Any aficionado of pyrography knows how important a woodburning implement is to the craft. Also known as woodburning, the art of pyrography revolves around the tips used on this implement, often called either a woodburner or pyrography pen. It’s these woodburning tips and their uses that allow pyrographers to make the intricate designs for which pyrography is so well known.
Popular Tips and Applications
The pyrography pen can be fitted with various tips that allow brushstrokes and other effects to be burnt into the medium. Each of these woodburning tips, and their uses, offer a means by which to burn the workpiece in ways that create specific markings on the wood.
Generally, woodburner tips come in the following styles:
- Standard
- Needle point
- Multi-groove
- Button
- Round
- Circle
Another implement commonly used with pyrography pens are feather woodburning tips, and their uses generally focus on burning fine lines more deeply to make feathers or other intricate designs. These tips have a more acute angle and sharper point than a standard woodburning tip.
In 1978, M.M. Newman Corporation introduced its Hot Tools’ Woodburner. A lightweight pyrography pen, it’s regarded today as the leading woodburner on the market. The easy-to-grip, varnished and thin wooden handle enables the operator to effortlessly make detailed designs on the workpiece. Able to reach 800°F (427°C) in two minutes, the wooden handle of M.M. Newman Corporation’s woodburner remains cool due the heating element’s location under the tip.
Standard Tip
Included with our WB-1 woodburning tool, M.M. Newman Corporation’s standard tip is typically used to make straight lines and burn veins on feathers for hunting decoys, though it can also be used for drawing curved lines, burning names into wood or other such tasks. Made from copper and then plated nickel, the overall length of our standard tip is 1.5625 inches (39.6875mm) with a tip shaft diameter of .1875 inch (4.7625 mm).
Needle Tip
Also fitting to our WB-1 woodburner, the needle tip is a needle-sharp tip that comes to a point. It’s able to create details like dots, burn holes, fine lines, tiny bird’s eyes and other highly detailed work. Made from copper, its overall length is 2 inches (50.8 mm) with a tip shaft diameter of .1875 inch (4.7625 mm).
Multi-Groove Tips
Multi-groove tips for M.M. Newman Corporation’s WB-1 tool works well for burning feathers and veins onto bird decoys. Coming in two different sizes, the #44 multi-groove tip can etch 44 grooves per inch, while the #56 multi-groove tip can burn 56 grooves per inch. The former works best for full-sized ducks and other large birds, whereas the latter works best for medium-sized songbirds. Made from copper, both tips are 1.365 inches (30.1625 mm) long, with a .25 inch (6.35 mm) tip shaft diameter.
Circle Tips
Also fitting the WB-1 woodburning tool, the circle tip has a hollowed-out circular point drilled in its center. Primarily used for making eyes, this copper woodburning tip comes in three sizes:
- .0625 inch (1.5875 mm) diameter
- .125 inch (3.175 mm) diameter
- .1875 inch (4.7625 mm) diameter
Circle tips are 1.5625 inches (39.6875mm) long and have a .1875 inch (4.7625 mm) tip shaft diameter.
Button Tips
M.M. Newman Corporation’s button woodburning tips are another type that works with our WB-1 tool for woodburning. This tip is for hard-to-reach places, like burning under a bird decoy’s beak or neck. This copper tip’s edges are positioned perpendicularly to the tip shaft to enable work at a 90-degree angle. Our button tip is 1.5625 inches (39.6875mm) long, with a .1875 inch (4.7625 mm) tip shaft.
Round Tips
Fitting on M.M. Newman’s WB-1 woodburner, the round tip creates a completely blackened circle. Like the circle tips, it too comes in three sizes:
- .0625 inch (1.5875 mm) diameter
- .125 inch (3.175 mm) diameter
- .1875 inch (4.7625 mm) diameter
Round tips are 1.5625 inches (39.6875mm) long, have a .1875 inch (4.7625 mm) tip shaft diameter and are made from copper.
Blank Tips
M.M. Newman Corporation also offers blank tips. Made from copper, these allow customers to make their own woodburning tips, and their uses then depend on how they’re machined. Made from copper, blank tips come 2.0625 inches (52.3875 mm) long, and with a tip shaft diameter of .1875 inch (4.7625 mm).
Woodburning Kit
Whether a novice or an expert at woodburning, tips and their uses are nothing without the right pyrography pen. M.M. Newman Corporation’s Hot Tools’ Woodburner comes in a sanded basswood box with a stand and precision temperature controller, along with a variety of specialty tips and several wooden coasters on which to practice. With a 64-inch power cord, the Hot Tools’ Woodburner operates at 115 volts, though a 240-volt model of the tool is available upon request. To learn more about M.M. Newman Corporation’s woodburning tips and their uses, contact us today.