Summarize:

There are a wide variety of wood-burning irons available from online retailers and at craft and hobby stores. Wood burners typically come with a stand, a heat regulator, and a variety of tips. If you are new to wood burning, you may want to get a basic model, so you can figure out if you like wood burning without spending a lot of money. The price of wood burning irons can vary dramatically depending on the level of heat they can produce and what kind of heat controls they come with. You should be able to find a basic wood burner for about 40 dollars (USD). However, high quality wood burners that professionals use can cost over 200 dollars (USD). Many wood-burning irons come with a variety of tips that can be screwed into the end of the burner. The tips typically come in a variety of sizes that you can choose from. In general, if you want to do small detailed work, use a small tip. If you want to make larger, thick letters, pick a bigger tip. In addition to large and small tips, there are differently shaped tips that make different types of lines. For instance, your wood-burning iron likely came with a tip that is teardrop shaped. This is made for shading. There are also tips that are made for drawing straight lines, which are wedge shaped and come to a point on on side. Once the iron has been heated up, use a pair of pliers to change the tip out. The pliers will save your hands from the hot iron. Some wood-burning irons come with specialty tips that are basically brands. These are iron tips that have designs on their surface that can be burned into wood with a simple stamping motion. In some cases, these specialty tips include letters. If you have letter tips that will work for your project, they will allow you to burn clear, quick letters onto wood. When using specialty tips to stamp letters, you will have to switch out the tip for every separate letter. Be careful when doing this and remember to use pliers, as the tips will be very hot. Plug your iron in and let it heat up for a few minutes. The instructions your iron came with will give you a general idea of how long your specific iron takes to heat up. Give your iron time to heat up before you start using it so that the lines you burn are solid and well defined. If your iron has heat controls, make sure that it is set to the heat your would like. If you want to make solid outlines, this usually requires an iron that is about 700F (371C). If you want to do some light shading, then you should set your iron to a more moderate temperature.
Purchase an iron. Pick a tip to use. Consider using specialty tips. Heat up your iron.