The Weller Short Barrel Wood Burning Kit comes with everything you need to get started in pyrography. This pyrography tool is another budget buy targeted at beginners. This one of the cheapest kits we have reviewed so we will be keeping that in mind while we take a look at its features. At first glance it comes with a nice storage case which can hold all of the parts and pieces of this kit.
Product Specifications
- 120 Volts
- 25 Watts
- 4’ Power Cord
- Max Temperature 900 F / 480 C
What’s Included
- WSB25WB Wood Burning Tool
- Pyrography Iron Tool Stand
- 9 Wood Burning Points
- Hot Knife Point
ProsCons
Low CostLack of Variable Temperature Control
Easy to useChinese Made Parts
First Impressions of the Weller Short Barrel Wood Burner
The short barrel feature of this kit is both a blessing and a curse. We like that it makes the pen feel more natural to use. It doesn’t feel as awkward in your hand for someone who is accustomed to writing with a pencil. The problem that comes with this is that this also means your hand will be hotter. This probably seems pretty obvious to most of you but the close your fleshy hands are to the hot tip the more uncomfortable you are going to be. We recommend wearing a glove if you decide to use this Weller wood burner. Other than the heat the Weller wood burner feels pretty good in your hands in comparison to some other models. The grip is pretty comfortable and if it didn’t heat up so much I’m sure it would be great for long project use.
With a cheap overall price comes cheap parts. This tool is made in China and we’re unsure of how much quality control goes into their manufacturing. There are numerous reports of tips breaking off within the barrel or bending after a short amount of use. We didn’t notice any obvious problems during our review but it is possible that we had got lucky. Check out some of the reviews on Amazon here and see what other users are saying about the quality of this kit. It may be worth it in this case to spend a few extra dollars to buy a better tool even if you are a beginner. Even though
Weller has a large brand name known for their quality products it appears they dropped the ball on this one.
You might see this model advertised as WSB25WB which stands in part for the 25 watt rating that it has. This is about the same as most other introduction level irons and it will get hot enough for most burns if you give it some time to heat up. One thing we noticed with this iron is it took quite a while to cool off once we had been working with it for a while. If you find your hand getting too warm you might want to unplug it to let the handle cool off.
This Weller pyrography iron doesn’t have many flashy features or options. It comes with a case to store all of your tips that is nice albeit a little flimsy. The main feature with this tool or lack thereof is temperature control. Once this wood burner is plugged in it is going to try to achieve its max temperature. You may be able to some finer detail work while the tip is still trying to heat up but once it has been sitting it’s going to be too hot for lighter shading. If you are an experienced artist who wants to do work with a medium temperature iron for a large project you won’t find it here. We wish that they had included some kind of power button or switch on this tool to make it easier to turn the wood burner off. As it is you have to unplug it from the wall or power strip before it will start to cool down. Speaking of the cord this one is a little short. At right around 4 feet it doesn’t give you much room to work with.
This kit comes with a small stand to support the wood burner while it’s not being used. This stand is actually pretty good for the price of the kit. It feels like an actual stand as opposed to some of the flimsy metal fold out stands that are included with many similarly priced kits.
You might see this model advertised as WSB25WB which stands in part for the 25 watt rating that it has. This is about the same as most other introduction level irons and it will get hot enough for most burns if you give it some time to heat up. One thing we noticed with this iron is it took quite a while to cool off once we had been working with it for a while. If you find your hand getting too warm you might want to unplug it to let the handle cool off.
Weller Pyrography Tips
One of the nice things about this kit is that it includes a nice selection of tips for you to work with. It includes a universal point, cone point, shading tip, transfer tip, and several other stamp points. This will give you some freedom to try out what each tip has to offer and find out what your style is. We like the transfer tip which looks like a big circle. This can be used to transfer a printed out design onto your wooden canvas. For more information on how to do this check out our image transfer guide. A lot of beginner or bargain kits don’t include a transfer tip like this so it’s nice to see it packaged with the Weller wood burner.
Overall Opinions of the Weller Short Barrel Pyrography Tool
Overall the Weller pyrography kit is a good buy for a beginner or for someone who doesn’t want to break the bank. It is just about one of the cheapest wood burning kits available and in this case you get what you pay for – a very basic tool with a small selection of tips. On top of this is the questionable quality of the tips which make it a pass for more advanced artists or for someone who can afford a higher end model.