Wood Burning Kit Comparison
There are a ton of wood burning kits on the market, so which one is the best. Let’s compare all the details in this wood burning kit comparison where we look at price, heat and special features.
These 8 Kits are some of the more popular kits from beginners to pro.
CRAFT KIT vs. PRO KIT
A craft wood burner is a great beginners wood burning kit. They range from $15 – 60 and have a good set of tips. These kits will get you started in wood burning and it may be the perfect kit for you to use forever. Some wood burning artists use these kits exclusively. There isn’t any type of art you can’t burn with these tools.
The craft burners typically have a singular wand with a screw-in- tip system, which plugs right into the wall. Most craft kits come with a set of brass tips or you can purchase the tips separately. Walnut Hollow has a wire tip craft burner where the tips snap in the wand instead of screw in.
Professional wood burning kits come with wire tips that slide into a wand. Some tips snap in, some are secured with screws. The wands are attached to a separate power box and the power box plugs into the wall. The pro kits offer more power and more heat. The wire tips come in a larger variety and offer more precision than the solid brass tips found in craft kits.
Whether you go with a craft kit or a pro kit, they both have pros and cons, so let’s dive into this wood burning kit comparison.
CRAFT BURNER KITS
Chandler Tool Wood Burning Kit
The chandler tool is a simple plug and go kit. I like the simplicity of this kit. It comes with 8 wood burning tips and solder tips. The brass tips are high quality so you know they will last a while. The kit is just simple, reliable and easy to use. It’s actually the kit I used in my book. I wanted something simple that anyone could purchase online and use to recreate the same projects.
It does get hotter than the other craft burners at heat range of around 600 degrees Fahrenheit.
The downside is that it doesn’t have heat settings, so if you want to burn other materials like paper, canvas, leather, etc….you may want to consider a burner with heat options.
PROS: hotter than other craft burners, simple and easy to use, good quality, lifetime warranty
CONS: no heat settings
Walnut Hollow Versa Tool
The Walnut Hollow Versa Tool is very similar to the Chandler tool in the setup and tip options. It comes with 8 wood burning tips and a solder tip. And it also comes with a hot knife and a bit of solder.
The biggest difference is the heat setting dial. The WHVT has 4 heat setting options which gives you a better range of heat for burning on other materials.
PROS: simple and easy to use, high quality, heat setting dial
CONS: lower temp than other wands
Walnut Hollow Creative Tool
The Walnut Hollow Creative Tool is very different from the other craft kits. It has wire tips that snap into the wand. The power unit is separate from the wand, which gives the wand a more pen like feel. I know a lot of artists prefer a pen like wand that feels more comfortable to hold.
The kit comes with 4 tips and a wand puller. The wand puller helps you pull the tips out without having to touch the hot tip. There is also an additional tip pack you can purchase with 4 tips inside.
The heat range is still on the lower end, but it offers the ability to change tips without having to wait so long like you do with the screw-in brass tip kits. And these wire tips offer a lot of precision the brass tips don’t.
PROS: easy to change tips, heat setting dial, wire tips, pen like wand
CONS: pricey than other craft options, lower heat retention
PRO BURNER KITS
I’m going to be looking at the Razertip P80, Colwood Super Pro II, TRUArt Dual Pen, and the Burnmaster Eagle. Each one of these brands offer different models with different features. These just happen to be my collection, so I’m to show you the differences.
Do your own research about the different options out there, but I must say each one of these brands offer high quality kits with every model. You really can’t go wrong with any of them. It’s going to come down to which features you have a personal preference for and ho much money you want to spend.
TRUArt Dual Pen
Let’s start with the TRUArt Dual Pen. First, this is one of the more affordable pro kits on this list. As of today, it’s $195.00 and you get a lot of accessories in the kit. It comes with 40 tips (some duplicates), cleaning brush, sanding wands, wand holders, a case and patterns.
The best thing about the TRUArt wand is the ability to hold the pen with minimal heat on the finger tips. This is the only burning pen I can hold at high heats for long periods of time without finger guards. The wand is very insulated and the pen itself isn’t as hot as other burning pens. I love being able to burn without the clunky finger guards.
The worst thing about the TRUArt is the screw bit bits that secure the tips in place. You slide the tips into the wand then use the two screw bit to hold the metal tip inside. When you’ve been burning for a while, you can just touch these screw bits to change the tips. It makes the tip change process a bit cumbersome.
Two Wands
Because this model has two pens, it minimizes the wait time. You can simply just use the cool wand while you wait for the hot one to cool off. If you buy the single wand model, you won’t have that option. My suggestion is go with the dual pen. It doesn’t cost that much more and you’ll be glad that you have the option of two pens to switch between.
The heat dial is a different than the other units. Most of the other units have a 1 – 10 heat setting dial, but the TRUArt has a voltage heat dial that ranges from 0 – 113 V. It heats and cools within seconds.
The tips are thick and are a good quality. I do wish they had a more true straight edge tip and spoon shader, but there are tips that are close.
Overall, it’s a good quality machine and you get a lot for your money.
PROS: great price, lots in the kit, two wands, easy on the fingers, great heat range, great heat retention
CONS: cumbersome tip change, lower tip variety compared to others
Colwood Super Pro II
The Colwood Super Pro is one of my favorite kits. It’s the first pro kit I bought and I’ve spent countless hours burning with this machine. As of right now, you can get this kit on amazon for $200. You get three tips, a tip puller, sanding files, two wands and a beginners book with projects and patterns.
My favorite thing about the Colwood is how easy it is to use. The tips slide easily into the wand and can easily be changed without waiting for it to cool using the tip puller.
The wands heat and cool within seconds, the heat retention is amazing and it’s a very reliable heat supply. And the heat is very high. If you want a high heat burner, this is a great choice.
There is a huge variety of tips to choose from and the company offers units in 110V and 220V.
The only con about the Colwood is the price. It’s an expensive unit without a lot of extras in the kit and the tips are pricey. They range from $8 – 20. The good news is that they are high quality and will last you a long time.
Overall, a very good quality machine. You will not regret owning this unit.
PROS: very high heat, large tip variety, easy to change tips, two wands
CONS: pricey kits and tips
Razertip P80
Razertip is a staple brand in the wood burning community. They have several models in there lineup and I’m looking at the P80 here. It has a digital interface, which is something no the wood burning kit has to offer.
The digital interface lets you program the degrees, recall your last degree settings and turn off the sound if you wish.
This particular model only offers one pen, but you can upgrade and add a unit with a pen. There is a connection on the side of the power box that allows you to connect power with another box/pen unit.
The pens are the most pen like of any wand/kit I’ve tried. They are small and thin, but don’t let that fool you. These pens get stupid hot. They get so hot that I absolutely have to wear finger guards when I use this machine.
The biggest issue with this unit is the cost. As of today, the base unit costs $359 and that’s without any accessories or pens. The kits that come with accessories range from $480 – 527 depending on the options.
An Established Brand
Razertip is an established and trusted brand in wood burning community. They care about their customers experience and the products they produce. If you really love the Razertip brand, my suggestion would be to go with either the SS-D10 or the SK models. The digital interface of the P80 adds a lot in cost, but not a lot in the wood burning experience. If you have the cash to splurge, then by all means grab that P80. But if you want to save a bit of money, the other models should be considered. You get the same Razertip quality, without the added costs.
PROS: High quality machine, trusted brand, pen like wand, cool digital features, very easy to use, easy pen change
CONS: most expensive unit on the market
Burnmaster Eagle Pro
The Burnmaster Eagle pro is easily the most powerful unit on this list. The transformer inside the power box packs a big punch at a 130 Watts. It’s an expensive kit at $300, but you do get a lot for the money. There are 2 wands, 15 tips, adapters for other brands of pens and a case.
The tips for this unit are thick high quality metal. The base of the tips are copper for high heat retention and it works wonderfully. The heat and heat retention in these tips are amazing. It feels like the hottest burner I’ve used. I’ve had the best high heats using the Burnmaster.
The best thing about the Burnmaster brand is the ability to use other brands tips and wands. You can use both the Colwood and Razertip wands and tips. I love the possibilities this creates! It opens up the tip and wand variety with only one burn unit.
Colwood Tips in the Burnmaster
I regularly use my Colwood tips and wands in the Burnmaster unit. I love my Colwood spoon shader and it’s easy to just plug it in and go.
The worst thing about the Burnmaster are the screws that need to be tightened to hold in the tips. You have to use a screwdriver to secure the tips in place. Burnmaster provides a philips head in order to do this, but it does get tiresome when changing the tips. The good news however is that you can use other brands wands that don’t have this screw in place system. Again, it opens up the possibilities. You can have the power of the Burnmaster with the convenience of wands that just push onto the power cord.
Overall, a high quality unit with lots of options.
PROS: high quality kit, lots of accessories in the kit, use other brands tips, very, very hot
CONS: cumbersome tip change, pricey unit
wood burning kit comparison
SUMMARY
The truth is, these are all good quality, trusted brands. It’s going to come down to what you want as a wood burning artist. When looking at a wood burning kit comparison, what is the most important thing you want from your kit?
BEST BEGINNER KIT – Walnut Hollow Versa Tool
BEST BANG for YOUR BUCK – Truart
EASIEST TO USE – Colwood and Razertip
220V OPTION – Colwood, Razertip, Burnmaster
The most important thing I wanted in a wood burning kit was that it be easy to change tips. I love the replaceable tips from Colwood, that’s why I chose it. It has been a very good kit to me, but there are lots of great kits to choose from. Pick the one that’s best for you.
Thanks for reading this wood burning kit comparison!
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