Pyro question (signature pt 2)

[David DeCristoforo]

I decided to make a small branding pen for my sig. logo. So now I have a pen and some nichrome wire to make the tips. Next is to cobble up a simple (cheap) power unit. Can anyone tell me what the output of the "store bought" units is? They all seem spec'ed out in watts not volts and amps. I can get a transformer and a rectifier if needed but I would like to know what I'm looking for. I know there's 120V going in but what's coming out???

I came across this but is this possible? putting 110 household current through a woodburning pen tip??? Or am I missing something here?

http://www.thegourdreserve.com/tutorials/tempcontrol/burn1.shtml

Thanx
DD

[Curt Fuller]

See if this helps...

http://www.svwoodturners.org/TipsTricks/PriddleStyleWoodVaporizer/PriddleStyleWoodVaporizer.html (http://www.svwoodturners.org/TipsTricks/PriddleStyleWoodVaporizer/PriddleStyleWoodVaporizer.html)

[Jim Underwood]

I made the thing Curt links to.

The only problem I have is that the battery charger I bought from Sears wants to cut out at a certain point. I've not done too much with it except for burning a couple sigs and a couple things on a mouse turning demo I did last Monday. But it works for the most part, and will certainly vaporize wood...

[Jim Underwood]

I came across this but is this possible? putting 110 household current through a woodburning pen tip??? Or am I missing something here?

http://www.thegourdreserve.com/tutorials/tempcontrol/burn1.shtml

Thanx
DD

I think he's talking about one of those cheap 120V woodburners from Walmart that you can already plug into a wall socket. You just use the rheostat to vary the VAC going into the 120VAC woodburning "pen". It's more like a soldering iron than a woodburning pen.

Like this one in the kit:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Deluxe-Woodburning-Kit/11045676

[Doug Wolf]

I came across this but is this possible? putting 110 household current through a woodburning pen tip??? Or am I missing something here?

http://www.thegourdreserve.com/tutorials/tempcontrol/burn1.shtml

Thanx
DD

You're missing something. All the link instructions say is how to vary the 110 input volts with a dimmer switch in the circuit to the woodburning pen, thereby reducing its temperture. The woodburning pen operates on 110 volts (Hobby Lobby or Wal-Mart type) and heats up the tip like a curling iron, steam iron, soldering iron, you get the idea. You are not going to get a shock from this type of woodburning pen.

[David DeCristoforo]

OK.. lights are coming on now. So the "output" of the power units is the same "more or less" as the battery charger? which would be 12VDC @10 amps? I'm trying to do this "on the cheap" and I have a friend who has a bunch of transformers and rectifiers and stuff that I could cherry pick at no cost. I could easily cobble something up as long as I an sure what the output needs to be.

Thanx again...
DD

[Rick Markham]

David, now you are dealing with Ohm's law. E=IR, E is volts, I is current (in amps) R is resistance. Your resistence is going to be how much wire you use to make your signature, I'd measure with a multimeter. (Don't burn it up after you make it).

Watts, can be converted to volts, if you want to figure out what the commercial units are providing voltage wise take Watts = Voltage
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .........Amps

[Jim Underwood]

http://www.lavieenbois.com/html/pyrograveur_eng.htm

This might help. This is a link to a burner made from a scrounged up power supply from a PC.

[David DeCristoforo]

So a battery charger has the correct output I presume. In the drawings of the Priddle unit, he shows a dimmer switch/temp controller wired into the input side, not to the output side. I can only presume why unless someone would care to explain it (in very simply terms... I'm no electrician!).

the power supply setup looks interesting but I don't have one laying around, I guess for thirty bucks or so I could get one but then I might as well get the charger... either way I would have to cook up a controller.

Thanx again for all the help...

[Leo Van Der Loo]

David I did show the battery charger pyrography unit with some pictures in this post, hope it helps you :).

file://localhost/Users/leo/Desktop/www.sawmillcreek.org:.webloc

file://localhost/Users/leo/Desktop/www.sawmillcreek.org:%202.webloc

[David DeCristoforo]

I'd love to see that Leo but the links are to files on your local drive!

[Jim Underwood]

Pix of mine on this thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?172198-Trogdor-WoodVaporizer-Burninatin-the-Countryside

As far as power supplies, if you can find a business who has upgraded their PCs, and are trying to get rid of the old ones, and there always is, then you can get one out of there for pretty near nothing. Seems I'm always taking old PCs to the recycling place. You can hardly give them away...

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Sorry David, not much time here so it was a quick reply only, I will add the pictures here maybe have to make two posts out of it now :)

I used the separate post to clip the charger to, its separates the charger and the burner part, it also lets you use the charger as is when needed.

The biggest problem with most pyrography setups is that the handle gets hot very quickly, I used extra heavy copper wire to help keep the heat down, it does help a lot.

Also the wood act as an insulator for the heat and I find it better than the plastic kind of material that is used, easy to make a new one if needed also.

Have fun and take care :)

207051 207052 207053 207054 207055 207056 207057 207058

[Jim Underwood]

That looks familiar...:D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I think it should :rolleyes: :) :cool:

[Jeff Nicol]

I think most of the units are using a 12V or in that range, but it is not DC it is AC the transformer is a "Step Down" transformer without the rectifier with the amperage in the 2-4 amp range. The ones I have made so far I have used the dimmer switch to contol them. I can get them warm up to almost "White" hot, and that will vaporize most anything it comes in contact with. But I believe that with an electrical circuit to control the output instead of the input I can keep the transformer from overheating as the transformers I believe are meant to have the full voltage of the input rating. So varing the input will put the extra heat generation possiblity on the dimmer and or the transformer. So for a true and complete knowledge of what is inside a commercially available model.....someone will have to take one apart and take a few pictures and let someone know the real deal.

I will get the time soon to get my projects in order, just have to finish my other commitments,

Jeff