If you are starting your career as a pyrographer or just trying wood burning as a hobby, you will definitely need stencils to perfect the designs you burn and carve.
In this article you will learn the process of choosing a good metal stencil for wood burning, details of multiple types of stencil designs and I will make sure the ratings given for each product will help you choose the one that fits with your final goal in mind.
Which is the best metal stencil for pyrography?
4 Pieces Metal Stencil by Chinco is the best metal stencil for wood burning since it’s made of high-quality stainless steel, and has a variety of templates and super easy to use.
I’ve personally struggled to choose a durable metal stencil for my projects. To include products in this list, I’ve carefully chosen 3 important factors to decide my recommendation and rate the products mentioned in the list.
Durability of Material: Stainless steel or brass stencils are the most common materials used for metal stencils, Stainless steel is more durable and resistant to corrosion, while brass has a softer texture that can create more detailed designs. They should withstand the heat of the wood burning tool and the repeated use of the stencils.
Templates variety: It’s important to have a wide range of templates to choose from, including letters, numbers, and different designs to suit your project needs.
Ease of use: The stencils should be easy to align and hold in place while you work on your project. There should be enough space to draw them over a base.
All products recommended in the list had to score above 6 on a scale of 0-10 on the below parameters, and only the ones that passed the score test were recommended.
Best Metal Stencils For Wood Burning
Metal Stencil by Chinco
- 4 Pieces
- Abstract Designs
- Clean finish
If you are a beginner at wood burning, you will spend a lot of time searching for the right stencil. It is because you will be overwhelmed by the number of options available online.
So, to ensure that you do not end up buying the wrong product, here are reviews of the 10 metal stencils, shortlisted after rigorous research
When you are just starting with your passion as a pyrographer, you need to free your hands with easy designs.
Therefore, this set of 4 metal stencils has abstract designs like signs, animals, letters for you to burn on wood and practice your skills.
These are small stencils that are convenient for everyday use and are easy to clean as well.
These pieces are made of stainless steel, making them durable and long-lasting. The pyrographers have bought it and have praised its build quality.
It is so sturdy that it doesn’t accidentally move away from the set position due to your soft touch while burning the wood. As a result, it doesn’t disturb your engravings and only improves your pyrography skills.
My Opinion
The most versatile templates in our list, they make engraving a breeze and the finished product looks sleek and professional.
I’ve used them for both bookmarks and in my scrapbook and they work great.
The templates are durable and easy to clean. The end results can just be more than just bookmarks or scrapbook pages.
It is a set of three metal alphabet stencils for wood burning. Six stencils have alphabets in multiple fonts.
Along with alphabets, these stencils also have numbers and symbols for pyrographers to use in their projects.
Pyrographers mostly use these types of metal stencils to personalize any wooden project. Suppose someone orders a personalized bamboo water bottle[1] with their name on it.
These stencils can help you draw the alphabet and numerical shapes on the job piece.
These metal templates are ideal not just for wood burning but also for calligraphy, painting, leather burning, and all types of engraving.
It is an ideal product set for both beginners and intermediate pyrographers.
My Opinion
If I was a beginner and just looking to try letters and numbers in different designs, I would go with these.
The variety of templates is impressive, with letters, numbers, and designs to choose from.
The stencils are also the perfect size for wood burning projects and they are easy to use.
It is another great product by Aleks, which has metal stencils of animal figures. You get tiger, horse, fox, camel, monkey, dragonfly, sheep, and many more animal shapes in these three metal stencils.
Pyrographers can use it to carve out the best designs on their wood projects.
These are aesthetic shapes that can also be used to build some advertising merchandise.
Customers have reviewed this to be a perfect set of metal stencils that has highlights on even the smallest of details. It will help you get good impressions on wood or other materials when you burn on its outlines.
They are small in size, limiting them to smaller wooden projects. Larger wood burning projects are carried out with industry-grade stencils, which differs from beginner options.
These are the best metal templates for wood burning beautiful designs of animals on your test or live projects.
My Opinion
The product is well-made and easy to use for users who wish to draw designs close to nature. The results can be impressive and it has a wide range of templates to choose from dedicated to nature.
The size is also perfect, it doesn’t take up too much space. Perfect for nature centric designs.
If you are fond of engraving letters on your wood projects, then you must have a variety of fonts to try your skills with.
Benecreat is one of the most popular brands that make metal templates for wood burning. Wood burning or pyrography is one of those applications.
This particular product is a matte metal letter stencil with a unique font for alphabets A to Z, along with numbers 0 to 9.
Such an artistic font allows you to creatively use them on your wood burning projects. People also prefer to use this stencil for leather burning, painting, and scrapbooking.
Other metal stencil design options are available with Benecreat, for you to choose your preferences.
As a beginner, if you want to start wood burning with alphabets on your job pieces, then it is a must for you to have this template with a unique font.
The more fonts you have, the more appealing you can do your projects by just adding someone’s or some brand’s name to them.metal templates for wood burning
My Opinion
I feel that if you wish to excel in drawing or move towards calligraphy, this can be the stencil to pick. The product is of high quality and very well made. It’s also lightweight, compact and portable.
Don’t pick this if you are a beginner, this is for intermediate users who have tried basic wood burning stencils.
As a pyrographer, you will encounter a situation where you have to give attractive borders to your job piece before engraving anything at the center. And these small border stencils will help you serve the purpose at those times.
Aleks has proven to be the leader of the metal stencil market, as it attends to almost all design needs of a small-scale beginner pyrographer.
You get various border designs to make the edges of your wooden surface look aesthetic and beautiful.
Suppose you want to design a nameplate for a house. In that case, adding borders to the edges of that small piece of wood will make the name engravings look more appealing to the eyes.
The price might seem a bit high for this set of three metal stencils, but Aleks Melnyk adds value to all of their products. With proper maintenance and care, these stencils will last forever to compensate for the price you have paid.
My Opinion
This product is for those who appreciate a good design pattern. It has excellent quality and functionality.
The product is well built and durable. I appreciate the compact and portable design.
The designs aren’t too complicated but yet can be challenging to use.
I will recommend you to have patience with this product as it’s easy to mess up.
As you start your career as a pyrographer, some of the common projects you will come across include nameplates, Thank You plates, Welcome plates, and others.
These are some easy projects you can even craft with the use of individual alphabet stencils.
But to save you the hassle and time, these five-piece metal wood burning stencils by Patelai will give you blank templates to burn basic impressions.
This set consists of Welcome, Home Sweet Home, Hello, Thankful, Grateful, and Fall templates. You can use it in various creative ways to fuel your imagination.
Not just while practicing, but even when dealing with paid projects, these templates will help you get a good reputation in your wood burning career.
The theme of this set is based on Autumn, for which you will find pumpkins, maple leaves, acorns, and a truck loaded with pumpkins.
These stencils are made up of stainless steel, which makes them look smooth and very sturdy to prevent them from shaking while you are burning wood with a soft touch.
Apart from pyrography, these metal templates are also used for drawing, scrapbooking, making postcards, creating photo albums, and others.
My Opinion
I picked this design as the best when it came to drawing signboards. It’s very easy to use and the results are impressive.
The design is sleek and modern,and the results can look very nice. The size is also perfect, it doesn’t take up too much space.
Take the next step in your pyrography career and try some complex wood burning designs. This product is a set of 4 wood burning stencils made out of metal that replicate trees.
The name of the product is “Tree of Life”. These beautiful tree designs come with border templates as well.
So, if an appropriate-sized wooden product needs engraving to enhance its look, a Tree of Life can be the perfect inclusion.
Each stencil is 7 inches long and 4 inches wide. So, most handy wooden products can feature this design over it to replicate an aesthetic look.
It is a bit complex to burn in comparison to alphabets, animal designs, and other simple ones.
If you have already dealt with all the previous stencils listed above, stepping up your game with this unique set of stencils will be a great fit.
People who have already purchased this set, use it not just for pyrography but also for scrapbooking, leather burning, drawing, and painting.
If you are solely into pyrography and want to build your career around it, then collect these stencils for various design options for small woodwork.
My Opinion
If you are an intrinsic person who loves designs like trees, this stencil is sleek and modern. The size is also perfect, it doesn’t take up too much space.
The instructions are clear and easy to understand. I highly recommend this product to anyone looking for an easy-to-use and effective intermediate level design.
It is a metal stencil that replicates the design of a fire skull. Some projects need that stand-out touch with unique burns. So, having this fire skull engraved on a wooden nameplate of a nightclub or a band will make a great impact on the viewers.
There are three skull templates on this stencil, one is facing straight, one to your left, and one has a slightly tilted head towards the left. It has skull hands replicating a cool hand gesture and a burning flame.
You can practice these designs as a test project and explore ideas on how and where to use them.
People prefer buying it mostly for pyrography, but it is also a great product for engraving with leather burning, spray painting, and scrapbooking.
There are many products out there that look good with funky engravings. So, having this template will help you take more of these funky woodcraft projects as well.
My Opinion
I would have loved this design if I was a youth trying to make something for my dorm room or garage. It is one of the coolest designs in the list.
It’s easy to set up and use, the instructions were clear and easy to follow. It’s also lightweight, compact and portable.
People who are crazy about playing cards usually love to collect wooden sets as a souvenir or to literally play with them.
You must have seen many brands selling wooden sets of playing cards[2] at a high price range. The durability and longevity are what add up to the cost.
Some people do not want to buy it from any seller but want to hire pyrographers to build them a complete set of cards through wood burning.
So, if you want to take up such projects in the future or uplift your skill by taking up an intense wood burning job, this is the best set of 2 metal stencils with playing card templates.
Make your deck of wooden cards or be available to take projects for the same.
Apart from that, if there is any other wooden project idea in your mind that can go well with the theme of playing cards, then you have the right stencils for it.
There are many hospitality businesses that often look out for wooden name plates or greeting plates to be based on the theme of Spades, Diamonds, Club, or Heart. Suit yourself with these metal stencils!
My Opinion
I appreciate the compact and portable design, it makes it very easy to take with me on the go.
This one is for those who love cards since it has all the 4 designs in a card stack. You can make both big and smaller designs.
FINGERINSPIRE brings to you a space themed set of metal stencils that are definitely small in size but are ideal for small wood burning projects.
The templates have very small design, so make sure to use the right tips to get through the outlines.
People are buying it for pyrography, handcrafts, scrapbooking, and painting purposes. The price might seem a bit on the higher side, but the quality of these metal stencils is beyond excellent.
It is pure stainless steel that ensures the longevity of these stencils. The edges are also rounded with laser finishes to ensure you can work safely with them.
My Opinion
I like the sleek and modern design and would make the designs as products for kids.
The size is also perfect, it doesn’t take up too much space. The instructions are clear and easy to understand as you would need them for some lines near the stars.
Looking for more designs ? Check out my free wood burning designs page. You can download whatever design you like for FREE!
Our Verdict
For beginners, I recommend 4 Pieces Metal Stencil by Chinco as the best metal stencil to begin with.
It’s priced appropriately, has variety and is made from excellent quality materials. There are no compromises made on the quality.
Summary
Every stencil listed above has its own set of applications for different wood burning projects.
You can also look for other individual stencils that replicate arrows, axes, animals, specific words, and others to not just practice but also to use for actual projects.
References
- Instructables. (2017). ECO-FRENDLY BAMBOO WATERBOTTLE. Instructables. https://www.instructables.com/ECO-FRENDLY-BAMBOO-WATERBOTTLE/
- Luthers Woodworking. (2021, March 18). How To Make Wooden Playing Cards [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jUNX0q4YM0
