Which wood burning tool?

[Ron Bontz]

I was wondering if there is a particular burning tool I should be looking for. Mainly for signing. I certainly would not want other poor soles to be blamed for my wood butchery. :D

[Scott Hackler]

I bought the Burnmaster Hawk and love it. But I do a lot more than signing stuff. I enjoy making custom tips with NiChrome wire and "branding" a texture onto some things. It really opened up a lot of possibilities for my creativity. The Eagle model is the same unit except for it has 2 pens (so you don't have to keep changing the tips) and is a bit more $$$.

[Greg Just]

I have the Burnmaster Hawk too. I have never been limited by only having one pen. I don't work that fast that I can't wait a few minutes for the pen to cool. I actually find signing is very difficult with the burner and now use my Dremel engraver. I took a class with Molly Winton last year and she showed us how to do it. with practice, you can get your signature pretty small.

[Dan Forman]

I'm hoping that many chime in with "Razortip", because I just received mine from CSUSA, along with a 3/32" ball stylus pen, which is what the customer service guy recommended. One basis for this was that their sister company, which deals more with burning and carving, whose name I forget, has a very wide selection of tips for this brand of burner. I got it mainly for signing, but who knows what the future holds. I've never used one before, but might give it a go today.

Dan

[Mike Peace]

I participated in a workshop with Cynthia Gibson who does beautiful pyrography on woodturning. She recommends the Razertip. I researched and bought an Optima 2 burner unit. Very similar to a Razortip but a few bucks cheaper. Here is a link to a comparison of the different units. http://www.sawdustconnection.com/pyrography-woodburning-tools-review-chart.htm

[Steve Vaughan]

I've got the burnmaster eagle and am satisfied with me. I got that particular one because of the price - it was on sale and the others were not at the time I was ready to buy. I'm thinking that at about that level and range of burners, you're not gonna go wrong with any of them.

[Harry Robinette]

I think if you stay in the 50 or over watts area you'll be fine. Lower then 50 well sign your work BUT if you do decide to do more burning you'll like having the power. I use a Detail Master Saber and love it had it for around 8 years and have probable 8 or 9 pens ( I don't like changing tips). I use there round tip to sign
all my pieces. I really think there all about the same so check around for sales I never heard anyone say that one was that much different or bad then another.
Of course this is just my $.02