Thread: Pyrography machine home built

Hi Jeff, I would appreciate the web address of your supplier for the resistor and circuit. As you say much cheaper to buy than to make here.
A photo of your pen which I assume is home brew as well would be helpful.
Regards,
Terryvk6pq

I'll have to9 give it a try, Have plenty of Xt PS about.
I'll also like a parts list please
Peter

Hi All,

I used a pen from my small black box Pyrography tool , (sold on the net E-Bay).

The motor control is from http://www.suntekstore.com/goods-140...2v-40v_10a_pwm cost $11.24 inc del

the Resistor is 100w 1ohm from uk.deal(E-BAY) cost $6.05 inc post

I do have a home made hand piece , but the design needs refining the wire for the hand piece is , silicon covered speaker wire from BUNNINGS ,
this works well, I would suggest that you build the hand piece with a plug in the base, so that the lead can be plugged in and out,

This prevents a hard spot where the wire can work and break.

Buying a RAZOR TIP hand piece with lead would work well , as hand pieces could be a pain to fabricate.

Jeff
vk4

Hi All,

I used a pen from my small black box Pyrography tool , (sold on the net E-Bay).

The motor control is from http://www.suntekstore.com/goods-140...2v-40v_10a_pwm cost $11.24 inc del

the Resistor is 100w 1ohm from uk.deal(E-BAY) cost $6.05 inc post

I do have a home made hand piece , but the design needs refining the wire for the hand piece is , silicon covered speaker wire from BUNNINGS ,
this works well, I would suggest that you build the hand piece with a plug in the base, so that the lead can be plugged in and out,

This prevents a hard spot where the wire can work and break.

Buying a RAZOR TIP hand piece with lead would work well , as hand pieces could be a pain to fabricate.

Jeff
vk4

Hi Jeff,
By those photos, you went to a lot of trouble to make the Pyro.
I also made one many years ago, & it works fine.
A group of us were in a Surplus Store in Melb. & I bought a Transformer, $10, so I'm not sure if I have this correct, but I thought it was 24.5Amps & 240V. Hope that sounds right. Also bought a Light Dimer. So the whole lot cost me $22. Our Grandson has it at the moment, so I can't verify what is written on the outside.
A good Friend made up the pen, which worked a lot better than mine.

I think I will have to get back to you, about the Details.

the voltage is input I HOPE, if that is the output , it is dangerous , that voltage & current(24amps) can kill, it takes 7milliamps to stop your heart, that's .7 of an amp at 240volts .

The power supply is out putting 12 volts at 16amps to the control circuit, the output is then dropped on the current(amp) to the tool/hand piece.

jeff
vk4

I have just seen an Ironcore unit for sale , the primary winding is 240V @50hz the secondary is 1.5volys @ 20amps.

Jeff, what instructions/schematics did you use for the conversion? Or did you work it out yourself?

Chris,
I had assistance from a member of my radio club who is a Full Lic ham operator,

DO NOT TOUCH THE 240V INPUT SIDE OF THE SUPPLY, .

BE AWARE THAT ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS STORE CHARGE.

You will need a multimeter, to check voltage and which wires to connect.
in the supply . set the meter for VOLTAGE only , they will burn out if you try to measure the current.

In the supply I worked on ,

12 volt 16Amp was yellow
earth is black

and the single green wire had to be connected to Earth,(a black wire, separate to the wires to the control panel wires).

I cut and removed all other wires that exited the supply .

I have kept 4 yellow and 4 black for connection to the control unit this was to carry the current load,.

When I trimmed off the other wires I left about 6mm of insulated wire, but if you have a good soldering Iron , you can remove the unwanted wires completely.

Jeff
vk4

Originally Posted by vk4

the voltage is input I HOPE, if that is the output , it is dangerous , that voltage & current(24amps) can kill, it takes 7milliamps to stop your heart, that's .7 of an amp at 240volts .

The power supply is out putting 12 volts at 16amps to the control circuit, the output is then dropped on the current(amp) to the tool/hand piece.

jeff
vk4

I have just seen an Ironcore unit for sale , the primary winding is 240V @50hz the secondary is 1.5volys @ 20amps.

Just a slight correction there mate. 7 mA is 0.007 of an amp and that will kill at whatever voltage it is at. The resistance of the human body is such that enough to kill will only occur at something like 100 volts AC or 50 or more volts DC. 7 mA will only kill someone with a bad heart condition, but 18 mA will kill most people. Not much is it..

I made my own hand piece a while back. I drilled a 6" long piece of beech with a hole big enough to take some 2 core ex-aircraft cable called twin-pren. I then turned the end piece and drilled 2 holes big enough to each take a bit of the metal part of some chocolat block connecter. I soldered the cable to each bit of choc block and epoxied them into the end fitting. The end fitting was joined onto the handle and the wire was fitted into the choc block. It worked very well but it had a tendancy to get hot after about 1/2 to 3/4 hour in use. So I bought a Peter Childs pen and that is fantastic. I can literally use it all day and it doesn't get hot at all.

This where I got it from peterchild.co.uk/pyroinfo/pyinfo.htm. I have a Janic transformer and have had it for about 16 years now.

Thanks for the correction, .

I have found that the home made unit is fine in it's current form for fine wires, however for heavier wires(.7mm&above) the current is too low, and the wires do not heat enough .

This can be fixed , I have an idea on how , but I will not layout this idea until I have checked the results.

Cheers,

Jeff

Interesting way of making a pyro machine.

I have spoken to a few electricians who have attempted to make pyro machines with more time experimenting on making them than getting any pyro done! They all agree that for the price of a new machine, it isn't worth, can be dangerous and an insurance issue to hand build your own.

I do support the recycling of electronic waste but how well does it actually pyro? Pics of completed pyro project?

OK Jeff,

I've ordered my parts.

Think I'll put 2 sets of outputs, one thru the resistor and one without, then I don't need the over-ride switch.

I'll let you know how I go.

Peter

Hi All,

I would add the switch between the 2 sets of outlets, then you can have 2 hand pieces plugged in and just flick the switch to go between them.

I have added a couple of pic,s of a picture done with the new set-up, I have done some small plaques , but I gave these away without taking any pictures.

Jeff
vk4

Hi All,
I replied awhile back about how I made my Pyrography Machine, & I got the figures wrong, as was suggested.
So the Correct Figures for the Transformer are, 4.2 Volts x 25 Amps.