Having read some of the reviews on this product which were a bit mixed I decided to take the risk for the sake of a tenner and give it a go. It is brilliant for a beginner like me who wasn't sure how to use one. It is easy and you soon get better with practice. Yes it gets very hot as you can imagine but you just have to take care with it. The rest holder that comes with it is essential. The smaller finer nibs dont handle prolonged heat very well and if you're not aware of this then they will bend or even snap. However I found that the larger nibs are absolutely fine and are happy to be in use for hours at a time. A useful tip is to have a pair of pliers handy to gently tighten the nibs which can loosen as you use it. To sum up this product I would say you can do an awful lot of work with it for very little money and if pyrography is something that you really enjoy then investing in a more expensive tool might well be your next step but this is really superb for beginners or small jobs.