Susie wrote:
I need to mark an important wooden piece of personal keepsake. I know
my Dad used to have a heated tool that "burnishes" letters, numbers, etc. in
wood.

A wood burning kit is nice but all you need is the woodburner tool and
a couple of woodburning tips. The one I use the most is shaped like a
pie with two flat edges angled to a point.

My best tip for you is to print out what you want to burn into the
wood on a sheet of paper with the correct fonts and sizes. Place the
paper on top of the wood and burn through the paper into the wood.
When you are finished burning peel of the paper with a putty knife and
brush. You can then toucch up any missed areas. Burning through the
paper also keeps you (and me) from over burning. Don't forget to
practice on a scrap piece of wood first. It is also handy to have a
fan blowing (on low) to keep the smoke away from your face.

Good luck, Dave