• A 40-watt iron with interchangable tips is useful for pyrography.soldering woodburning kit image by Steve Johnson from Fotolia.com
  
  Many artists enjoy pyrography, or the art of woodburning. The ideal tool for this is a 40-watt soldering iron, since it produces just the right amount of heat. A 20-watt iron will burn, but the process may be too slow because of insufficient heat. Conversely, a 60-watt iron will burn as well, but the burn is can be too fast and barely controllable. Many 40-watt soldering irons have interchangeable tips, which can be used to create a variety of effects on wood, such as shading and highlighting.
  
  

Thin Pencil Tip

• This tip is used to burn in (draw) fine lines. With a 40-watt iron, just touching the wood lightly will produce a thin black line. A thin tip can be used for outlining, or for cross hatching (drawing in a mesh). Straight hatching is possible as well, like what's found on portraits of American presidents on money. Artist Ken Li uses fine line drawing extensively in his portraits. Some artists use both a 40- and a 20-watt soldering iron, using the 20-watt for extremely fine lines and the 40-watt for broader lines.
  
  

Wide Chisel Tip

• A wide chisel tip is used to burn in large areas, such as shading or clouds. With a 40-watt soldering iron, you can control the burn precisely. The detail left is not fine but rather "muddled." This effect is ideal for clouds, since they do not have fine detail, but rather have overlapping imperfect features. A 20-watt iron will work, but the process is slow.
  
  

Narrow Chisel Tip

• A narrow chisel tip is used much like a broad chisel tip, except it's used for smaller areas. If you are going to burn miniature portraits, this tip is ideal, since it produces a finer-detail broad swath than a large chisel tip.
  
  

Cone Tip

• A cone tip has a unique role. The very tip of it can be used to draw fine lines. As the tip is rolled on the wood, it can increase a fine line to a broad swath. With a 40-watt iron, you do not need to press hard. Experiment with different pressures and angles, since V-like burns are possible. This is useful for gradual transitions, such as drawing in a fine nose detail to a broader cheek.
  
  

Round Tip

• A round tip is hemispherical (a half-ball) in shape. If touched lightly on the surface, it yields a medium line. Pressing harder, it leaves a broader swath. This technique is useful for deep shading. It is also useful for gradual transitions from dark to light areas, such as shadows in landscapes. With a 40-watt soldering iron, experiment on scrap wood to develop the right touch.