Branding iron steel

[Pancho07]

We just got done with our spring branding yesterday and it got me to thinking, I had to make a new iron last winter for my heifer but it will be way to big for that heifers calf. The first one i made out of stainless but I was wondering if there was any reason it couldn't be made out of mild. Will it burn up too quickly that it wouldn't be usable after a few years? It won't be used all that much for the next few years or maybe ever, not real sure how large my heard will get. Any thoughts are appreciated. 

[Frosty]

There's noting wrong with mild steel branding irons and they'll heat faster in the fire. Don't use a blower in the fire and it won't burn anything but the fuel.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Steve Meyer]

All of our branding irons are mild steel and we've had them forever. Unless its giant though the same iron should be fine across the board?

[Pancho07]

The cowling brand is not overly large but we brand when they are small so the brand will grow with the the calf, smaller initial brand means less trauma to the month or weeks old calf. Whether or not a calf brand is needed we've always used one so I'll be making one.

Would propane vs wood fire make a difference? We use a zerk with the internals removed as our orifice, don't know if that would change it or not.

[Steve Meyer]

Well sounds good have fun

[Pancho07]

18 minutes ago, Steve Meyer said:

Unless its giant though the same iron should be fine across the board?

Also tanners prefer a smaller brand or none at all as they usually have to cut that out.

[ThomasPowers]

Yes,  many propane burners run very oxidizing and so scale up items heated in them.  Does your system have a method of adjusting the air?

Branding has been done for centuries before stainless steel existed or even before mild steel existed for that matter.

[Pancho07]

Just the regulator on the propane bottle. I will probably go ahead and use mild, it's reasonably inexpensive at the moment and if it doesn't last very long I won't be out much but it will be good practice for other things.

[docfuller]

I agree that mild steel will work fine.  We have branding irons that my grandfather made that are at least 70 years old and we use a firepot that is a big propane orifice like a weedburner that draws it own air into a metal cylinder with venturi air draw.  Not very efficient but it gets hot and it will hold  two or three irons and it will keep up with 100 head of calves.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Doc, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the Iforge gang live within visiting distance. It's been more than 40 years since I helped brand and castrate calves. Depending on who's ranch we were being hands for was what they used to heat their irons. Most either made a wood fire or used charcoal briquettes. The only propane torch I recall was a weed burner aimed into a piece of 8" Dia.pipe maybe 12" long. All were more than able to keep up with branding IIRC dull red was the target temp. Same temp I heated the disbudding iron disbudding goat kids. Horns are NOT good things on domestic goats, gets them caught in fencing and they injure each other.

Anyway branding or disbudding at dull red made the children scream but a few seconds later they were snacking at Mother's teat and all was well. Even castrating without anesthetics was  LOT less traumatic than I thought it'd be. I only held, no cutting for me, I was maybe 17 and a "city" kid. "Explaining" that living in a suburb of LA didn't mean we didn't REALLY raise and ride horses, know how to cut, rope and ride a bucking horse. Trying to stick to a bucking horse is a lot more dangerous than bailing and catching them later. I ALWAYS carried a yummy horse goody in my pocket so I didn't have to chase horses on foot. Horses LOVE to run and playing catch is hard wired into their genes almost as deeply as eating.

Ah I'll stop now before I get us all lost on memory lane.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Frank Turley]

I've seen a lot of old Mexican irons made of wrought iron with amazing riveted areas, mortise & tenon, and forge welds. I make mine for sale out of mild steel. Most of the time, I arc or oxy the connecting rods. If they want all forge welded, that costs extra. I always taper the cross section of the stamp stock so it is a bit thinner on the hide side; the thicker top holds the heat longer. All the well made old ones were forged that way.

[Double Y]

I build a few branding irons and prefer stainless.  It will hold the heat longer than mild.  However, I have built a number of irons from mild and they work, just more trips to the fire.

[Pancho07]

2 hours ago, Frank Turley said:

 I always taper the cross section of the stamp stock so it is a bit thinner on the hide side; the thicker top holds the heat longer. All the well made old ones were forged that way.

That's how I've done the others.

 

1 hour ago, Double Y said:

I build a few branding irons and prefer stainless.  It will hold the heat longer than mild.  However, I have built a number of irons from mild and they work, just more trips to the fire.

If I didn't say before the rest of the irons that we use were made from stainless, and I have some on hand but if i don't need to use it then I wont.

[Kozzy]

Is this why you need a new smaller iron?

[Pancho07]

Hehehe close

[ThomasPowers]

I know folks who make irons by cutting the edges off channel iron that has a nice taper to it and then forming the brand and arc welding the handle to it.

I've got a busy one on request; luckily for use on wood I wouldn't allow it on hide...

[Frosty]

2 hours ago, Kozzy said:

Is this why you need a new smaller iron?

Far Side?

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[docfuller]

Thanks for the welcome.  We also had (now illegal) straight line "running irons" with an appropriate line width but a lot of braised copper at the base to hold heat as described previously.

[SmoothBore]

1 hour ago, MrDarkNebulah said:

So what are the difference between forging mild or forging stainless? 

When you heat a piece of mild steel, and hit it with a hammer, ... it moves.

When you do the same to Stainless, ... it laughs.

 

.

[Frosty]

There are a lot of different grades of SS some forge reasonably well, others turn to cottage cheese. Some do both if you don't work them within their temperature range. SS isn't a beginner's material you should have blacksmithing down pretty well before moving on to sometimes exotic materials.

Give it a try if you'd like but take notes so you can keep track of what does what when.

Frosty The Lucky.

[ausfire]

I made a leaf hook out of stainless bar. Never again. Took me three times a s long as one made from mild. Leaf wasn't too bad but punching holes was a pain. I imagine shaping brand iron letters from SS would be frustrating too.

[Raturay]

This is an old family brand, but a new stainless steel branding iron.

The interesting part is it was made by a very inspirational bloke who is confined to a wheel chair after being thrown from a horse some years ago.  Steve has no movement from around the chest down and some weakness in both arms and hands.  He has made his own jigs to produce all letters of the alphabet and 0 to 9 numbers. He still has his own cattle and can use an adapted 4 wheeler.  He also trains dogs and competes in sheep/cattle trials.  He is a funny guy and doesn't let anything get in his way of doing something.

........and he makes brilliant cattle brands from either mild or stainless steel.

Ray

[Pancho07]

Ray I was about to ask who your friend was as we used to be really big into the dog trials and hadn't heard of anyone getting hurt, then I saw where you were from. That brand looks pretty nice.

Ausfire, when I rebuilt our irons out of stainless I didn't have to put any bends in and they took forever, think i will borrow a trip hammer next time they need doing.

[Double Y]

Here are 3 branding irons I made last night.  J Lazy L.

1/4 x 2 304 Stainless