In this blog I will be testing a torch and a heat gun to compare the advantages and disadvantages of each.  I did a review of the heat gun this past summer, and since then I kept wondering which one is the best to use.  I spent some time thinking up different ways to test out the capabilities of the burners, and this blog will reveal the tests and their results. 

I have a video version of this blog available on YouTube.  Just click on the image to the left to watch it.

Be aware that there are a couple of items in this blog, like aluminum tape, that I will be doing more detailed review on at a future date. 

Speaking of aluminum tape.  I would like to thank Devon Day and the Braggs, of the Orange Country Scroll Saw Association, who informed me about using aluminum tape in pyrography.  Thanks!  I really appreciate you sharing your discoveries with me. I’m sure that those who read my blog will also appreciate the information.  😊

Basic Function Overview

Holding the torch and the heat gun side-by-side, you can see there is a considerable size difference.  The heat gun runs on electricity, so you must be near an outlet to use.  Your reach is limited to the cord length.   The Torch, on the other hand, is more portable, but you have to buy fuel.

The heat gun has different metal tips that can be attached to change the size of the air output.   There are buttons that control the heat level, and fan level.

To use it is a simple matter of turning on the machine, setting the buttons to the desired levels, and aiming the wand at the board.  The air that blows out of the wand is hot enough to darken the wood.  I did a product review of the heat gun, and here’s a link to that blog:  https://wp.me/p8j0lZ-6Lm

I’m using a mini torch by Bernzomatic.    I don’t recommend this particular one, and I’ll explain why during the course of this blog. 

To use, I first turn the torch on to release fuel.  Then I have to use a separate ignition source to catch the fuel on fire.   This is one of the reasons I dislike this particular torch. 

Once the flame is there, then the torch is ready for use.

 

The mini torch I’m using has 4 different flame levels.

It runs on butane fuel, and you can see the filling port at the bottom of the torch.

It’s pretty easy to fill it up.  Since my torch doesn’t hold much fuel, it’s a very quick process.   The small fuel storage is the other reason I dislike this particular torch.  I filled it up before I started tested, and ran out of fuel before I was done.  I didn’t do that much burning for this blog.

Warm-up Time

It took 20 seconds for the heat gun to get hot enough to start burning the wood.

It took me 4 seconds to get the torch lit.

1 second later I could see a light-colored burn mark on the board.

A total of 7 seconds passed for the torch to produce a very dark burn mark and turn the timer back off.  Most of that time was me either lighting the torch or turning on/off the timer.

The torch clearly wins this round.

Tonal Range

Next, I checked the tonal range of both burners starting with the heat gun.

 

It was very easy to create a wide range of values with the heat gun.  Ignore the little label that says fan = vary.  I wrote that before I started burning, but the fan was actually on 1 the entire time.

I was actually surprised with the range capabilities of the torch.  I’m trying to create separate tonal patches like I did with the heat gun, but that’s tough to do. 

I did a second burn with the torch and created gradient shading instead.  That was much easier.

Both burners did extremely well on this test, and created a wide range of color.  I felt that the heat gun was easier to control since it takes longer to create dark colors.  This meant I could work in a slower more controlled pace.

Because I felt it was easier to control the tonal value with the heat gun, it wins a point.

Timed Burns

The goal with this test is to fill a 2 x 2 inch (5.1 x 5.1 cm) square with a uniform light colored burned.   I started with the heat gun.

 

The heat gun produced a very light color burn result that is uniform looking.  It took almost 3 minutes to fill in the square.

I found it very difficult to create smooth color with the torch.  Every slight pause resulted in a slightly darker splotch.  The heat gun is more forgiving in this regard.

At the 2 minute and 9 second mark, I gave up trying to fix the blotchy burn results.  The color is a couple of shades darker than what the heat gun produced, but it’s not very uniform.

Here’s a close-up of the light-colored burn results.  The heat gun did a much better job. 

Next up was filling a square with dark color.   You may have noticed that the timer isn’t turn on.   You just can’t get good hired help!

I started over, but this time I made sure the timer was on.

Interestingly, filling the square with dark color didn’t take that much longer than it did to create the light color.  For some reason I was expecting it to take a lot longer.

Creating dark burn results is where a torch really shines.  I find that it is much easier to get uniform color when burning dark with the torch.

The torch filled the square in a mere 37 seconds! 

Here’s a close-up of the burns with the board angled.   The torch produced a darker burn result that was more uniform in color.

Here’s a close-up taken with my camera.  You can really see how much darker the burn results are with the torch.

The torch was quicker, but didn’t produce uniform color.  Whereas the heat gun produced very nice uniform color, so it wins a point. 

If a dark color is needed, the torch shines.   It can quickly produce very dark burns that are uniform in color.  The heat gun can produce dark burn too, but it takes a lot longer.   The torch wins a point for quick dark burn results.

Burn Size

In this test I’m checking to see how small and how large of a burn can be produced while holding the burner still.   My goal with the small burns is to create pinpoints of color.

Since both burners are prone to overburn, the small burn spots are very light in color because I couldn’t spend much time on them. 

Neither burner was able to create pinpoint spots of color.

Now it’s time to see how large of an area will darken up without moving the torch.

For some reason I turned the torch up to level 4 for this.  If you look closely, you can see a touch of red starting to form in the burn spot on the board.

Yep, I caught the board on fire.  Something I seem to be very good at when using a torch.

Now I’m using the heat gun.  I should have put everything on max setting, but I kept it at heat 400 and fan 4.  At this setting, the resulting burn circle is much smaller than what the torch produced.  As I mentioned before, I did a product review on the heat gun, so I already knew that this small nozzle cannot produce a huge burn circle.

Here’s a close-up of the burn results.  The small burn spots are hardly noticeable.  Also, the heat gun produced pale donut shapes.   

Neither burner was very good with small burns, and they both produced similar sized small burns.  

When it came to producing a large burn, the torch was the clear winner.  

Despite the fact that the torch caught the board on fire, I’m still going to declare it as the winner of this round of testing.

Free-hand Precision Burn

I used a stencil to draw a small flower shape to test how precise the burners can be.   As you can see, the flowers are not very big.    

As I’m burning, I trying very hard to burn in the flower and keep the overburn to a minimum.    

I reduced the torch to level 1, and the heat gun remained on the setting I used in the last test.

I lightly burned over the flower stem, but it’s too small for either burner to be precise with it.   Instead, I concentrated on the flower and the leaves.

Here’s how the flowers look.  If the pencil lines were to be erased, I’d have dumbbell shaped burns on the board.

Both burners did poorly on this test.

No winner for this round.

Paper

Now I’m going to test out burning on watercolor paper.   I have the side edges of the paper taped down.   Right now, the paper is lying flat against the backing board.

I placed a green bar above the paper to help see how the paper handles the heat from the burners.

First up is the heat gun, and almost immediately the paper starts to buckle.  There is a noticeable gap between the paper and the green bar. Quite truthfully, from my heat gun product review testing I already knew that would happen. 

Here’s how the paper looked once I was done with the heat gun.

Next up is the torch, but first I wanted to show that this side of the paper is still lying flat against the backing board on this side.

The torch made the paper buckle too.

Here’s an image of the final results with the green bar in place.

This angled view of the paper really shows how much the paper buckled from the heat of the burners.   The piece of paper now looks like a paper bridge.

Both burners failed this test.

No winner in this round.

Leather

Here’s the piece of leather I’ll be testing the burners on.  Again, notice that the leather is fairly flat.  The bottom of bowing slightly, but the top is lying flat against the backing board. 

Since the leather doesn’t have a straight edge along the top, I used two green bars to help gauge the burners impact on the leather. 

The left side has a curved cut on the upper edge of the leather.  This makes the leather look like it is bowing, but it’s not.

First up is the heat gun, and you can see the leather is bowing.

Same thing is happening with the torch.

 

It might be hard to tell in the photo, but the leather isn’t lying flat against the board.

Angling the leather, you can see how dark the center of the burn areas are.  It looks like the leather was starting to char.  I have burned leather to the point little pieces fleck off.  The charring on this leather hadn’t gotten to that degree of damage, but I suspect that it wasn’t far off from it.

Both burners failed the leather test.

No winner for this round.

Carbon Testing

For this test I’m using a clean Q-tip or cotton bud to wipe on the burn results to see if the cotton bud will pick up any carbon from the burns.  I started with the heat gun testing the lighter colored burns first.  I couldn’t detect any carbon pick up.

When I got to the darker burns, there was a little carbon pickup.

It kind of looks like there is a little carbon pickup on the light-colored torch burns.  It could be that the tip of the cotton bud is bent and I’m seeing a shadow.

On the darker burn there is very noticeable carbon pickup.

Then I checked the second burn area that had a really dark spot.  The cotton bud is black. It looks like I dipped it in powdered charcoal.

I’m calling the heat gun the winner of this round.  From lots of personal experience, I already knew that the torch produces a lot of carbon compared to the torch. 

One a side note.  A while back there was a pyrography artist who was telling viewers to use denatured alcohol to clean their pyrography artwork with.  Don’t do this. 

Denatured alcohol is toxic, and not necessary.    You can use a clean dry cloth or dry paper towel to rub over the area to remove the carbon.  I wrote a blog about this.  Here’s a link to that blog:  https://wp.me/p8j0lZ-5dm

Timed Flames

For this round of testing, I’m timing how long it takes to catch the board on fire.  I figured I should test something I’m really good at.  🙂

I’ve started with the heat gun.

After 45 seconds there weren’t any flames, but the board was starting to smell bad. 

I figure that means the glue layer is starting to bubble up, and that can’t be good for me.  I stopped the test. 

Remember the size test where I unintendedly caught the board on fire?  That took a mere 4 seconds to happen! 

The torch was on level 4; the highest setting available on my torch.  In this photo you can just see the flame starting to flare up at the bottom of the burn patch.  

For this test I’ve got the torch turned down to level 1.  If you look closely, you can see a hint of red in the burn near the center of the burn.

We have flames in 18 seconds.

Here’s a close-up of the board.  You can really see the damage that was done. 

What was really interesting is how a section of the board curled up as the wood cooled down.   A yellow arrow is pointing to the spot.  

On the left the image the section is still flat, but the right side of the image shows it curled up.

I used a tool with a metal tip to touch the curled-up piece of wood.

It fell off and now there’s a shallow hole in the board.

 

This test wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t repeat it using paper. 

After 1 minute the paper was very charred, but hadn’t caught fire. 

I stopped the test and examined the paper.  It charred enough that it cracked when I bent the paper a little.

In this photo you can see there was considerable damage done to the paper.

A piece of the charred paper fell out after I examined it.

Next up is the torch.   The heat level is set on level 1.

 

The torch didn’t disappoint.  We have flames starting to flare up in just 5 seconds.

 

The paper continues to burn even after I tried blowing it out.

I had to grab the piece of denim cloth I keep nearby and smother it out.

Here’s how the paper looked once I was done. 

 

 

Here are the official results with the wood.   The heat gun heated the wood for 45 seconds and the wood started to smell funny, but no flames.   On level 1 the torch caught the wood on fire in 18 seconds.  On level 4 the torch fired up the wood in just 4 seconds.

Since the goal isn’t to catch things on fire, the heat gun easily wins this round. 

With the paper, the heat gun went for one minute, but still didn’t produce flames.   The torch caught the paper on fire in just 5 seconds.

The heat gun wins the round with the paper.

I will not be testing leather.  The flame test is a bit smelly to begin with, and I don’t want to know how bad the smell would be with leather.   Plus, to date I have not caught leather on fire, and I’d like to keep it that way.

White Charcoal

I often use white charcoal to masks areas I don’t want to burn.  The charcoal is easy to see, and it will resist the heat of the burner.   Emphasis on resist! 

I’m drawing a number of tapered lines that represent wispy hairs I want to appear against a dark background.

I start each burn mark on the background, and quickly flick it up between two charcoal lines.

Then I lightly burned over the upper area on the charcoal lines.

 

I did the same with the heat gun.  

Afterwards, I erased the charcoal.  I had to repeatedly rub the eraser over both burn areas because the charcoal had fused a bit to the board.

Here’s how it looked once the charcoal was erased.  I think the heat gun did a better job, but that’s probably because the burn results aren’t as dark.

The thicker the layer of charcoal is, the better it is at resisting heat.   I repeated the test, but this time I created a small circular shaped that has as thick of a charcoal layer as I could create.

I did my best to avoid burning over the charcoal, but there is some overlap.  You can see how the edges of the charcoal circle has a grey hue.

With the heat gun I burned around the circle several times to get dark results.

After scrubbing with the eraser, I couldn’t remove all of the charcoal from the burns.  The heat gun side turned the charcoal a greyish color.

Neither burner did great.  I think the heat gun did better with finer lines, but the torch did better with the thicker application.  That was because I didn’t have to repeatedly burn over the area.   The hotter the charcoal gets, the more it tends to bond with the board.

 

No winner for this round.

Shields

For this test I’m using an old project to check how well a shield will protect the artwork when I burn in the background.

I’m using a metal shield made out of thin aluminum to cover the apple.  I do have a blog that explains how Todd made this.   Here’s a link to making a metal shield blog:  https://wp.me/p8j0lZ-6TW

Once the shield was in place, I used the torch to burn the background.

Then I switched sides and tested out the heat gun.

I think they both did extremely well.  Better than I was expecting.  The heat gun looks like there is a little charring on the apple.  What I don’t know is if that was overburn or poor shield alignment.  

Since the shield is opaque, it’s not very easy to align it precisely along the edge of the subject. 

What I decided to do was create a separate burn, but this time I purposely angled the nozzle towards the shield.   The purpose was to see if the heat would creep under the shield and char the wood.

I did the same with the torch.  Yes, I should have switched hands so you could see the burn instead of the back of my hand.

Again, both burns look really good. 

 

I photoshopped the two burns so they were closer together.  This makes it easier to compare them.  The heat gun side doesn’t look as crisp and clean as the torch side.

I think the torch created cleaner lines, so I’m declaring it the winner in this round.

Stencils

Next up I’m testing the burners with stencils.   The goal is to see if the burners can create a clean image of the stencil.   I’m using a brass stencil that is being held in place with a piece of aluminum tape; more on that later.

I already know the heat gun blows a lot of air and pushes stencils up from the board, so I’m using a pair of tweezers to help keep the stencil snug against the board.

The stencil quickly gets very hot, so I use the tweezers to handle it.

Here’s how the heat gun did. 

It’s better than the results I got during the product review.  I think that is because I could secure the stencil with tape, and that left my other hand free to use the tweezers right next to where the heat gun was.

Now for the torch. 

I don’t know if the torch needed the tweezer treatment like the heat gun did, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt anything.

Here are the results of both burners.  The heat gun produced the top image, and the torch the bottom.  There was considerable overburn with both burners. 

I had done testing with aluminum tape in the area, so I was concerned that tape residue might be contributing to the overburn.

To find out, I repeated the test in an area I knew was aluminum tape free.

 

I kind of like this mirror image of the burners being used.  Not enough I’d want to create artwork based on it, but it’s an interesting looking picture to me. 

 

Here’s the results of the second stencil test.  There is still overburn, but not as bad as the first testing.  That tells me the aluminum tape negatively impacted things, so that’s good to know. 

The torch, circled in red, produced a much darker result, but the overburn is more noticeable too.

Examining the heat gun image, I see a number of fine lines that the torch didn’t capture. 

Red arrows are pointing to a few of the fine lines.

Neither burner did awesomely.  The heat gun did a bit better, but the color isn’t as dark. 

No winner in this round because neither burner produced a clean image.

Embossing Tools

I occasionally like to use embossing tools to create distant stars and snowflakes in the background.  The stars and snowflakes end up looking like tiny white dots on the board, and the subject matter makes the viewer think they are stars or snowflakes. 

You can also draw designs with the tools.   The softer the wood, the easier it is to create a deeply embossed line.   Deep liners will help ensure they show up well after being burned over.

Here’s how the board looked once I was done drawing designs.

 

As I burn, I’m holding the heat gun at an angle to the board.  This way it is blowing the air across the surface instead of directly at the board.    

I did the same with the torch. 

I was hoping that directing the heat at this angle would prevent the heat from reaching the bottom of the embossed lines, and that would keep the lines paler in color.

It kind of worked.  In the lower photo, I have the board angled to better show the results.  I wouldn’t use this method to create a stars or snowflakes.

 

Here’s a close-up of the board.

 

This is another test I can’t declare a winner because neither burner did great.

Scorch Marker

Next up is a scorch marker.  The premise is that you draw your design, and then use a heat source to darken the ink.  It reminds me of invisible ink pens that were popular when I was a kid, except we didn’t use a heat gun to reveal the image.   It seems like we used lemon juice, but it’s been so long that I don’t remember for sure.

In this photo I’m drawing my design.  You can see a faint lines where I’ve used the marker.

I started with the heat gun making sure to angle it away from the left square where I’ll be using the torch.

The hotter the air or any heat source, the darker the ink turns.

 

 

 

The torch instantly turned the ink very dark. 

For some reason I really didn’t think the torch would work.  This idea really makes no sense to me since the torch is a very hot heat source.

It is tough not to discolor or char the wood adjacent to the ink marks when using a torch.

Here’s the results. 

 

The torch side, circled in red, turned the ink a much darker color. 

 

The torch also created several areas of overburn.

I’m going to give this round to the heat gun.  My reasons are that 1) it is easier to get some tonal variety with the marker, and 2) the burner only darkened the ink.

The scorch marker is a product that I’m working on a product review of.  When that review comes out, I’ll have more ways of using the marker to share with you.

Aluminum Tape

The aluminum tape I’m using is design for use with HVAC applications. 

HVAC stands for heating, ventilation, air conditioning.   The tape is used to seal duct joints.  It can be purchased in a variety of widths.  Shown here is 1”, 2” and 8” wide tape. 

The goal with this test is to see if the tape will block the wood from charring, keep a tight seal, and remove easily without damaging the board.

The tape has a paper backer protecting the adhesive.  The adhesive is extremely sticky!

To minimize bubbles, I applied the tape like I would airbrushing frisket.   Peel back some of the paper backing, and secure the bottom edge of the tape to the board.

Then pull up on the paper backing as you rub over the tape to secure it to the board.   You can also do this in reverse.  Start at the top and pull down.

Here’s how the tape looked once it was attached to the board.  It’s very smooth looking.

Immediately the tape began to wrinkle under the heat of the torch.

 

I angled the torch towards the edge of the tape, so I can check how tight the seal remained during the burn.

I did notice that the corner curled up a little.

Next, I repeated the test using the heat gun, and it too caused the tape to wrinkle up.

 

The tape pulled up easily, but every wrinkle allowed the heat in.

 

 

 

 

I mentioned the tape is sticky.  When heated it leaves a sticky residue on the board.  I pressed my finger on the board and the board stuck to my finger!   I’ve got yellow arrows pointing the corner of the board.  The image on the left is when I first touched the board.  Notice the distance from the board and the front edge of the board it’s sitting on.    The second image shows my trying to pull my finger away.  Notice that the gap between the board and the front edge of the below board is gone.  The adhesive let go just after this, so the adhesive wasn’t strong enough that I could lift the board up off of the easel.

The torch burns hotter than the heat gun, so that side of the board was even stickier.  Notice how far out the board came.

I cut that piece of the tape off, and did another burn.  This time I kept the burner perpendicular and/or angled away from the edge of the tape.

I did the same thing with the torch. 

 

 

 

This produced much better results; the lines are much crisper.  The torch still produced a little over or maybe that’s under burn near the top of the burn area.

I used a punch to cut designs into a piece of the tape.  Since the leaves are in one piece, I placed them to the side and burned around them. 

The bottom row was for the torch, and the top for the heat gun.

 

Here’s how the board looked once I removed the tape.  Not that impressive.  There is a clear impression of the maple leaves, but that is nothing more than charred tape residue.

It’s really easy to see the tape residue on this angled photo.

This is another round where I can’t declare a winner. 

Cracks

The last thing I’m going to compare is how the burners handle cracks in the board.   This piece of basswood has a number of cracks forming on the open end of it.

This images shows the front and back of the board.  I’ve got arrows pointing to two cracks on each side of the board.  One crack is a hairline crack, and barely noticeable.  The other is more substantial and very easy to see.

The reason I’m testing this is that I had a board recently that developed a crack.  I had already spent a number of hours on the artwork, so I wasn’t going to start over.   The cracks were similar to the ones on the top board image in the last picture. 

When I talked to Todd about the crack, he told me that I need to do whatever I was going to do along the border before he could attempt to fix the problem.   I used the heat gun on the border, and that was a big mistake.  The small, but fairly noticeable crack turned into the Grand Canyon.  Several of the hairline cracks I barely noticed before were now very noticeable.

First up is the heat gun. 

Without planning, I used it on the side where the cracks were smaller.

The other side of the board got the torch treatment.

Here’s how the heat gun side looks.  Ignore the maple leaf.  I thought I had taken a picture of the board after doing this test, but I had not.  I obviously have been using the board for other testing.

This photo shows how the board looks before and after I burned over the cracks with the heat gun.   All of the cracks are considerably more noticeable.  Including a really fine crack between the two I had marked.

Here’s how the side of the board treated with the torch looks.

The comparison photo reveals that the cracks got worse after the torch burned over them.

Both burners did terrible because the cracks grew in size.  

No winner in this round.

This should go without saying, but if you should discover cracks forming on your board, do not use a torch or a heat gun on them.  

PROs and CONs

T18.  Here’s my pros and cons chart.  Let’s go over it.

• The torch is more portable because it doesn’t have a cord.
• The heat gun can out last a torch because it runs on electricity
• Both burners are easy to use
• The smaller size of the torch felt more comfortable to me
• The torch is ready for use instantly, whereas the heat gun has a 20 second warm-up time.
• Both burners did well creating a wide range of tonal values, but I thought it was easier to control the color with the heat gun.
• Even though the heat gun took longer to fill a square with color, the light-colored burn was noticeably more uniform than what the torch produced.
• The torch blew the heat gun out of the water when it came to producing a quick, dark color.
• Both burners did terrible producing small dots of color, but the torch was able to produce a really large ball of color.
• Both burners did awful on the free-hand precision test.
• Also, both burners didn’t do well on paper.
• The burners did ok, at best, on leather, but they came close to charring it.
• The heat gun produces a lot less carbon than the torch does.
• The torch is really good at catching things on fire, since this isn’t a desirable attribute in pyrography the heat gun won.
• Both burners failed the white charcoal test.
• I though the torch did better with the shields; the burn edges were cleaner.
• Neither burner was able to produce a clean stencil image
• Both burners didn’t do well in the embossing tool test.
• The heat gun performed better than the torch with the scorch marker.
• Both burners didn’t fair well with the aluminum tape.
• Lastly, both burners made cracks worse

Once the points were totaled up, both burners ended up with 7 points.  It was a tie.

Amazon Links

Please note that the provided links are affiliate links on Amazon.   This simply means that if you buy one using one of the links, I get some small amount from the sale.   DO NOT take that as a plea to buy.  I truly don’t care.  

I only set up an affiliate account to get short links to products, and to start the process of creating a store front.   I’m only interested in the store front because I can put everything in one area to make things easier for you to find things I recommend and/or review.

ProStormer Heat Gun:  https://amzn.to/3JBIuh8

Mini Torch*:  https://amzn.to/3AgTjCv

White charcoal pencil:  https://amzn.to/3iMegyu

Scorch Marker: https://amzn.to/3Y9xmP8

8” Aluminum tape:  https://amzn.to/3FFAxqP

Vanish Eraser:  https://amzn.to/3Y88kzX

Embossing tools:  https://amzn.to/3uAC7o3

*Since I don’t recommend the torch I used in this comparison, I’m providing a link on Amazon for one that is highly rated.  I can’t promise it’s great, or a good torch to use in pyrography.  If you’re interested in a torch, I highly recommend you do your research.

IN CONCLUSION

I would have to say that I can’t declare either burner as a clear winner.   I think that each burner has its advantages and disadvantages.  Which burner is the better one to use is really dependent on the application and comfort of the user.  

If you want a really dark background that can be done very quickly, then the torch is the best option.   If you want more tonal variety, especially colors in the tan range, then the heat gun is a better option.    If you are prone to catching things on fire, like I am, then the heat gun is a much better and safer choice!  😊

Brenda

Dec 20, 2022

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