pyrography iron

[samigail]

So far I've been using a solid point machine. I'm getting on ok with it - it's all i've ever known.

I know alot of the pyrographers on here use another machine.
I wondered if anyone knew what differences there were between the peter child's (which I've heard others mention on here) and this machine at dalescraft http://dalescraft.com/shop/product/piranha/
Are they essentially the same, if not then why not.
I don't want to eventually upgrade myself (when finances allow) to find I might have got on better with the other one!
sorry if I don't make sense!

many thanks for any help :)

[Scorch]

Hmmmm... Antex Piranha...that's made by the soldering-iron people, which makes me suspicious.
It is variable-heat, and that's a good thing. The last one they brought out was fixed-heat, and absolutely useless - I tried it at the Ally Pally wood fair last year, and it was awful.
The heated bit of the tip is a fair way from the end of the handle, which will make it hard to control.
The tips are also pre-made, and you have to buy them from Antex at about £7 each. Though they say there's an adaptor if you want to make your own out of nichrome wire, I don't see one on the Antex site.
I also don't like the way the handle is sheathed in cork - not just because it makes it bulky to hold, but because that means that the pen itself gets hot! Never a good thing in a pyro iron, and I reckon it's a sign of a bad design - I have a Janik like that, and it gets nigh on unusable.

Given that it's pretty much the same price as the Peter Child's machine, I definitely woudn't buy it myself.

Actually, it's the Ally Pally wood fair this weekend, an I wouldn't be surprised if the tool stall that was demonstrating with Antex irons last year was back again this year...

[samigail]

That's really useful, thanks for letting me know!

[woodtattoos]

No contest... Peter Childs all the way. :D

[samigail]

many thanks :)

[countrycrafts]

Hi I have just bought a Peter Childs pyrography machine and it's great. I make my own pens from a design from an American website. I have just changed the design slightly to suit myself.I use pyrography to give texture to my scroll saw sculptured segmentation,
Mal
PS if you are interested in the drawing pm me it's not allowing me to put the web address in