Usually an engraver will have several tools, of different sizes and shapes of cutting face.

The burin is held at approximately 30° to the surface. The index and middle fingers guide the shaft, while the handle is cradled in the palm. The 16th-century Dutch engraver Hendrick Goltzius found his unusually malformed hand was well suited for cradling and guiding a burin.

The burin was and is also used by goldsmiths to engrave inscriptions or designs on metal,

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