Wood burners

[Baxter Smith]

Mike, I got this one a couple of years ago. http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/st...er___cub?Args=All I wanted to do at the time was upgrade from a 40 year old woodburner for signing my name. It seems to work fine in that regard. I picked up three additional razortip pens but have only used them a few times. I most often use this at a setting of 5-6 on a scale of 10. I have never used one of the more expensive single burners so I am not sure how they are better.

[Mike Cruz]

Baxter, which one are you referring to? The link you posted takes me back to my OP... Are you saying you got the Patriot?

[Baxter Smith]

Sorry Mike. Heat must be getting to me. Fixed it. http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/st...ter___cub?Args=

[Pete Gray]

Mike,
I use a Burnmaster & find it OK for normal Pyro & signature use. I am however looking at converting an old battery charger so I can use a heavier gauge & get a quicker recovery time.
BTW, the burnmaster when you buy it has the heat dial "full on" set at about 80 / 90% of the actual performance available, if you remove the cover there is a small slug on the potentiometer that can be wound up to full, this gives you quite a nice lift in top end performance
Pete

[Mike Cruz]

Thanks, everyone for your comments and advice. I had it narrowed down to two (because of price). Long story short, after a long conversation with the guy selling (and actually manufacturing them, too) the Patriot, I and a fellow Creeker, Peter, went with the Patriot. I'll let you know how I like it...

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Im in the woodburner market also. Would like to know the results! What was your second choice?

[Mike Cruz]

I'll send you a PM, Kyle, but the simple answer is the Colwood Cub...solely based on price.

Tried to send you a PM, Kyle, but your box is full. Here's what I was going to send you...

Hi, Kyle. Bottom line is that I didn't want to spend the kind of money that most of the manufacturers want. Most of them are asking about $110 to 125 for basic units without any pens. This unit, the Patriot Pro-500 is a 45 watt unit and includes 3 pens of your choice. The sale price (for Memorial Day Weekend) was $104 shipped. Most of the other places would have easily been $155+ shipped. Speaking with the guy that makes/sells them on Ebay, he sounds like a good guy that stands behind his product. I ended up with his cell phone number and he told me if I EVER have any issues with the pen or the controller, he'll make it right...that simple. This equates, to me, to good customer service.

The Cub would probably have been fine for me. I found a website that compared all the models of burners. The one drawback to the Cub was that the controller, the power cord, and the wire going from the controller to the pen are all one unit. If you have an issue with any one of them, the cords can not be replaced or repaired. So the whole unit would be shot. With the Patriot, the controller and the cord to the pen and the pen are all separate. So, if you accidentally burn, kink, or cut the cord, you can just get a new cord.

If you decide to contact the guy on Ebay, Everglades, tell him that you heard of his product from me. I think he'll remember me. No, I won't get any kickback. But I'm sure he'd like to hear that a sale lead to another. If you want to wait for me to test it out frist, just let me know. I would expect to get it by the end of the week or so.

Take care.

Mike

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Hmm sorry about my box being full. Thanks for letting me know that. I emptied it out, didn't know it was full. They should send a warning when its getting full.

Let me know how you like it. I was thinking of the Burnmaster, since it seems to be one of the favorites here. Have you used burners before? I have very little experience with them. The only one I used was a home made one that was very good. I have not the skill to build my own.

Thanks!

[Mike Cruz]

I'm with you, Kyle... I don't want to get into building my own. It would either burn my shop down with faulty wiring, or it would have a V8 powering it...or both!

The only experience I have with burning is signing my name with a $10 burner/soldering iron. Not sure how far I will go into pyro, but don't intend to get sucked in to that aspect of turning... But I've said that before...

[Rick Markham]

So, if you accidentally burn, kink, or cut the cord
Mike

So which one of these is the reason you are in the market for a new burner?

I'm super interested to see what you think of them Mike, the price is right for a little pyrography, and it is nice to support the small tool maker.

[Mike Cruz]

Hehe, leave it to you, Rick, to read into that... No, I didn't do that, but since most all of the ones other than the Cub aren't perminent like the Cub, I can only wonder why... Actually, I know someone that has the Cub, has had if for years, and is perfectly happy with it. The Patriot just seems to have all the functions of the bigger names at a lower price. Albeit at 45 watts for the Patriot Pro-500 (the Patriot 1000 has 60 watts, I believe) it isn't for the serious pyro guy that has very large burning pens and will sit and burn for hours on end. And yes, American made and being the small guy was a factor... As long as it performs, I'll be happy.

[Rick Markham]

Yeah, sometimes my sense of humor gets the better of me I only pick on you because your my buddy I would be more interested in just little things mostly, and if it sparked (couldn't resist that one either ) the more in depth stuff I would upgrade eventually.

[Jim Underwood]

I'd be interested in that website the compares the different woodburners...

[Donny Lawson]

I have the Burnmaster and it's a nice unit. We had a demo at our local turners club and Razertip was the talk of choice there.

[Mike Cruz]

Classic, Rick, just classic. Just can't resist, can you? Hey, I don't see it as picking. I enjoy your sense of humor...

Jim, here is the link without the link...sawdustconnection.com/pyrography-woodburning-tools-review-chart.htm. Well, it still made it as a link. Hopefully, it won't work so I won't be labeled a rule breaker...again. You have to add the http://www. infront of it. There it goes linking again... Shucks!

Donny, I was considering the Burnmaster and the Razertip. It simply came down to cost. I know, I know, it isn't always about cost, but at $100 it was well over what I wanted to spend to begin with and all the other brands (other than the Cub) would have been $130 and up. Hey, and inexpensive didn't mean going "China" this time!