I started woodburning 2 years ago with a walnut hollow “hobby” woodburner that I bought when I was 9. It did the job, but was rather awkward and sort of burned my hand after a while. 1 year ago Adam teamed up with some friends and family and bought me my first “real” woodburner – a Razortip with pen and replaceable tips (remember this post?). I loved it and used it everyday. It was perfect.

I don’t think the kids at Razortip intended the system be used everyday for about 5 hours, though. Actually, I don’t think anyone would recommend that, as I now have no feeling in the middle finger of my right hand. Eventually, I outgrew the little guy and there simply wasn’t enough power in it for me to finish some of the bigger projects I had. Since I do contemporary decorative woodburning, and not pictures of foxes or ducks, I sometimes have large areas I need to burn dark and the Razortip was having heart trouble.

So I upgraded and treated myself to a brand new Colwood Olympiad woodburner, complete with a couple new tips and even a nice wooden case. It came on Tuesday and I haven’t been able to put it down since, which has made me a bit of a fire hazard around the house. A huge temperature range and enough guts to finish the large pieces, I am really happy with it.

A better system doesn’t make me a better burner, but it will allow me to finish projects faster, which is important now that the shop has REALLY caught on and I am always working on something. Hopefully this will give me more time to start new designs, instead of steadily working on orders of designs I already have for sale. I just have to remember to stop every once in a while for food and sleep.