Terry Coombs wrote:
I want to make a small branding iron to mark my bee hives , and am looking
for suggestions for what /how to do that . I was thinking about using
something like 1/16 x 1/2 inch iron , but am unsure whether to heat and bend
to shape or to weld small strips . There will be at least one shape that
must be bent , the number 2 . I have a logo designed , consists of a nested
A and W , with a 1 & a 2 in the vees of the W for "The 12 Acre Wood" . It's
been suggested to bend it up from heavy wire , but I'm not sure that'll be
rigid enough to get a uniform imprint on the flat wood surfaces . Any
alternative suggestions ?

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.


--
Steve W.