Wood Burner Vs Soldering Iron – Let’s Clear The Confusion!
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
A wood burning tool and a soldering iron are used for different purposes. A wood burning tool is used to burn designs or patterns into wood, while a soldering iron is used to melt and join pieces of metal, such as soldering electronic components. They both have different tip shapes and temperatures needed for the job.
A wood-burning tool generates better heat, is fast, and higher, and is used for accurate and professional-level design. Whereas a soldering iron is cheap, easy to use, and well do the job.
If you want to know “can you use a wood burner as a soldering iron” or difference between wood burner vs soldering iron then let me elaborately compare so that you can choose one and will be able to know which one is better in which context.
Contents
Comparison Table Between Wood Burner Vs Soldering Iron
| Features | Wood burning tool | Soldering iron |
| Temperature | Up to 1382 degrees Fahrenheit | Up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit |
| Heat up | Fast (2-5sec) | Slow (4-10sec) |
| Cool down | Fast | Slow |
| Adjustable temperature | Yes | Yes |
| Accuracy | High | Medium |
| Safety | High | Low |
| Tips | Many | Limited |
| Tip Material | Stretches of wire or metal | Metal |
| Weight | Light | Light |
| Workspace | Small | Small |
| Price | Low to High | Affordable |
Can you use a wood burner as a soldering iron?
It is technically possible to use a wood burning tool as a soldering iron, but it is not recommended.
Wood burning tools reach much higher temperatures than soldering irons and are not designed for use on metal.
The tip of a wood burning tool is also not suitable for soldering metal, as it is typically a chisel or calligraphy tip, rather than a pointed tip.
Additionally, wood burning tools may produce smoke and fumes that can damage electronic components, and may not provide the precision required for soldering.
It is better to use a soldering iron specifically designed for soldering metal, as it will be safer and more effective for that purpose.
Pros & Cons Compare to Soldering Iron Vs Wood Burning Tools
Soldering Iron
Soldering Iron is a tool mainly used for melting solder and joining wires. But its tip shape and temperature production, up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit, also make it useful on other surfaces. Especially on designing on wood, it does a great job.
It is almost the same as the wood-burning tool’s solid or nib points burner. They have the same structure; their heads are made of solid materials, creating heat within the pen and transferring it to the tip.
Wood Burner
A wood-burning tool is generally used for writing and making designs on wood. It creates heat and transfers it to the tip, and the tip can be changed at any time to portray a different design.
A wood-burning tool can be of two types; one is a wire nib burner, and the other one is a solid point burner. Whereas wire nib burner temperature could reach up to 1382 degrees Fahrenheit and solid point burner can reach up to 950 degrees Fahrenheit.
Comparison Between Wood Burning Tool and Soldering Iron
Purpose
A wood burning tool is used for burning designs or patterns into wood, while a soldering iron is used for melting and joining pieces of metal.
Material
Wood burning tools are used on wood, while soldering irons are used on metal.
Usability
Both tools can be used on the same surface. In comparison, a wood-burning tool is used for pyrography mainly. Another hand, a soldering iron is mainly used for soldering electrical wires, parts, and joints.
As for the structure, nib, and temperature production, a soldering iron can be used for burning and designing wood but will get a different result or less quality of work than a wood-burning tool.
Generate Heat
Both tools produce a good amount of heat, but the temperature differs. Wood burning tools typically reach higher temperatures than soldering irons.
Both tools produce a good amount of heat, but the temperature differs. A wood-burning tool can produce up to 1382 degrees Fahrenheit, and a soldering iron can produce up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit.
Working Temperature
A wood-burning tool mainly works well around 500 to 700 degrees Fahrenheit temperature. Another hand, a soldering iron mostly works well around 600 to 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
Note: Depending on your wood, you may have to adjust your burning pen temperature.
Temperature Adjustment
Both tools’ temperatures can be adjustable to make them ideal for your project. But in the lower products, you won’t get this feature.
Note: I suggest you buy a good quality product to have the desired result.
Heat Up and Cool Down
A wood-burning tool takes less time to heat up than a soldering iron. For example, a wood-burning tool takes at most 5 minutes to heat up at the desired working temperature. In comparison, a soldering iron takes more than 5 minutes.
Also, A wood-burning tool takes less time to cool down than a soldering iron.
Note: Depending on the quality of the soldering iron and wood burner, the Heating Up and cooling down time may differ.
Tip
A wood burner tool comes with two types of tips; one is a wire tip, and another one is a solid tip. In comparison, a soldering iron comes with a solid tip as the wood-burning tool’s nib points burner.
The soldering iron tip is made of metal, and the wood burner tool tip is made of stretches of wire or metal.
As the shape of the soldering iron tip or nib point burner tip, writing and curving are challenging and not much accurate, and it can’t take much heat and breaks. But the wood burner tool’s wire tip can do the job far better and can take way more heat.
Tip Shape
Wood burning tools have a variety of tip shapes, including tapered, chisel, and calligraphy, while soldering irons typically have a pointed tip.
Changing Tips
Both wood-burning tools and soldering iron tips can be changeable. However, as various work and designs require different tips for that, it can be easily done by unscrewing.
Variety in Tips
The wood-burning tool has a huge variety of tips and blades to make dots, circles, curve lines, straight lines, lettering, and shedding. But soldering iron has limited tips, and the work you get won’t be better than a wood-burning tool.
Power
Wood burning tools are powered either by electricity or batteries, while soldering irons are typically powered by electricity.
Versatility
Soldering iron is versatile, it can be used for various applications such as jewelry making, electronics repair, and circuit board soldering. However, wood burning tools are limited to burning designs into wood.
Price
Soldering iron kit is cheaper than Wood burning kit.
Safety
Wood burning tools require more care and safety precautions, such as ventilation and protective gear, because they reach higher temperatures and produce smoke and fumes. Soldering irons generate less heat and fumes, so safety precautions are less stringent.
Which one is better, Wood Burner or Soldering Iron?
On my own uses, if I compare both these two, the wood burner tool is a clear win to choose from as it is specially made for making dots, circles, curve lines, straight lines, lettering, and shedding on the wood.
Also, a wood burner can produce higher temperatures, can adjust the temperatures, heat up and cool down fast, and has a variety of tips to do your project every single way.
On the other hand, soldering iron costs less, and also you get some features like the wood burner, but you can’t beat it or get the accuracy or perfection like it.
If you are not looking for a specific wood burner or as a side project with the melting solder and joining wires, you want to do wood designing, then you can purchase and use a soldering iron as a wood burner to save money.
But if you are especially looking for a tool that helps you to design your wood accurately and perfectly, I suggest you go for the wood burner tool. Though a good wood-burning tool costs a little more than a soldering iron, you will get a professional-level result.
Note: Also, on a wood-burning tool, you can do all the work perfectly and accurately that a soldering iron does. So, the wise decision is to take a wood-burning tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can a soldering iron start a fire?
Ans: Yes, as it is an electric tool, and while working in higher temperatures, a soldering iron tip breaks itself, which can start a fire.
Also, a soldering iron generates quite a good temperature and needs much time to cool down; by this time, if it comes into touch with a flammable object, it can start a fire.
Q. Can you use a wood-burning tool for soldering?
Ans: A wood-burning tool can generate a good amount of heat, and its tip is made of wire or metal; for that, you can use a wood-burning tool for soldering.
Also, you get the accurate result while soldering because the soldering iron tip is almost the same as the wood-burning tool’s solid or nib points burner. So you can use it for soldering perfectly and accurately.
Q. Is it hard to do wood-burning?
Ans: No, it’s not that hard to do wood-burning, but taking it likely could burn your wood. Before working on a selected project, you have to practice on scrap wood pieces and make your hand free and flexible.
After that, depending on the temperature, you have to adjust your hand movement to avoid unnecessary burning, and that’s it. After that, you will be ready for wood burning.
Q. Can you use a soldering iron to burn leather?
Ans: Yes, you can burn the leather with a soldering iron. It is mainly used for burning the edges of the leather as it generates quite a good heat. But you can also write and draw on the leather surface finely.
Actually, burning leather is much easier than burning wood; here, you will get a much better result.
Conclusion
A wood-burning tool is specially made for drawing and writing on wood and other pliable surfaces. Whereas the soldering iron has some similarities with the wood-burning tool, and in the absence or instant of a wood-burning tool, you can use it but will not get the accuracy and perfection like the wood-burning pen.
I have elaborately described all the perspectives on when and in which context you should choose soldering iron and wood-burning tool. I hope you understand all those. Thank you.
