Walnut Hollow Creative Versa Tool with Variable Temperature Control for Woodburning, 11 Points (Tips), Original Version, Basic Pack

This is extremely affordable and really fun to use. I have never had any experience with pyrography, and it is pretty intuitive to use. There are a lot of different tips, and I'm still trying to figure out what tips are used for what application. But hey, it's better than not having enough tips!Some important lessons I learned:- stay away from soft woods- stay away from grainy woods (plane off the top layer if you have to use a grainy wood)- I'm experimenting with different types of woods but I have found that cherry works really well- the flat round tip is for transferring images. You can print off a picture on a piece of paper, lay it face down on a piece of wood, and just slowly apply pressure using the flat, round tip. The image will be transferred to the wood, but know that it will be a mirror image of the original. Do NOT do this if you are planning on using the wood for serving or preparing food (e.g. a cutting board)- I have no idea what chemicals are in the ink, and burning the ink onto the wood will probably be toxic. Graphite paper is a good alternative that is safer for food applications (graphite is just carbon, when you burn carbon you get carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide...just make sure you are in a well-ventilated area)- every part that is metal will be hot, bear this in mind when burning designs onto wood...the round disk that is used for propping up the pen has ruined quite a few of my designs!- the long, rounded tip is really useful for cursive writing- the flat part of the bent tip is used for adding color to the wood; if you apply pressure using the flat part onto the wood, you'll burn the wood lightly and give it a brown color.- don't touch the metal part to test if it's hot enough! I can tell you first hand that this is a BAD idea...this pen heats up so quickly!- always unplug the pen when you are done

First off this is my first woodburning tool and I have to say I love it so far. Though keep in mind that I have had no prior experience with wood burning and just thought it might be fun to try and learn etc. I figured it could add some different elements to my hobby.With that said my opinion is coming from someone who had no experience with wood burning but had an interest in it.Here is my opinion of the tool and why I gave it five stars.Good:1. It is inexpensive2. It has adjustable temperatures3. It had interchangeable tips4. It worksBad:1. I am not a big fan of the stand, recommend that you tape it down when you work2. It feels like the temperature control is to close to the tool itself (does not make the tool unuable or anything; i just believe it should be a little further.3. I wish it was a little thinner just for better control4. I wish the tip and the base were a little further apartBottom line though for the price i have already found it to be worth every penny. I have attached a picture of my first wood burning. Its not great or perfect but hey for the first time ever I think I did alright. So hopefully that will inspire some of you to look into wood burning; I have never used one before and to top it off I am not very artistic when it comes to drawing.That said if your interested in wood burning and are a beginner I would recommend it. For the price it cannot be beat in my opinion (though I have nothing else to compare it to).I have not used this for soldering or anything other than wood burning. I will say this though if your interested in wood burning I would make sure you get one with an adjustable temperature, and I say that because different woods burn differently. I have used it on fir, pine, maple, and oak all at the same temperatures just to test it out on different woods. For example on fir it will burn it a dark black and cut into the wood pretty fast. I think the temp control just adds more control to the user which is very useful if your new.

For the most part I bought this for pyrography (or woodburning) which is a method of writing and drawing into wood with high temperatures. But there are a bunch of other woodburners out there, why did I buy this one? Well, this one comes with adjustable tips (And boy, do I love my adjustable tips!) for other jobs such as soldering, hot-knife cutting, image transfers and stamping, as well as some lead-free solder, which I appreciate since I was shopping for solder at the time, too.What did I expect it to do? Well, it was pretty cheap, it was meant to be, I think, a tool for beginners and that's exactly what I was looking for. I read some past reviews that complained about the tips breaking off and the temperature control not working and I was definitely hesitant to buy it for those reasons. 'Beginner's tool' should not be synonymous with 'shoddy tool'.It's been a couple of months since I bought it and after a long waiting period (I had to buy a step-down voltage converter since this is a tool from the US and I live in the UK) I got around to using it and I've used it a fair bit since. To address the complaints mentioned before: Thus far I haven't had a tip break on me and, although it does take a few minutes to heat up, the temperature control has been working perfectly (Or at least, it's been working - It's a yellow-orange-red scale so I'm not sure what the specific temperatures are supposed to be, but it's definitely hotter at red than it is at yellow).The tool stand it comes with is a bit minimalist, but it does the job and it comes with everything it's advertised to have, as well as a little guide for using the different tips, which is a nice little bonus. The case is also really good quality, nice clear and fairly tough plastic. One thing I'm confused by is the little plastic squares that come with it, what are they for?Overall, I'm pleased with the purchase, it does my woodburning stuff and other things that I haven't found my own use for yet (But I like having the option there, boredom won't go away on it's own), it's fun and easy to use, great tool for a beginner, and I'm hoping it'll take me past that, too. I think it could be improved by adding some sort of indicator to tell whether it's on or not, nothing too fancy, just a little LED would do fine, but, again, I'm happy with it.