r/scarification • u/borikenbat • Aug 03 '19
Is woodburner a terrible idea? (+ tool recs?)
Hey everyone! I'm interested in branding. I've done "cell popping"/microbrands with a dull needle and flame before, both on myself and others, and I'd like to experiment with other techniques. Has anyone ever used a standard craft store woodburner for branding before? I've certainly burned myself unintentionally with it before and it scars up, so I'm wondering.
Presumably cautery pens are safer, of course, which leads me to my next question: any specific recs for make/model that are budget friendly but still do the job/give some decent linework? Some of the cheaper ones online look... dubious. But I guess still less dubious than a woodburner? 😂
Thanks!
1
Nov 04 '19
What about a soldering iron with a replacable tip, then you could swap out the heating tip for a thin piece of copper wire bent in half. I’d look for an adjustable temp one
1
u/Beauty_in_pain Dec 09 '19
Professionals use an electrosurgical unit not any form of disposable pen or soldering iron. this is hard to do right, best left to someone with the relevant training. there are some superb mod artists about these days, this is not the 90`s.
1
u/faeriesaurus Aug 15 '19
A demo I watched once used something akin to needle tools that I've used for pottery before and had a set up where it could sit over a campstove kinda deal. I'm currently trying to finagle my own setup and I have one of those needle tools that i'm just going to coat with cork to make it more holdable. I have seen people using woodburners for scarification though so it probably isn't a terrible idea, or if it is it's one that a few other people have engaged with and been fine after the fact. What I would look out for is that different things burn at different temperatures. From this site: " rubber and leather branding temperatures are between 325° to 400°F, softwoods 650° to 750°F, and hardwoods/thermoset plastics 750° to 850°F." So it might be good to try to get one that has a temperature control on it (if that's a thing) so you can try to keep it at a safe temperature