Which Wood Burning Kit is Right for You?
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Wood burning is a great way to add a personal touch to any woodworking project. A wood burning kit is a perfect way to get started, and it's a great gift for any woodworker, no matter their skill level.
A typical kit includes a wood burner, wood burning pen, or tips.
The wood burner is used to heat the wood burning pen, which is then used to apply the design. The tips come in various sizes and shapes, so you can create different effects.
Wood burning kits are an affordable and fun way to get started in wood burning, and they make a great gift for any occasion.
The Wood Burning Tool is the Most Important Part of a Kit
The wood burner unit or power supply is the most important aspect of any kit. It is the base bone of what you will use and what its capabilities are.
A wood burning tool is not just a heating element. There is so much more to a wood burning unit.
Here are a few things that you should consider when picking wood burner:
- Temperature control
- Heating Element
- What kinds of tips or pens it will take?
- Can you expand your hobby with it? Or will you have to invest more by buying a better unit?
- What you plan on using it for?
Wood Burning Pens and How They Work
Wood burning pens come in a couple of different designs. The pens can be fixed tip which means that the tip is welded and permanently attached to the pen handle. This gives you the opportunity to easily grab a pen and start burning. The disadvantage is that they are more expensive. The alternative is Replaceable Tip Pen or also referred to as an Interchangeable Tip pen. With this combination, you purchase a pen handle and the tips separately. The wood burning tips fit into a brand-specific pen. You can change tips without the cost of an individual pen for every tip. This makes the tips economical and easy to upgrade. Depending on the brand of replaceable tips, there are even tip tools that will help you easily change the tips. Whichever design you choose, you're sure to enjoy the art of wood burning! The fixed tip wood burning pens and replaceable tips have a ton of different designs available for your wood burning needs. There are all kinds of tips including snake scales, fish scales, writing tips, balls, and a ton of other designs. Both the fixed tip pens and the interchangeable tip pen option works great!Getting Started on Your Wood Burning Project
There are a few things that you can do to make your wood-burning project easier.- Start by selecting a wood burning design that you would like to burn on wood.
- Make a copy of your original art so you can refer to it or use it again later.
- Select the wood (or other material) that you will be burning the design on.
- If you are burning on wood, you'll need to prep the lumber. Start with coarser grits and sand the wood to 320 grit. Use a microfiber towel or tac cloth to wipe the wood clean.
- Use carbon paper, or graphite tracing paper, to transfer your design onto the wood. Lay the carbon paper down first and tape your design on top of it. Use a tracing stylus, pen, or pencil to copy the pattern onto the wood.
- Pick the wood burning tips or pens that you plan to use for the project and get started burning on wood!
- We recommend you test the heat settings on a piece of scrap material that has been prepped the same way you prepped the piece for your project.
- Use a natural rubber or gum eraser to remove the transfer marks after you have finished burning.
- Seal your wood and enjoy your finished wood burning project.