Making a branding iron for wood
John K Jordan
MAKING A BRANDING IRON for WOOD
John K Jordan, Dec 2015
This is mostly metalworking but may be of interest to round and flat wood people.
A friend wanted to give her father a branding iron for Christmas so he could burn his farm brand into the bottom of bowls and things. I know you can order one but what fun is that?
I never tried making a branding iron. Half the fun is figuring out a plan of action. The challenge is to make it work the first time instead of having to remake some part several times!
I had on hand some bronze slugs from the scrap metal yard. I turned one down to about 1" diameter, beveled, drilled and tapped for the handle shaft, then parted off.
I painted one end white then used carbon paper to transfer the design. Flats milled on the sides let me hold it securely in the vise. I cut away as much as I could with a 1/8" end mill, leaving a wide logo about 1/8" high.
There were a bunch of angles - a laser center finder helped with the alignment.
I used carbide bits in a Dremel and a file to carefully narrow the logo to a thin line on the working end. This didn't take nearly as long as I imagined. Threads on the end of a 1/4" mild steel rod made the shaft.
In testing, the bronze held the heat well. After heating 60 seconds with a propane torch we could brand at least six times before we had to add more heat.
We selected a piece of black cherry for the handle. The young woman got her first woodturning lesson in roughing, shaping, drilling for the shaft, then sanding after I finished turning it. Branded the handle itself then fastened with epoxy. A little oil for the finish. We got it done just in time for Christmas. She was SO excited!
Now I want to make one for me. :-)
JKJ
