On Fri, 13 Mar 2015 13:16:44 -0500, "Terry Coombs"
wrote:

Larry Jaques wrote:
On Thu, 12 Mar 2015 20:26:03 -0500, "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 ?

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?

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 literally we can . It's partly about pollinators ,
partly the produce , and partly just because .

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.


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 .

Pics, when available, please.

--
Stoop and you'll be stepped on;
stand tall and you'll be shot at.
-- Carlos A. Urbizo