WORXMAKERX WX744L.9 20V Wood & Metal Crafter (Tool Only)

Such a nifty little crafting tool! So far, I've used the wood burner to make customized wooden gift tags for my friends and family. My partner loves using the metal crafting aspect for soldering all of his MacGyver projects. I can see how this could be a fun tool for a family crafting activity!

Lousy instructions. Silicone sleeve kind of nice. Love how fast it heats up and the portability of the charging hub and battery. No need for an outlet, unless you need to recharge the battery.

I have been an electronics hobbyist, engineer and home fixit guy for over fifty years. I've used and owned a lot of soldering equipment from simple "stick" irons to professional soldering stations. My personal station at home is a Weller WT-1 base and a WT P90 soldering pen. This portable iron (and "hobby" hot pen) from Worx does not do quite the job that the Weller does, but that's only if you are near a wall socket. If you are doing remote repairs, creating something while on station or camping, or anywhere or time you do not have line power, this is a great tool. I found the it heats right up to usable temp faster than any of my old AC powered "stick" irons. It is almost as quick as my Weller station. The digital readout on the side of the Worx pen is easy to read and seems accurate. I didn't measure the temperature separately, by the way, I just set it to 740°F to rapidly melt my solder onto the heated wire joint as shown in my uploaded photo. It worked great and the recovery time after touching a wire or other heat conductor is on par with other good irons.An alternative to this kind of soldering pen might be an all-in-one soldering iron with the batteries in the handle. I have found that those lack the power that this set has - they just don't heat up as fast or stay hot when touched to a heavier wire. Also, this set has versatility in that you can put a larger battery on the hub and have more capacity than if you are using batteries in the handle of other portable irons.This is a great portable battery powered tool that is not compromised in its performance.

If you have the MakerX hub and 20v battery, this tool is a great addition to do woodburning, soldering and other "crafting" things. I do appreciate some woodburning but I am mostly using this for soldering, and the fact that it's battery powered means I can keep this in my MakerX storage bag along with the other tools I have and take it anywhere.The crafting tool has a digital display and is temperature adjustable. It adjusts from just warm to extremely hot. I have no problem soldering with this tool even with medium thickness solder on fairly large gauge wire. The heat setting is done on the handle, not via the hub like the other tools. You keep the dial at minimum and then set the heat where you want it. There's a little stand to set the tool on while it heats up. I didn't find a way to flip the display. I solder with my left hand and at first I had to move it to my right hand to adjust the temperature but the display is perfectly readable upside down and once I got used to it, I was able to adjust it that way. A silicone sleeve is included to help prevent burns, it goes over the end and covers all but just the tip of the iron.The tool has a nice quality feel and is well worth getting if you already have the battery and hub components. The battery lasts a long time and I've been really happy with this tool, it's one of my favorites of the MakerX series.

This tool does everything that the listing says it can. Unlike most woodburning or soldering tools, this one has a digital temperature readout that can be set to any temperature between 400 and 900 degrees Fahrenheit in 20 degree increments. It heats up remarkably fast. The provided silicone sleeve was a bit difficult to slide over the end of the unit, but once in place, it provides a much better grip for the tool.The only issue that I found is that the instructions are a bit skimpy. It would have been helpful to provide recommended temperature ranges for the different tasks that the tool is designed for. I had to experiment with temp's for woodburning, and found that 600 degrees F worked OK for woodburning on oak and pine. I believe that normal soldering would require the max setting of 900 degrees, although I didn't try it out for that application. It could also be used on plastics for trimming or welding, but those would require temperatures on the lower end of the scale, and the setting would depend on the type of plastic. Fume extraction or dissipation is also a consideration for all applications of this tool, so proper ventilation should be provided.I also acquired the WORX spray paint/grinder set including the battery and hub that are required to use the Wood & Metal Crafter tool, and that set came with a storage box with dividers for storing all the little ends that come with this tool. Because this tool doesn't need to be plugged into an outlet it is portable, but it does have a heavy cord between the tool and the hub/battery, so it's not completely cordless. I'm looking forward to using these tools on various model-building and other projects in the future.

I like this little iron. It's been useful for all the various tasks we've tried with it so far, including repairing jewelry, and a woodburning project for a Christmas ornament.Unlike those cheap irons you get at the hardware store that are either plugged in or unplugged, you can see the temperature on this iron. I really really like that feature.Safety features include an auto shut-off if the tool is left idle and a silicone sleeve to prevent burning while in use.Keep in mind that you do have to buy the hub/flex cord for this tool, and it's sold separately so there is an added expense. Since we already own the hub/cord/battery pack from another WORX item, this was a no-brainer. I will keep adding on to our WORX MAKERX collection as these really work well and it's nice to have one battery for a whole bunch of different tools vs. a million chargers lined up with different batteries, different cords, etc.

I check the iron with soldering iron temperature tester, it's only below 800F.