think mine might be used great for flat shading on a flat plank. woth a blunt tip. but in detail carvings i think it would come up with lots of extra marks not desired..

thanks again for the info..

[Thomp]

thanks nedra for the reply.

i finely got the point across..
and were on the same thought path.

that if a 40 watt and 130 watt unit can use the same tips. will the tips have a shorter lifespan on the bigger unit or do you have to compensate? by buying heavier gague nibs.. ???

[Thomp]

Phaeton,

thanks for the information on your station, what wattage is your system?

and did you choose the nibs or was they just included in the package?

and thanks for providing your experiance with using the razortip pyrographic station on details while carving in the round.

most of has seen lynn o droughty's work a phenominal carver and has shown some mighty fine carvings, i had asked him how he went about getting such fine detail on his carvings he mentioned he use a pyropen for his detail..

so i started looking for pyropens and it turned out to be a butain operated gas pencil with interchangable tips for burning or soldering. weller makes them for around $80 bucks..

and my experiance with refillable butain lighters, candles, lanterns, camp cook stoves and flame pens is desastorious, the tanks dont fill up half the way when i fill a lighter, and it seams the gas is dirty or i just use them too hard becuse they get stopped up and quit working, theres no user parts to replace in them other gagets. so i didnt want to invest in that.. once bitten...

but the pyrography station offers something i think ill really like as its so convertable. if i can get over some issues that will be money in the bank down the line.

[squbrigg]

A simple Razortip two pen station works for me Thomp. Don't burn a lot, but do some. I find the interchangable pens the answer, use three of them the most, have a few others but the curved shader, small skew and fine writing tips do it all for me. Good control on the dial, plenty of heat and convienient.

Have an old soldering iron with a multitude of tips shapes and two different wattage barrels, but it's too long for burning, but great for soldering.
Bob

[Phaeton]

Thomp;

Wattage max= 45
10 Amp
The "6" setting is about 825 *F and 7.5 is about 925 *F (10 is 1150*F)

The HD5MP Medium Bent Spear Shader pen came with my burner, the flat side can be used for shading
and the sharp edge can be used to make deep lines.
http://nedraspyrography.com/RT-HD5MP.jpg
http://nedraspyrography.com/RT-HD5MP_Side.jpg
I bought the HD14M Medium Round Heel Knife extra, both can be used for Ducks and general detail.
http://nedraspyrography.com/RT-14M.jpg
Bill

[Pyrographer]

Originally Posted by Phaeton

Thomp;

Wattage max= 45
10 Amp
The "6" setting is about 825 *F and 7.5 is about 925 *F (10 is 1150*F)

The HD5MP Medium Bent Spear Shader pen came with my burner, the flat side can be used for shading
and the sharp edge can be used to make deep lines.
http://nedraspyrography.com/RT-HD5MP.jpg
http://nedraspyrography.com/RT-HD5MP_Side.jpg
I bought the HD14M Medium Round Heel Knife extra, both can be used for Ducks and general detail.
http://nedraspyrography.com/RT-14M.jpg
Bill

Thomp, the burners I sell are packed with the HD5MP but if you buy any where else they come with a #1L skew. I have my burners packed this way because I find this to be one of the most versatile pens.

Anyway, please do feel free to check out the tutorial on the pens as well.

I do want to add a bit of info on those single temperature burners. The 25 watt burners only come with 1 heat shield so yes, the pens can get very hot. I use both a 25 watt Walnut Hollow (old version that was made in the US by Wall Lenk) and I use a 30 watt made by Wall Lenk. The 30 watt has a double heat shield and I can use it for hours without getting hot.

As for the handle being uncomfortable and difficult to use for detail, it really is a matter of getting used to it and gaining control with practice. I have been doing a lot of experimenting lately with it and am now able to gain more control with it. IT's an option and I now use in conjuction with my Razertip and a torch (another experiment). I'm actually using it to draw my pattern on with it and do some detail work with as I gain a bit more control over it. There is a place for it, especially if you are working with harder woods.

Nedra

[Razertip]

Wow! Lots of great questions and discussion. Let me start by saying that all of the North-American made burners will work fine for most burning needs. Every brand has their own following of loyal users, and every brand has artists who prefer to use something else. Regarding wattage, I have to agree with Frank Russell in the 1997 Power Carving Annual when he said "I think wattage ratings are nonsense". Don't get hung up on wattage, because the numbers that are advertised are completely meaningless. The fact is that if measured at the outlet, all burners will read around 30-40 watts, regardless of the claims that each manufacturer may make. The other issue is in the tips and pens. Some tips (Razertip, Optima) don't require as much current to operate (they are more energy-efficient) as the heavier Detail Master tips, so a DM tip at 30 watts won't be as hot as a Razertip tip at 30 watts (actually a Razertip at 30 watts will be too hot for most applications). The goal for me when designing the burner was to give you delicate control and repeatable heat with fast tip heat recovery - not to impress you with claims of worthlessly high temperatures or high wattage ratings. As for using various pens on different burners, most pens can be used on any burner, but they tend to perform best when matched with their own power supply. From what I can tell (and I may not be 100% accurate here as I have not actually tested all of the power supplies personally), power supplies fall into 2 broad catagories: Razertip, Colwood, and Optima operate near 2 Volts output, while Detail Master, Nibs and Burnmaster operate near 3 volts output. Using a Razertip pen on a 3 volt power supply will give more heat that you probably want. It may also mean that your lowest heat setting may still burn too hot for your needs. Also, you can damage a Razertip pen on a 3 volt power supply if you use the highest heat setting for too long. One other by-product of using a 3-volt power supply is that the additional voltage will cause the pen barrel to get hot (on your fingers) faster than if you use a 2 volt supply. Conversely, if you use a Detail Master pen on a 2 volt power supply you may not get the tip heat recovery you want and your maximum heat setting may not give you enough heat for high-temp applications. My recommendation is to look at the entire offering rather than just one or two features. Speaking for our products, we provide artists with a dependable tool primarily for delicate detail work, but also for heavier cutting and shading applications. We have a very full, useful temperature range, a superb selection of both fixed and interchangeable tips, comfortable pens and grips, and we work hard to stand behind our products. Our warranties are unconditional, so even if you happen to damage a Razertip pen using it on a Burnmaster power supply, we will replace or repair the pen or tip under warranty. Another big factor in deciding which burner to buy is this: if you have a local (or favorite) dealer who is known for good service, buy the product they sell. If your instructor uses a particular brand, you can't go too far wrong buying what they use.
Fixed tip vs. Interchangeable: Things changed a few years ago with the introduction of our #BPH pen. With it there are no contact problems, it's cool on the fingers, easy to use, you can fashion your own custom tips or use almost any style of Razertip tip in it, you can even attach two tips at once to burn parallel lines. I still recommend fixed-tip pens for any application that you will be using regularly, but the BPH pen is a great item to have for those lesser-used or experimental tips, or for making a small "brand" to mark your artwork. And yes, you can use the BPH on any brand of burner - you may need an adapter or different cord to connect it, but it will work just fine. If you're not sure what you would need, just drop us an email or give us a call.
I hope that helps clear up a few things.
burning!

[Thomp]

Originally Posted by squbrigg

A simple Razortip two pen station works for me Thomp. Don't burn a lot, but do some. I find the interchangable pens the answer, use three of them the most, have a few others but the curved shader, small skew and fine writing tips do it all for me. Good control on the dial, plenty of heat and convienient.

Have an old soldering iron with a multitude of tips shapes and two different wattage barrels, but it's too long for burning, but great for soldering.
Bob

squbrigg,
I too think the dual pen system would be rather convient when your really in the zone it would provide broad stroke then thin at the flick of a switch.. if you was set up that way..

im tending to think the soldering pencil type woodburners are usefull for darker shading, but i would think the degree to which they shade would be rather hard to controll...

[Pyrographer]

Wow, thanks Cam for the posting. I think you have cleared up some of this for everyone. I agree too many people get stuck on the claims about wattage rather than the actual performance.

I have to agree on everything Cam said including the use of the Razertip on other burners. I have students who come into classes with all kinds of burners and they usually end up trying some of the Razertip pens. Since I constantly demonstrate in class and often use the student's burners I have had the experience of using the Razertip pens on just about every brand of woodburner and it's true that on the Colwood, Detailmaster and Burnmaster you need to use a lower temperature setting when using the Razertip of Optima pens. I don't know about the nibsburner since I have had no experience with any of their models.

I personally use the Razertip Dual and love it. I can go from the finest detail to the deepest shading and anywhere in between. The temp remains constant unless I change it and typically when I shut it off for the day and come back and use it I don't have to change the setting.

I must also add that Cam (Razertip) and company do provide outstanding customer support. The best in my opinion and I've dealt with some of the other companies. I think this is also an important factor when making a decision regarding which burner to buy. It's rare that you have problems but when you do you want to make sure that you will get the service you need in a prompt, professional manner....

This is not a "paid policitical announcement"...just the facts!

Nedra

[Pyrographer]

Originally Posted by Thomp

squbrigg,
I too think the dual pen system would be rather convient when your really in the zone it would provide broad stroke then thin at the flick of a switch.. if you was set up that way..

im tending to think the soldering pencil type woodburners are usefull for darker shading, but i would think the degree to which they shade would be rather hard to controll...

Perhaps you need to check out these websites:
http://www.geocities.com/dinumuradian/
http://geocities.com/lyndagibbseaves

both of these artists use ONLY the single temperature burners you are talking about. I'm not suggesting you not use a detail burner, but I think you need to open up your mind to what these burners can do. I'm certainly not of the caliber of Dino and Lynda with one of these burners but I do use mine on occasion and am doing a lot of experimenting with it. IT's fun and does open up a lot of opportunities to be creative and do different things with them.

Nedra