I've seen them and handled them but not enough to certain of the material. I'm thinking steel would be right but the lady that asked me about them said copper alloy. I know there's a registration process that varies by State. I'd hate to make a brand that wouldn't retain its shape. Any insight on the construction of cattle brands?
I made one out of a welding rod I took the flux off of and that's how a mark all of my base ball gloves and a few other things.
Made one years ago out of some 3/8 rebar and my Dad's acetylene torch . Branded a few trees and some woodworking projects , and the side of my leg with it while not paying attention . But real experience about them ,, no . The copper alloy seems a little weird for some reason , but I don't have that much experience in metals .
Thanks Bishop. Since this is for horses I let her know that she has to go through the whole registration process with the Department of Agriculture. Without that she's just decorating the horses with odd marks. I think nowadays an RFID chip might be easier, but we all know that won't help when the power goes out.
I know how that goes. Got one from a water pipe exhaust stack I'd rigged up on a 21 HP Wisconsin pump engine. It fell over on me and before I could get it off I had a burn big enough to make the marks, scars, and tattoos list in my medical record. I wonder if horses wouldn't rather have a tattoo?
"Back in the day" they were called branding IRONS for a reason. What they are using now is beyond me, but I suspect an iron alloy (some flavor of steel) if they are heated with some kind of flame, say propane. If electrically heated, a copper alloy makes sense.
All of our Brands are in fact Wrought Iron, made in the local Black Smith's shop and passed down as part of the land inheritance to maintain the ranch's status and "Brands" accordingly! Yes, they are registered with the county and state AG depts, and must be updated if any changes are made! You could make a brand out of most any metal, but historically, it has always been iron for durability and workability! Remember, these might be heat cycled thousands of times, so they had to be tough, and Steel becomes brittle after being cycled, and it was not always easy to get or to alloy correctly! You wouldn't want Copper or one of the alloy's, as its too malleable, and thus would alter your brand enough to be questioned!
Bar stock from simple carbon based steel is the norm here and will last' The squared off edges will do the best branding as the edge is better than the rolled edge of round bar. In Texas the brands are registered by county as to not duplicate the style. Renewed every 10 years.
Carbon steel for the old drop in the fire branding irons, copper alloy for cryo freeze branding, and nickel or stainless alloys for electric according to a rancher friend I just asked. He said all you need to know is below if I didn't remember it right. L & H Branding Irons Also, whatever associations that regulate your livestock may have branding standards for the breed of animal you have...hereford, quarter horses, ECT.
Uncle Henry, had the “H drop D” brand for his Cows on his Quarter Section out by Yelm, Washington... I remember the first time we went down to the farm to brand his herd... The county Agent came out, to inspect the brand and sign off the paperwork, on Friday, and we finished up on Saturday afternoon..
I've been branded a couple of times... Once by a chainsaw under the left knee Again by sumac on the right calf
I had a friend that made a branding iron for logging. It is not heated or burnt it is a brand welded in the face of a single jack and driven into the end grain of the timber .it is difficult to remove, seeing the disturbance goes deep. These too are registered with the state.
I put together 2 or 3 of them, years ago, for going away presents, at work. Used a piece of 4" square tubing (1" long) for a diamond shape, then flat steel bar, bent into whatever shape(s) I wanted. Laid a couple pieces of the same across the whole thing, then tack welded each individual piece to the cross pieces, and the handle (usually round stock) to the cross pieces, too. They weren't real pretty, but they were functional, as once I was finished, I'd heat them with a torch, and brand a piece of wood, that I'd then use for the stand to hold them, when presented to the recipient. Final step was to spray paint the whole thing flat black, to prevent corrosion.
