All this talk of spur making, I figure we ought to start talking about branding irons. How do you make them?

Okay: Not a pro blacksmith here,but as an amateur and rancher most of my life I do know branding irons..

The MOST important thing is that,wherever there is a joint in a letter or symbol,there must be a GAP made or the area will be so hot that the brand will "smear" or burn the hide excessively so it is not a clear brand.I'll try to dig up some old irons and put some pictures here in the next few days to demonstrate. The irons should be tapered with the narrow end of the taper at the bottom of the brand and wide end up.This allows the iron to retain some heat while still doing a clean job.5/16 X 1 1/2 stock is a nice size. Tapered to about 1/4 on bottom. Horses are VERY thin skinned and I use round stock to make my horse irons.Just a QUICK touch on the hide gets the job done.Actually I went to freeze branding my horses about thirty two years ago using the liquid nitrogen from my artificial insemination tank. The area frozen comes back as white hair and is a really pretty brand.
Sorry if I can't describe stuff with words so well..... Again; Pictures soon...

A good material to use, with the natural taper as Eric mentions, is channel iron. Cut the legs (flanges) off the channel and wala, taper with the small end being about 5/16"thick, top= just over 3/8" and about 1 1/2" wide.

I've only made one, and it was not "traditional." (It was for branding the registry number of a local beekeeper onto his hives.) Getting the letter and numbers right took me all afternoon. Each little adjustment to one bit knocked everything else out of place. I wound up using two pair of pliers (scrolling tongs would have been better) & a fine tip torch. My hat is definatley off to the folk who made/make these the old-fashioned way!

I've made lots of branding irons, but I can't begin to describe all the ins and outs with words. Besides heat gaps mentioned above, when a right angle or acute angle bend is made, it is a radius bend, again to keep the corner from blotching. Blotching can become scabby. There is the story of the brand designed with a letter A fitting tightly within a diamond. The hands called the ranch the "Scab A spread." I've made stamp stock of 5/16" x 3/4" and 3/8" x 1". By the time you get the rough triangular cross-section, the stock will be a bit wider. The thickness going against the hide can be 3/16" or less with the corners chamfered or radiused. My handle/shank and connecting rods are normally 1/2" round. The handle can be a 3" diameter turned eye, or larger. Some irons have a socketed, wooden handle. Some have a pipe handle drilled with holes to dissipate heat.

Forging the bends and shapes is a trip. I built a bridge, which is an anvil that fits in the hardie hole and which is thinned and comes up and over touching the anvil again. You can see through it. It is very helpful. I also have small stakes. I use bending forks and wrenches. The old timey irons were forge welded and mortise/tenoned. There were lots of tenons on the early Mexican irons. Nowadays, most irons are arc or oxy welded to the connecting rods. The overall length of the iron averages about 30". It varies.

If you forge a branding iron using all traditional methods, it will up the price charged by 3 to 10 times, compared to a modern welded one.

Some people want wall hangers. For those, I just bend 1/4" x 3/4" without worrying about the tapered cross-section. They can be a little funkier than a using iron. Some folks want to use the iron as a fire poker. A few people want to stamp their woodwork. I usually refer the woodworkers down the road to someone else. Some folks want a teeny tiny iron to stamp their steaks 'rare' or 'medium rare'. I don't do those.

There is a book to use as a guide. "The Manual of Brands and Marks" by Wolfenstine
A picture of the "bridge" is shown in "Werk und Werkzeug des Kunstschmieds" by Schmirler, page 56. Each page has an English translation.

There is much more; take my class.

http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

2 words
Profile cutter,

Never fails, just put a fancy handle on it and the customer thinks he's got a bargain.

This is a helpful site:

South Dakota Brand Board

I have made a couple for a rancher here in AZ. The Arizona Cattle Assoc. has specs. as far as size of letters and the tappers discussed earlier.

I make them for people using modern welding and forging like Frank talked about also. I have also seen alot of old ones that have been forged welded and mortise and tenioned. I wounder how some were even done. Here is a photo of the ones I make. People like to brand their steaks and also wood with these.

2 words
Profile cutter,

Never fails, just put a fancy handle on it and the customer thinks he's got a bargain.

Admittedly, I am a low tech blacksmith. I'm wondering about cutting through 3/4" to 1½" plate, maybe with oxy-acetylene or waterjet, not sure about plasma. After cutting, could a guy wind up with tapered stock in cross-section, say 3/16" on one edge (the hide side) and 3/8" on the top handle side? I'll make it simple: a numeral three, 5" tall.

Thank you

It might if you use a plasma cutter. Your plasma colum has a straight side and a side that has a slight curve to it. If you plan your cutting route so your kerf has the angle towards the letter in might work. If you oxy-acetylene cut it and angle your torch in towards the letters this might work also. Water jet I am not sure about.

If you log on to NWBA site and go to their Gallery, Dick Fedder from California has some WONDERFUL pictures of one of his hand forged branding irons. He gives a class in this. You can probably find is contact info somewhere on the NWBA site.

Here's some of mine - welding plus forgeing. The first is my personal brand. This one is for horses, applied quickly. My cow brand is about twice as big to prevent heat build up. Second is one that was ordered and never picked up. I think it was intended for human branding and I asked too many questions. They didn't come back and all I had was a cell phone number they wouldn't answer. The third (W/O iron) was a gift to friends. It will never be used on an animal.

Branding on humans usually uses very thin material---stainless steel sheet as you want minimal heat damage. Especially on folks that tend toward keloid scarring!

(the things one learns being a smith....!)

... Second is one that was ordered and never picked up. I think it was intended for human branding and I asked too many questions. They didn't come back and all I had was a cell phone number they wouldn't answer. ...

It's a fraternity brand, for (if I remember correctly) Sigma Phi Epsilon. It's one of the "traditionally black" fraternities. If you're a football fan, you can sometimes see the brand at about bicep level on some of the players, especially with the jerseys that fit tight to the pads, and leave the upper arm exposed.

It's a fraternity brand, for (if I remember correctly) Sigma Phi Epsilon. It's one of the "traditionally black" fraternities. If you're a football fan, you can sometimes see the brand at about bicep level on some of the players, especially with the jerseys that fit tight to the pads, and leave the upper arm exposed.

It was a couple Black fellas that ordered it. They asked a lot about post branding care - Someone branding animals doesn't worry about that. That's why I was guessing it wasn't for animals.

There is a very informative article posted in the IForgeIron > Pages > Articles > Branding and Branding Irons that tells how to make the branding iron as well as how to actually use the iron in order to brand livestock.

We wish to thank Larry Stearns of the South Dakota State Brand Board for permission to reprint this article from their web site.

All this talk of spur making, I figure we ought to start talking about branding irons. How do you make them?

Daughter asked me to whip one up quick for her wedding a few years ago. Some blacksmithing involved, but mostly modern construction. North Dakota's oldest brand inspector was present- told me I'd have to take a grinder to the intersections or they'd burn and smear

Blimey, whats wrong with just exchanging wedding rings? Brings a whole new mental picture to the phrase "Putting her brand on him"

Made my eyes water thinking about it.

Good luck to them,

John, makes the marriage seem permanent with a brand LOL

Anyone take notice that the brands are made in the reverse of the way they will appear on the hide, wood, etc

wire EDM will cut the tinest detail you fancy at all angles

A blacksmith gets an order for one $175.00 branding iron, a fairly simple stamp design. Is he going to farm out a one-of-a-kind for plasma cutting, oxy-acetylene, water jet, or edm? and probably pay more for travel time and set-up time than the iron is worth (before the cutting begins)? and wait for delivery? and then have to make and attach a shank/handle? Or will he just get busy as a blacksmith and make the dang thing?

Not to forget that many firms will not take a dinky order, or if they do, they might have a minimum shop fee of $200.00, $300.00, or more.

The title of this forum is "Blacksmithing, General Discussion."

http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

I agree Frank. You will spend more time explainig what you need than it
would take you to make it, & it'll be right when ya get done.

Yep! Branding irons are a one shot deal or if a second is ordered it will be a different size.

sorry i mentoned wire edm to me its just a fancy hacksaw, of course some traditionalist back then got upset about them

$175.00 for a branding iron? I need to be charging more. Thanks!