Company Name: Razertip Industries Inc.

Name and Role: Brad Merkle - Operations Manager

Location: Saskatchewan, Canada

Guess what…. I am an affiliate! I’ve been using this company as my main tool for burning for over 15 years now. I highly recommend them!

🔥 Use the discount code BASIA at checkout to save some money 🔥

Can you tell us a brief history of Razertip? How/when did it start?

Razertip started in 1984 when Cam Merkle was burning feather detail onto a decorative decoy woodcarving. The tool he was using wasn’t cutting it so he made his own. Through requests from friends and students it grew from there. Since then Razertip has been innovating and improving how pyrography tools and tips are made.

How many people are on the Razertip team? How many Are family members?

We have about 20 people on our team along with some additional contractors that we have established great relationships with. There are 5 family members on the team.

Can you share with us about the different machines you offer? How do they differ?

SK, SSD-10 and the P80 (and P80x expansion modules) The SK and SSD-10 are very similar units operating at 10 amps and provide great heat recovery and results. The P80 is the newest machine, it features a universal power supply, touch screen interface for unprecedented control and tip heat consistency.

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What is the temperature range of your tools?

Our tips can operate at room temperature and many can exceed 800 degrees celsius. Depends on the shape and size of the tip. Tip temperature is only a part of the equation...Tip heat recovery is equally important to maintain a consistent and even burn.

What countries are your burners available in, and where can they purchase them?

We ship orders worldwide. Our burners are available from dealers widely throughout the US and Canada and also in many European countries as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Where are the machines and nibs made?

Our tips and machines are made in our facility here in Canada. We try to make as much as we can here and to deal as much as possible with local suppliers.

You offer both fixed tip and interchangeable tip options, which is more popular?

The interchangeable tips are very popular for beginners and those who want a variety of tips or to try them out with less cost. Where the fixed tip pens are popular for those who want the ease of switching pens or those who only want a select few options and know what tips they like.

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What are the three most popular nib options you have available? And how many nib options do you offer?

We have a 5 piece pyrography tip set that is very popular as it offers much of what people are looking for to start out.

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You shared an exclusive with us, TWO NEW PRODUCTS that are in the works. What are they and when can we expect to be able to purchase them?

We previewed our new Standard Pen and the P88 - an advanced version of the P80, which features 8 customizable memory heat settings as well as some other new features.

How do you recommend that pyrographers clean your wood burning tools? Does it depend on the type of nib?

Sharp, straight or flat tips can be cleaned with ease (hot or cold) using the Razertip Tip Cleaner. Rounded, curved or ball tips are better cleaned with a dense brass brush. We suggest avoiding anything abrasive, which can cause wear on the tip.

What goals do you have for Razertip?

To never sit still… We continue to look for ways to inspire our customers and meet their needs with our tools, offerings and customer service.

Watch the recorded live interview:

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Company Name: Rustic Wood Supply
Name and Role: Kayla & Seth Stallard- Owners
Location: Murphy, North Carolina
www.rusticwoodsupply.net and @rusticwoodsupply

When and how did you start Rustic Wood Supply?

We started Rustic Wood Supply in 2012. We were planning our wedding and I was trying to get ideas for decorations that we both liked. Being from the mountains, we both like the "rustic, country" look. I found some wood slices on Pinterest and began to show them to my husband. He said, "I am not buying those when I can make them." After researching some on Etsy, we realized that there was not many people selling them so he decided to give it a go. His idea was to just make $50 or so here and there just for a little gas money to get back and forth from college. Soon after, I was quitting my job at a hospital to help him. Little did we know just how much God would bless us!

How many people are on the team at Rustic Wood Supply?

It is just me and my husband. He gets all the trees and cuts all of the wood. I do all of the computer work, packing, shipping, and grinding/sanding all the wood.

How and where is the wood sourced?

All of our wood is locally sourced. We work directly with a couple of loggers and sawmills. Sourwood is a small tree that has no benefit for the logging industry. So we go ahead of their crew and get what trees they are just going to run over. We try to do this so we can make use of something that will simply be left to just rot. We live in an area with vast amounts of mature standing timber. In order to directly help wildlife and keep the mountains healthy, certain portions are strategically logged to promote new growth and vegetation to help suply an abundance of wildlife and mountain species. Logging is often looked down upon, but it is actually very beneficial to give back to earth. We also do storm work. We do not get many strong storms because of the mountains around us, but when we do, we use downed trees from these events.

What kinds of wood varieties do you offer?

Our main two wood species are sourwood and poplar. We do work with pine and can access other woods if preferred. However, most of our customers prefer the sourwood as it so easy and good to work with.

Can you show us some of your products?

How do you prep the wood? Is it dried? Is it sanded?

Everything that we cut is cut green and then air dried. We do not have a kiln. This is a process used by large companies to mass dry more wood at a faster rate. Everything we do is cut to order and air dried. It might be a little slower than a kiln, but still very accurate. Acceptable percentage in kiln dry wood is 8-10% and air dry percentage is 1-6%. We do not have a very large inventory as we like to stay personal with our customers and take on a large amount of custom orders. All of our wood is sanded smooth. The small slices we offer are cut smooth, and the larger live edge pieces are sanded down before sending out.

What are your recommendations for wood storage?

We recommend just keeping the wood stacked and out of the direct sunlight. Also, extremely hot areas can cause some of the wood to crack so stored in a cool, dry area is preferred.

When did you discover that wood burning artists loved your wood?

Not long ago, we started trying to expand our social media. We quickly realized that there was a large wood burning community on instagram. It was about 7 months ago when most of our activity on instagram showed us that wood burners really loved our products. We have had a lot of great feedback from the wood burning artists on our sourwood slices. A lot of people had never heard of sourwood, but customers are saying that it burns beautifully.

What percentage of wood would you say goes to wood burning artists?

I would say about 30%.

What other things do you see your wood slices being used for?

A lot of our slices are used for weddings. They use the round live edge pieces for centerpieces, cake stands, or food decor. In the fall, we sell thousands of our small coaster size slices for companies to turn into ornaments. We have had several customers create a large wood slice wall. They have all turned out beautiful! A lot of our slices are used by engraving companies. The slabs have been used for home decor signs, serving trays, and even interior design.

Are you shipping now and where do you ship?

We are shipping now. We are just limiting how many days that we do ship. We have cut down to only shipping about 1 day a week. We do offer shipping everywhere in the world. International shipping can be expensive, but if the customer is willing to pay for it, we are happy to do so! The only country we have had problems shipping to is Australia. They do not seem to let the wood through customs and it ends up getting sent back to us.

Any new products in the works?

We are working on offer some free standing slices. We already make them for customers, but they are just not on our website yet. We are also going to launch new sourwood mini slabs. They will be live edge on both sides ranging between 3 and 5" wide and around 1 ft long.

What goals do you have for Rustic Wood Supply?

To us, being personal with our customers is huge and means a lot to us. As just a husband and wife team, we like to know our customers and engage in the community. We like to personally see what happens with the wood we cut and really enjoy seeing what people turn it in to. We pride ourselves in having the best quality small wood slices as well as the most affordable prices and we always want that for our customers. We also would just like to get our products out there and make people aware of the quality of our wood even though it is not as common as others. Our goals are to just stay personal with our customers and put our best work in for them to ensure the best quality in our products. We are at a point where we have grown some and people do know about our company, but at the same time, we enjoy being the small business that we have become and just hope that we can simply support our little family of three!

Check out these other awesome pyrography interviews:

Walnut Hollow’s Hannah Bartelt

Razertip’s Brad Merkle

Pyrocrafter’s Aney Carver Interview

Interview with Brad from Razertip