My niece got really into wood burning last Christmas, one of those pyrography pens turned up as a gift and suddenly every surface in the house was a target. Problem was we didn’t actually have anything proper for her to practice on, just random offcuts from the garage, too thick half the time or riddled with weird knots. So I went looking for a decent set of blank wood pieces, something with a range of sizes so she wasn’t stuck doing the same tiny square over and over again.
Ended up grabbing this Thinkingwings 53 piece set, mixed squares and circles across a few sizes. Used a chunk of it myself too before writing any of this, partly curiosity, partly wanting to see if the bigger pieces held up as well as the small ones do.
What’s actually in the pack
53 pieces total, split across five sizes. Two large ones at 20x20cm, two mid-large at 16x16cm, then it drops to 10 pieces at 10x10cm, 10 more at 8x8cm, and a batch of 25 small rectangular ones around 5×3.4cm. Roughly 2mm thick throughout.
That spread matters more than it looks on paper honestly. Small ones for quick practice or little tags, mid sizes for coasters or small signs, and the two big pieces are actually big enough to display properly rather than just practice on and toss.
Made from boxwood, fairly clean and light grain running through it, nothing too busy if you’re planning on painting or burning something onto it.
How it actually held up
First thing pulling pieces out the bag, smooth surface, no splinters, no rough bits catching your fingers. Edges rounded off properly too rather than sharp corners that usually chip the second you look at them wrong.
My niece went straight for the small rectangles since there were so many to burn through, and the pen moved across pretty evenly, no weird resistance or patchy spots where the grain fought back. A couple of the smaller pieces had holes pre-drilled in already, useful if you’re hanging them as tags afterward since it saves drilling yourself later.
I painted on one of the bigger squares myself, curiosity again, and the colour soaked in evenly without pooling weirdly or the wood warping once dry. That happens sometimes with cheap unfinished wood that wasn’t dried properly first.
What you’d actually use these for
Covers most small wood craft jobs realistically. Coasters, gift tags, pyrography practice, hand painting, party decorations. Bigger pieces work for something like a small home sign or plaque, smaller ones are more disposable, good for trying a new technique without worrying you’re wasting anything pricey.
Wrong choice if you need anything structural though, actual furniture or load bearing stuff. This is craft wood, thin and light, meant for decoration and hobby projects, not building anything that needs to hold weight.
A few practical notes
Test paint on a small piece first if that’s the plan. Different paints soak in differently depending on the wood, better to learn that on a spare piece than halfway through something you actually care about.
Sanding lightly first gets you an even smoother finish, though most pieces felt fine straight out the bag so this seemed more optional than necessary to me.
Store them dry before use. Unfinished wood left somewhere damp, a garage or a cupboard, can warp slightly over time, more noticeable on the thinner pieces than the thicker ones.
The good and the not so good
Worked well: genuinely smooth, no splinters anywhere, actual range of sizes instead of one repetitive option, pre-drilled holes on some smaller pieces, and it took both paint and pyrography evenly with no obvious flaws.
Didn’t work as well: 25 out of 53 pieces are the smallest size, so check that breakdown before buying if you wanted mostly larger ones, and being craft wood it’s obviously not built for anything past decorative or hobby use.
Would I buy it again
Yeah, easily. For the price you get an actual variety pack rather than one repeated size, useful whether you’re learning a new craft or making something for the house. My niece is already through a good chunk of the small pieces with plenty left over, and the two big squares are sitting on my desk right now while I decide what to actually paint on them.
If you want a decent all-rounder for wood crafting, painting, or pyrography without committing to some huge specialist order, this is a fairly low-risk place to start.