Burins

A burin is a small, chisel-like cutting tool used for engraving and carving. In contemporary practice, a burin has a hardened steel blade set into a wooden handle, with the blade often narrow and pointed. Tip shapes vary, including straight, knife-edge, and rounded forms, chosen to produce different line qualities. Engravers use burins in intaglio printmaking and metal engraving to incise lines into a metal plate or other soft matrices. The result depends on the blade geometry, angle, and pressure, with finer tools yielding delicate lines and broader ones producing deeper grooves. Proper sharpening and edge maintenance are essential for clean incisions.

A second sense of burin appears in archaeology and paleontology: a small, chisel-like tool used to work bone, ivory, antler, or soft stone. Stone and bone burins are typically created by flaking or hafting a sharp termination onto a durable core and are used to incise, gouge, or shape material by removing small chips. The term derives from the French burin, reflecting its engraving heritage and its role as a cutting implement.

Historically, burins are associated with metal engraving traditions in Europe, including copperplate and steel plate work, where precision lines are critical for tonal and textual effects. The prehistoric burin forms highlight the continued importance of hand tools designed to manipulate relatively soft materials.

In sum, burins today most often refer to engraving tools for intaglio and metalwork, while the archaeological sense describes a hand tool used for shaping bone, ivory, or soft stone.