Wood Brands

[justgary]

All -

I have wanted for some time now to try out my Proxxon high-speed spindle, and had just finished making 42 wood plaques for an upcoming event. One of the guys involved with the plaques said, "it's a shame that we can't brand the backs of these or something."

Well, shame being what it is, I had to fix that. Randy's recent post of locomotive drivers had already put the brand idea in my head, and only needed that small prodding to do it. I have not made the third brand yet, but I couldn't wait to try out the first two. Made from 1.25" brass rod cut 0.125" deep, they seem to leave great detail in wood. I heated them about peacock or so over a small backpack stove burning kerosene (which is a great way to heat metal, I have found).

They took about an hour each to draw (TurboCAD and SprutCAM), and another hour or so each to cut. Roughed with a .125" 2-flute (which just happens to also have a 0.015" corner radius) and finished with a 0.030" ball-end 6-flute from the dentist, both with coolant. The hardest part of drawing them was making sure the 0.030" mill would pass into small gaps. I'll have to talk the dentist into getting smaller bits. By the way, I used just the one old dental mill, and it still looks pretty good when viewed with a loupe. It is apparently a whole lot tougher than I had imagined.

Some of you woodworker types might want to make one for yourselves. Enjoy!

Regards,

- Just Gary

[Switcher]

Cool project, looks great!

[300sniper]

i'm not a wood worker but now i am trying to think of something to brand so i have a reason to make one!

cool project!

[zephyr9900]

That's freakin' sweet, Just Gary! I was expecting a post about Weyerhaeuser, Boise Cascade, etc. but this is a lot neater. If you want to turn the shanks on those down a little, I'll be happy to loan you my 120W soldering iron (takes 1/2" diameter bits) for your mass production.

Randy

[pete from TN]

I am a professional cabinetmaker and I have often thought of getting a brand made to put my business name on the drawer boxes or something so people know who made the cabinets and never thought of trying to make my own. These look great and obviously work very well. I also enjoyed your video of the wood cutting on the tormach. What spindle speed was that you were running, looks pretty fast. Also looks like with the wet dry you are keeping the dust off the machine pretty well. Nice work and keep the pics and videos coming....peace

[justgary]

Thanks to all of you for the complements. I thought you guys would like those. I have thought about making one for about 10 years or so, and it just popped into my head last week. Of course, 10 years ago I would have done it by hand with my Dremel, so you know why I didn't ever do it. I'm glad I did it now, because they work better than I expected. Controlling the heat and rolling the brand edges into the wood is the trick.

I dug around and found a 0.025" square end dental mill and used it for the last brand. It came out nice also. I'll have to find a few more of those mills. They are great on brass. I'll build up the courage to try steel some day.

switcher, you don't hang out here very much. Welcome to the Tormach forum!

300sniper, I know what you mean. The dog wouldn't sit still, but she's pretty hyper anyway. My son thought they were leather punches. You could make some out of steel and then make a belt!

Randy, I have one of those mo-hunker irons, which is really what got me interested in making a brand so long ago. In this case, I figured I could easily be out in the woods (like at summer camp) and want to use it. I may make another one and use the ol' threadmill on the end so it will fit the iron.

Pete - Now it'll be pretty easy to get what you want, and it won't cost you very much. If you're not satisfied, you can always make another one. Just make sure to use a hunk of metal big enough to hold some temperature while you brand with it.

The wood was cut at 5140 RPM (wide-open) using 4-flute mills. I should have slowed down in the detail grooves, because they still aren't very clean. A router head would be nice.

One of the other guys is staining the plaques and rubbing on Tung Oil this weekend. He's probably done by now. I expect the Tung Oil to cake onto the brands, but I'll try it. The brass brush will help clean the crud out of the details. If it doesn't work over the finish, I'll just have to make something else to brand!

I got that vacuum for my birthday a month ago, and have filled it up already. I need to dump it. I had intended to ask for one, but she figured it out on her own after seeing the machine covered in chips. It's one of the reasons I said yes to the wood project.

Regards,

- Just Gary