A Handmade Branding Iron

We have started our puzzle business and the first products were released late last month. The products we made were really good but actually one thing was missing, it was a branding mark. We have been thinking that we would like to have a branding iron but at the time we started selling the first puzzle we didn't have one and my husband signed his name instead. As our customers who bought Reza 6-8 knew, his signature was in a notch of one of the pieces.

It's easy to order and buy branding irons. However, Juno had decided to make his branding iron by himself. For making a branding iron, he bought brass screws, a 100w soldering torch, and 0.8mm (0.0315in) and 6mm (0.236in) milling bits. Brass screws were for the head of the branding iron.

The tool he used was a CNC router and of course a computer that was connected to the CNC router.

As you can see, one of the milling bits was very thin, it was only 0.8mm (0.0315in). It was scary to use it because it seemed to be broken easily. Juno took the bulk of the branding with a 6mm (0.236in) milling bit and curved the detailed lines with a 0.8mm (0.0315in) milling bit. After finishing curving the brass screw, he fitted the brass screw to the soldering torch. Then, the job was done!

The next step was testing. It was an exciting moment, you know? Well, the result was very good! These pieces are the first pieces that have got branding iron marks on them.

From now on, we will put Juno's mark on puzzle. There are plenty of ideas in Juno's head and we will make them as a puzzle in order. I know it's worth waiting!

Yukari