Freeze Branding

[dun]

On the subject of brands - I recently made a branding iron for the ranch and was wondering what size material everyone else uses for their branding irons. This is the first one I've actually built myself. I made it from 2" x 3/8" flat iron. The brand is around 3" tall . It looks pretty good on wood, but I haven't put it on an animal yet, and was wondering if I should have went with a 1/4" wide face instead of 3/8". Everyone I've showed it to said "Man, that's a heavy brand!". The brand is registered through the county, on the left hip.

3/8 sounds awfully heavy to me. Did you put vents in the face if you have crossed lines?

dun

Yes, I ground a 1/4" or so notch at each intersection of the letters/design. The brand is rocking VAN

I think I going to build another one out of 2" x 1/4" material.

If you can, find a green hide and stamp it. The notches may not be big or deep enough. Brands are really frowned on by brand inspectors when they're blotched at the junctions of the crosses or joints

dun

 

[BuckemRanch]

I had one of those "wild horses". The brand tells which herd and what area the animal was captured at. It was a wonderful horse, but sure liked to get loose.

Our county fair raffles a wild horse every year. I have seen some beautiful ones.