I have have had 3 birdhouse gourds for several years. Last night I decided to have a try at wood burning on one of them. My first design was quickly wiped off but thought I would try this one. The wood burning pen is dated 1993 and has never been used. It didn't take but five minutes for me to burn myself. Wow! That sure woke me up! After icing my boo-boo I changed the tip and it sure worked a lot better.