1. Home
  2. ⏣ General Metalworking
  3. Brandin' Arn

Brandin' Arn

I finally got the round tuit to work for me yesterday and today . The result is a branding iron to brand all my bee hive equipment with . I'll also be using it to create the logo to go on all my labels for honey and packaging for other products we may sell in the future . The hot end is made from a piece of salvaged 3/4" wide flat stock that used to be a scroll on a porch awning support . It consists of an A nested in the bottom of a W with a 1 and a 2 in the v's of the W , stands for "12 Acre Wood" . I used my vertical mounted portaband to cut the pieces , cutting only partway thru where I wanted to fold the strips to form the letters . Welded it all up with the little MIG machine using a piece of the strip to attach it all together . I had limited success flattening the face with the mill , ended up with a light pass on the neighbor's belt sander . I need to practice how hot and how long to hold it to get a nice impression without burning the wood in between lines , but I can do that as I brand the hive bodies . When I get an acceptable impression I'll take a photo with the new camera to use as a basis for the labels and such .

Reply to
Terry Coombs
Loading thread data ...

You'll get a feel for it as you go, determining which is of more importance to you: number of brandings you get from 1 heating or a cleaner brand. How will you heat it, BTW? Electric will give you a more regular heating time

Cool. Looking forward to seeing it.

Just make sure to always do the branding horizontally, as the hot smoke will 'tarnish' other wood if it's done vertically. I've seen brands made like that on purpose, incorporating the damage into the brand, but most of them look like hell.

I know a little bit about the effects of branding because a friend/colleague of mine did his business cards on adhesive backed wood veneer with his Epilog laser. Then he did all the gift boxes, case box ends, and barrel tops for several local wineries. We talked a lot about it when he came to Friends in Business meetings.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

I have one of my forge/foundry burners set up in a fixture similar ro a turkey fryer . We use it to heat the pressure canner and steamer . It'll get the iron red hot in about 5-6 minutes .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

I saw a guy branding pieces of wood and to get a satisfactory brand without burning the wood in between. He first soaked the wood. I don't know for how long, he just had the wood pieces in a bucket full of water. He had it down to a real production line affair. The iron went into a furnace that was made from a large coffee can lined with fire clay or similar that was laying on its side. The burner was in the rear of the furnace. He would put the brand in the the open ended furnace while he arranged a few pieces of wood on a bench, pull the brand out and brand the wood, then put the iron back in the furnace and start all over. Eric

Reply to
etpm

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.