Tools to do wire buring on pens

[Band Saw Box]

What tools do I need to do wire burning on the pens I'll be making?

 

[Waluy]

It can be done with just a piece of wire. Maybe some pliers to hold the wire since it gets hot but with a long enough piece I have never had it get hot where I was holding.

Edit DON'T use galvanized wire though it can potential burn off the zinc and create poisonous zinc fumes.

 

[Falcon1220]

Guitar string

 

[Justturnin]

Fishing leaders, Use a scrap piece to burn off the plastic coating on the first round. I still have my original set with some homemade handles.

 

[Whaler]

Here is what I use Packard Woodworks: The Woodturner's Source: K.C Wire Burner

 

[Dan Masshardt]

I love to burn lines in stuff but not pens.

I use guitar strings from a friend as well as other wire I've found around.

I made simple wooden handles.


I'm sure you know this well, but never wrap wire around your fingers / hand

 

[Rodnall]

Whatever you use don't wrap it around your fingers! I was trying to burn something on the lathe with a wire used for cutting pvc and it slipped down to the chuck and caught. Luckily I didn't have it wrapped around my fingers or they would be gone.
Rod

 

[ChrisN]

A piece of wood works well, also. I used a ~1/16" thick piece of oak for some things I burned.

 

[Band Saw Box]

Ok thanks for the help. For some reason I thought you need a skew or something like that to cut a grove before you used the wire. What size wire should I get to make a burner? Oh how fast do you run the lathe?

 

[The Penguin]

you do need a skew or a "point tool" - really anything with a sharp point to make a small groove. Otherwise, the wire will walk all over the place.

you can use any size you want. change the wire size for thin lines, thick lines, etc.

I don't do many burned lines - I think you can run the lathe pretty slow (low speed on your HF lathe) and accomplish a burned line. If you turn the speed up, it may burn a bit faster (5 seconds on high as opposed to 10 seconds on low)

 

[monark88]

Ok thanks for the help. For some reason I thought you need a skew or something like that to cut a grove before you used the wire. What size wire should I get to make a burner? Oh how fast do you run the lathe?

You can if you want. I do and then burn with wire til it starts to turn darker or even smoke if I wantr a really dark line,
Also goes a little deeper, but not by much. You don't have to have a lot of pressure just enough to see the wood getting darker.

I drilled a small hole in a amall dowel and ran thru and "tied" around the dowel. Various sizes of wire, you can use. All suggestions above are good ones. Picture hanging wire is good also. I also use a spoke from a bike wheel that I had laying about.

I never paid much attention to the speed, just what the wire was doing to the wood.
Russ

 

[KenV]

Send me an address in a PM and I will send you some stainless welding wire. Spool was smashed and it would not feed through the gun. Medium burn line -- put handles on it and use the handles.

 

[Band Saw Box]

Hello everyone
I hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving. I got a chance to try my hand at wire burning this afternoon. KenV was nice enough to send me some wire he had, it arrived yesterday. I used two pieces of dowel rod as handles and using a scrap piece of paduck tuned it down to about pen slimline size and burned 3 lines. It was much easier then I though even with out cutting a grove. How I need to try it out on a few pens.

 

[OZturner]

A piece of Laminate (Laminex - Formica) as used on furniture and kitchen cupboards etc. Held with the edge at 90Deg to the turning pen, preferably after a Skew or point tool has cut a shallow groove.
Alternately, you might like to use your wifes Credit Card (if you are game enough and like living dangerously).
Brian.

 

[BKelley]

I use inconel wire about 12" long with a short piece of dowel on each end. This wire will withstand red hot heat without a problem. The inconel wire that I use came from an old ice maker. The ice maker makes a slab of ice and then drops it on the hot Inconel wires to cut it into cubes. I think it may be available at hobby stores to cut stryofoam. Good luck.

Ben

 

[WriteON]

I use a tool to groove and then use Mitchell's abrasive cords. I might go through a couple of pieces but I won't injure my fingers.

 

[PaulDoug]

But a cheap set of guitar strings or get some from a friend that putting on new string. Then you have different sizes to use.

 

[jeweler53]

I use and old jewelers saw like this:

Works great and is very easy to control.

Oh well... Just google "jewelers saw"