Branding Irons

You need to get someone with a CNC plasma or water jet machine and cut it out of 3/8 or 1/2" steel and have a line across the back welding all to it and a handle on the line. However: That is small - 1/16 x 1/2 - that could be custom ground. Larger and thicker ones. This is a small hand one - suggest making a form with the letters pressed in using letter type or rubber letters into a casement material - and pour metal into the design... Making a head to a handle.

Not a easy task, but possible.

Mart> I want to make a small branding iron to mark my bee hives , and am looking

I would probably start with a chunk of steel and a piece of copper flashing. Draw the logo on the copper and cut out as much as possible of the design. Then use a mig to "draw" the logo on the steel using the copper as a guide and to keep as mush extra weld off as possible. Then add in the spots you couldn't cut out. Next take a dremel or die grinder and refine the lines. Once refined take a flat surface and lap the welds so they are even. Weld a handle on the back and done.

Or bend it up from coat hanger wire and weld that to a steel backer plate.

Or find a shop with a plasma table and have the logo plasma cut out of

1/2" steel and weld that to a backer plate.

Or Do like a local guy does. He made a stencil of his logo by drilling holes through a piece of 3/16" steel. The holes show the logo sort of like an old dot matrix printer. He puts the stencil in place and then runs a propane torch over the stencil to burn the logo into place.

Total size is not set in stone , but I'm thinking about 2" tall and 3-4 inches wide . Might be closer to square ... I have stock on hand that I could make strips from . I like the casting idea , that might work to make a pattern and cast it in aluminum . Only concern there is if I overheat it ... on the other hand a chunk of aluminum would stay hot enough long enough to do more than one per heat .

How about cnc milling the pattern into the surface of a piece of 1/2" mild steel plate, cutting down say 1/8" or 3/16" to leave the characters sticking up that far? Then weld a handle on the backside. Cut 3 or 4 on a piece of

2 or 3" x 8 or 12" stock, then saw them apart to have a lifetime supply of spares. You could even drill a couple of holes in from the edges and insert a couple of cartridge heaters and heat it electrically instead of with a torch (one may be ok but two would give more even temperature; experiment).

Regards, Carl Ijames carl.ijames aat deletethis veriz> >> I want to make a small branding iron to mark my bee hives , and

Total size is not set in stone , but I'm thinking about 2" tall and 3-4 inches wide . Might be closer to square ... I have stock on hand that I could make strips from . I like the casting idea , that might work to make a pattern and cast it in aluminum . Only concern there is if I overheat it ... on the other hand a chunk of aluminum would stay hot enough long enough to do more than one per heat .

Most of it is straight lines. So I would cut the strips needed and bend th e 2. Then clamp one piece to some steel backing plate and weld that piece on. Start in the center and work to the outside. You do not need a bead t he full length of the bit being welded on, nor do you need to weld both sid es.

After you have all the bits welded on the backing piece, put it in your mil l and take a light cut on the face so they are all the same height. Then w eld on your handle.

The other ways people have suggested would work, but I would opt for simple .

Dan

Buy: Try eBay. You can have a fire-heatable iron made for $45 or an electric custom iron made for about $99. (in case the price changes your mind about building)

Build: If I did my own, I'd cut and mill them from 1/4" CRS plate. That might have enough mass to retain enough heat to do 2 or more brandings in a row, it would be flat by its nature, and it could take numerous reheatings well. For a cleaner look, use CNC.

I take it from this that you're now building hives to supplement your future retirement income?

At that size, why not just do the entire

The 12 ACRE WOOD ?

With an electric base, you wouldn't overheat it. Otherwise, I'd refrain from using aluminum. It's more easily damaged, too.

I see nothing wrong with the existing suggestions.

Not knowing any better, I think that your idea of 1/16 by 1/2 is probably a good one. I think I'd go 1/16" x 1/4" mild steel, bend it cold, braze or weld it to some sort of backing (a few 1/4" rods or a sheet), then grind it flat.

I recently bought myself a pair of round-nosed pliers, and man, now I think that I should have bought a pair 40 years ago (actually, 40 years ago I was sneaking into my brother's room and stealing his tools -- so I guess I should let him know that HE should have bought a pair). If you had a pair of these, sized to make the round part of your "2", and another pair with flat jaws for all the sharp bends, then you should be able to make a reasonably small brand, reasonably easily.

I use those round-nosed pliers to make custom cookie-cutters for my wife at holiday time, using old paint cans for stock. If you do that, watch out -- my wife thinks I could do a complete scene of Santa and his reindeer in one cookie.

Logo , man , logo . This is the same logo that will go on my packages of honey , and any other product from our land that we sell at the local Farmers Market . People might not trip on the name if they see one of my hives at an outyard , but they will remember a logo . And this being a tourist destination town ... Oooh , honey , look ! Those bee hives belong to that nice man that we bought the honeycomb from ! He does sell local honey ! Let's tell our friends ! Nuff said .

Not really an income supplement by design , but the income will be welcome . I'm already retired ... We've wanted bees for several years , now that we're out in the woods we can . It's partly about pollinators , partly the produce , and partly just because . I've decided on a tentative way to do this , using narrower strips . Only the number 2 needs bends , the rest is all straight lines . I have stock , tooling , and time .

If you believe the legends a rustler could forge a brand with a cinch ring and a couple sticks.

I could machine up a steel plate for you quick enough. Wadda you get to trade?

I make lead casting molds in aluminum. Aluminum does heat up quicker than steel, but it also cools down quicker. You need to get it hot enough to scorch wood. I think you will find that it drops out into a puddle on you unexpectedly one time when you overheat just a little bit.

attach it to a soldering iron. Then you have a heater and regulator. Maybe not to a temp but a range. Get to much wattage and it might run away but Irons don't get to Al melting temp.

Mart> Mart>>> I want to make a small branding iron to mark my bee hives , and

In other words, you screwed up at first (blogo) and now you're stuck with what you already showed 'em? OK, I can understand that. ;)

How about a pic of the original blogo?

I understand that entirely. I had the fortune to walk into a beeway once at a country restaurant. They raised all their own herbs and produce right there, and had bees in the middle of the acre+ garden. We were walking off the dinner and checking out the hothouses and gardens when I noticed that we were directly inline with many hundreds of bees, and they were detouring around our heads as they flew to and from the hive stack. Patsy and I got goosebumps of delight. Bees are cool. I "get" bees. Carry on!

I've since picked up hive tools but no bees or hives yet. It's going to be a retirement/post-SHTF hobby, I'm guessing.

Pics, when available, please.

No one's seen my idea except the wife .

Hey Larry, I heard somewhere that the bees will all turn red if you set a jar of " Maraschino Cherries " near the hive.

Um, OK. Don't show your brand name (double entendre intentional) far and wide. See if I care. ;)