woodburner opinon

[Josh Bowman]

I've been impressed with the details put on turnings with a woodburner, and have never used one. I'm thinking Christmas gift for my girls to get me.
The guys in my club say the Mastercarver Burnmaster Eagle woodburner (handles 2 hand pieces) is the one to get.
What's your opinon or other options?
Second, the guys in my club say just buy the base unit at $153, not the unit and handles/tips at $237. And just buy other manufactures handles and make your own tips.
What's your opinon or other options?

Thanks

[Scott Hackler]

Josh the Eagle and the Hawk are the same unit except for the difference of 1 or 2 handpieces. I bought the Hawk (1 hand piece) because I am not going to be doing any production level work that needs two separate tips.....quickly. I have been very happy with the Hawk. I also bought a couple small coils of NiChrome wire and make my own tips for the stock hand piece.

[David DeCristoforo]

Having recently gone through the same process, I would like to offer some suggestions. If you do make your own handpieces, use plastic tubing for the body, not metal! I made mine from aluminum and that was a big mistake! they get too hot to hold!!! Actually, the handpieces are pretty inexpensive, the bulk of the cost being in the power unit. The Hawk is a fine unit unless you see the need to heat up two pens at one time.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have the Optima 1 that heats two pens. I bought 4 pens that was suggested by a person who had been burning over 15 yrs. She was right I have used just three.

[Richard Allen]

I am unaware of any 2 pen wood burners which heat two pen at one time. The 2 pen units I am aware of let you plug in two pens and have a switch to direct the current towards one pen or the other. Most pens heat up very fast (a second or so) so having two hot pens at the same time is of little benefit. Pen get hot during use. Practice will let you work effectively for 15 to 20 minuets without becoming to hot to hold. Having two pens that are the same will let you switch pens while the hot pens cools off.

The tips I use most often are:

Medium skew (for burning lines and controlled curves)
Shading tip (for shading)
Smallest ball end tip (form points and writing)

I make my own tips when doing branding.

Burnmaster, Detail Master, Colwood, Optima are all respected makers of wood burners. I have a Detail Master but I would be happy with any of the well made units.

[Dick Wilson]

Josh, Look at the cost of additional tips and profiles. Some makers tips are very reasonable in price ($10 range). I have the RazorTip and the tips are much more expensive. I cobled together another hand unit to fit my RazorTip and I don't get nearly the heat that I need for a lot of things. After watching Molly Winton demonstrate I think making your own tips is the way to go. Good luck

[Thom Sturgill]

I would add one item to Richard's list, get a writing tip. The artist that I bought mine from said to steer away from the replaceable tips, they tend to get loose and cause problems and if you have to buy multiple handles anyway, buying fixed tips are not that much more expensive. I don't remember who makes it (Optima?) but there is a controller which will work for both pens and as a grinder speed controller. That sounds interesting, but probably not as good as separate controllers.

[Greg Just]

I'm with Scott on this one. I too bought the Hawk and have been very happy with it. The tips actually cool rather quickly so ti only takes a few seconds to change tips. I might decide to pick up a second handpiece, but I don't see the need for 2 handpieces plugged in at the same time. I also bought a couple small coils of NiChrome wire and make my own tips.

[charlie knighton]

i use burnmaster, i acquired it in a raffle, still learning, mainly use 6-a scribe, did i say i was still learning, its a lot of fun, enjoy

the only thing i can compare it to is a burning pen i bought at big box store for about $15, another example you get what you pay for

[Jim Burr]

Optima 1 user with the two pen option. they heat and cool very fast and have dozens of pens. I also purchased a couple of pens from Burnmaster that they rewired for me to use on the Optima. Two pens plug in but it heats one at a time...flip a selector switch for desired pen.

[Rex Guinn]

Josh;
I have the burn master single hand piece, I use it for signatures, and have just used it for this. It's great so far only have one tip. Sorry the picture is not very good.
212342

[Jon McElwain]

+1 on a dual pen setup. It is really nice to switch quickly between pens and not have to unplug and plug between pens. I run a Detail Master Excalibur and it has exceeded my expectations.

[Josh Bowman]

I don't know if this does better or worse than a commercial model. I only got a chance to use a burnmaster for about 2 minutes. Anyway, I had this old battery charger laying around and added the cheapest light dimmer I could find to the 120 volt cord. I flip the voltage on 6 volt range and using a homemade pvc pipe with #12 wire and an RCA jack, I cobbled together a handle. A friend of mine give me some different gauges of nicochrome wire. I've been making different shapes and experimenting. Haven't a clue what I'm doing, but with my outside dust collector going, the smoke is sucked out of the shop and the thing burns away.

[Baxter Smith]

That looks HOT Josh. No pun intended! Looks like you are in busines. I like your designs too!