Best wood burning kits: Pyrography for beginners and up

Whether you’re a beginner wood burner, seasoned hobbyist, or professional, it can be hard to find the ideal wood burning kit. Pyrography is a skill with a steep learning curve, and it can be even more difficult to get into without the right tools.

As a beginner, you may feel overwhelmed by the number of options and not know where to start. Even if you’ve taken some woodworking classes in the past, you’ll quickly find that pyrography is a completely different beast.

To help you get started, I’ve picked out the best wood burning kits and tools for beginners and up. Check out the top three below, or keep reading for more options!

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Best wood burning kits

Here’s a breakdown — by categorical use — of the best wood burning kits for beginners and up!

Best overall: TRUArt Stage 1 Wood and Leather Pyrography Kit

To kick off the list, I’ve chosen a mid-range option from one of the most trusted brands in pyrography: TRUArt.

This basic solid-tip wood burning kit comes in a few different options, but I’d recommend the basic 21-tip kit for most users (although the aluminum case model is great if you can spend a bit more!).

The set includes 21 multi-use tips, a plastic case, a manual, and a simple soldering iron-style wood burning pen. The pen only features two settings: 30W for wood burning and 15W for leather burning.

While this doesn’t give you as much control over exact temperatures, it does take away some of the guesswork if you’re looking to start with a minimal setup. This is one of the best wood burning kits to consider if you’re new to the craft, as well as for hobbyists who want to cut their chops on an above-average tool.

If you want to take things to the next level, TRUArt’s Stage 2 professional kit is one of my favorites if you can catch it in stock. Otherwise scroll down for more options!

Best budget: Weller 25-Watt Short Barrel Woodburning Kit

I started my own woodburning journey with an older version of this budget kit from Weller, and it’s still going strong nearly a decade later! If you’re just getting started and want to keep costs down, it’s a fantastic pick.

Built like a lightweight soldering iron, the 25-watt woodburning pen is simple and easy to use. It comes with 9 different woodburning tips, which is enough for most projects. There’s also a hot knife, embossing tip, and stand in the box.

One of the changes for the new version is a heat guard, which helps keep your fingers safe during long sessions. It comes in a box to store things away when you don’t need them, although the plastic inserts are easy to lose.

Being a budget woodburning tool, the biggest downside is that you can’t adjust the heat. It’s fixed at 25W, maxing out around 400°C. In other works, you won’t want to use this on leather.

Best for professionals: WANDART Wood Burning kit with 20 tips

For those ready to take their wood burning know-how to the next level, this WANDART set is one of the best wood burning kits you can buy.

Why? Well for starters it’s a wire tip set, which means it offers superior burning with faster heating times and more detail. Plus, it comes with two separate pens so you can keep two tips at the ready, and each one is smaller and lighter than alternatives to make it easier to achieve the detailed results.

This professional pyrography kit includes everything you could possibly need: pen holders, a pair of tweezers, 20 wire nibs, two professional-quality pyrography pens, stencils, and a 60W digital power supply.

That power supply is what really separates it from the rest of the items on the list, since it allows you to fine tune the temperature of your pen from 0-1550°F. Moving the heating mechanism out of the pen also makes it much lighter and more ergonomic.

Despite being a “professional” kit, it’s still very beginner friendly. Be warned: Once you try wire nib wood burning you will never want to go back to standard pens.

Best affordable wire tip: FIRElood wood burning tool

If you want a taste of wire tips but don’t want to invest in an expensive wood burning tool, this more affordable tool might be a good stepping stone.

Despite costing less than half the price of the option above, it’s still a very complete set. It includes two professional pens, 30 wire nibs, stencils, tweezers, a cutter, a pen holder, and a power supply.

The power supply offers fully adjustable heat, although it tops off a little lower, at 1350°F. That’s still plenty hot for professional-grade wood burning projects, with the flexibility to test other materials, too.

The biggest drawback is the build quality. Don’t expect this one to last quite as long as more expensive models. Still, for the price, it’s a fantastic gateway to wire nib woodburning.

Best portable: Dremel Versatip 2000-7 Precision Butane Torch

Dremel is a household name for most crafters, but I doubt you’ve seen this particular tool before. It’s nominally a portable soldering iron that runs on butane gas, but it comes with attachments to turn it into a fantastic portable wood burning tool.

Now, I wouldn’t use this for huge pieces of artwork, but it’s perfect for smaller jobs far away from a plug. The butane torch gets plenty hot to burn wood, and it’s as easy to use as a standard lighter. There’s even a variable flame control so you can adjust the temperature.

The kit comes with seven interchangeable tips, but each one is really designed for a different purpose. A few can be useful for woodburning, but others are better for soldering, hot cutting, heat embossing, paint removal, or welding.

Still, that versatility might make it an easier purchase for people who are just dipping their toes into wood burning. It’s easier to justify the purchase when it can be used for everything from soldering to repairing broken jewelry!

Best alternative for kids: Scorch Marker Pro Pen

This scorch pen is a fantastic solution if your child wants to try wood burning, but you’re afraid of letting them use such a hot and dangerous tool. 

The scorch marker is super easy to use, doesn’t require interchangeable parts, and gives the same beautiful wood burning effects with less risk and hassle. To use it, you shake the pen and draw directly onto a piece of wood. Then, use a heat gun to burn the inked design permanently into the surface.

This way, kids can do all the drawing, and adults can safely use the heat gun to complete the final steps. For the best outcomes, I advise sanding the wood lightly beforehand; doing so will ensure designs remain sharp and detailed. You can also erase your work before using the heat gun by sanding it off to try again.

It’s also non-toxic and works on various surfaces, including paper, fabrics like denim, and even cardboard and cardstock — it’s a great tool for holiday card making! The brand also provides a selection of downloadable themed stencils for all projects to help you get started. 

There are many similar products on Amazon, but I recommend the original Scorch Marker Pro, linked below. They’re a great value, especially for kids. Another alternative is Scorch Paint, which works very well with wood burning stencils.

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How to choose the best wood burning tool kit for you

If you’re still not sure how to pick the best wood burning kit for you, here are some helpful tips on what to keep an eye out for when buying a pyrography kit.

Tip Type

There are two types of tips a wood burning pen may feature: solid or wire. Solid tips are metal pieces that come in various shapes and designs. They heat up and burn the wood.

Wire tips are stretches of wire that have an entry and exit point in the pen. Current passes through the wire, generating heat to burn the wood.

Both are great options, but solid tips are much more common and tend to be cheaper. Most crafters and hobbyists start with solid tips. Wire tips are less common and can get pricey, but they are lighter and offer more professional finishes for advanced crafters.

Temperature

Variable temperature is an important consideration when searching for the best pyrography tools. Some types of wood can’t handle high temperatures, while others actually need higher temperatures to burn cleanly.

If you plan to use your pyrography tool on materials other than wood, it’s even more necessary to find one with variable temperature.

For example, objects like leather, paper, and gourds require much lower temperatures than wood to burn. Conversely, some wood burning pens are capable of reaching extreme temperatures to enable techniques like soldering, embossing, and carving.

Comfort

Wood burning is often a time-intensive creative hobby. That said, choosing a pen that fits comfortably in your hand is vital to avoid cramping during long crafting sessions. 

Just as you want a comfortable chair to prevent you from hunching over the computer for hours, so do you want a comfortable wood burning pen.

Wood burning pens tend to be similar in how they look, but some have more ergonomic, higher-quality grips than others. That said, the best choice for anyone looking for comfort is always a wire tip. They’re just much lighter and more nimble to use.

Accessories

One of the highlights of wood burning tools is that the tips are always interchangeable. This is true for both solid and wire pens.

Different tips allow for different designs. Just as you wouldn’t use a fine-tipped marker for coloring in a large space, you won’t want to use a small tip to burn a large area.

The more accessories and tips a wood burning kit offers, the more types of designs you’ll be able to accomplish!

However, if you’re a complete beginner, I recommend starting out with a more straightforward kit, including the essentials and nothing more.

Keep in mind that it can be overwhelming to go from nothing to 30+ tips, especially when you can get by with just five or six alternatives. Plus, while not always the case, pyrography kits with lots of tips tend to contain lower-quality materials.