Branding iron

A friend of mine who is a woodworker asked me to make a branding iron for his business. I always wanted to try something like that anyways and I have the means to do so, so I accepted to take on the project. However, when he sent me the the logo it was obvious from the get go I wasn’t going to be able to produce that level of detail without breaking a bunch of very fine-tipped V-bits. So I made the logo into an STL file and had Shapeways do the heavy lifting for me. This is the 3D printed steel part I got back:

In hindsight, I should have modeled some threads onto the little hub, which would have made my life a lot easier with regards to attaching it to a steel rod. I figured I could try and use a threading insert on it, but in the end I didn’t do it in fear of breaking the part. I was on a deadline so there was little margin for fuckups.

I had a leftover steel rail which I turned down into the shaft for the grip. I drilled the face in order to accept the hub, and brazed it in place. Time will tell if the brazing will hold upon re-heating..

Next up: the grip. I didn’t feel like installing my 4-claw chuck, so I glued a small rod into a block of square oak stock and called it a day. I started out by manually rounding the stock, then the CNC took over to finish the part.

Unfortunately, I ran into some issues. Turned out my Z motor coupler was missing a set screw and was slipping as a result. Luckily, I was able to salvage my piece of stock material.