DIY Guide: Crafting Your Own Metal Wood Branding Tool
For those who work with wood, scorching a personal design onto a project can be a satisfying finishing touch. A branding tool is essentially a heated metal shape that burns an image into the surface. Instead of buying one from a craft shop or website, you can fabricate a custom brand yourself, giving you the flexibility to create multiple shapes for different woodworking endeavors.
By Kai Gray6 steps
Use a wire hanger to make a branding iron.
Woodworking enthusiasts might want to add a personal mark or pattern to their creations. One way to do this is by branding the wood. A brand works like a metal stamp: you heat it over a flame or stove, then press it onto the wood to burn in an image. You can buy a branding iron from craft stores or online, but making one yourself gives you the freedom to have several different shapes on hand for your wood projects.
Step 1
Sketch a design to use as a template. The drawing must be a single continuous line without lifting your pencil, so it will not contain fine details. It will essentially be the outline of an object, like a cow's head or a baseball bat.
Step 2
Get the wire hanger ready. With the wire cutter, snip off the hook just below the twisted section. Unfold the hanger and use the vise grips to remove all the bends until you have a single straight piece of wire.
Step 3
Indicate where you will start. Using the ruler, measure 8 or 10 inches from one end of the wire, then use the wire cutter to make a mark at that spot. Your shape will begin there.
Step 4
Form the brand. Place the wire on top of your drawing, aligning the starting point with the bottom left corner. The drawing serves as a guide for where to bend the wire. Use the vise grip to make the first bend, then compare it to the drawing. Adjust as needed before proceeding to the next bend.
Step 5
Create the handle. After the shape is finished, use the vise grip to bend the wire at a 90-degree angle at the starting mark.
Step 6
Flatten the brand. Put the shaped end on a hard, flat surface like a concrete floor and hammer it flat. The brand is now ready to be heated.
