Have you ever had something that you have always wanted? And when I say always, I mean always… Well, I have. It might sound a little ridiculous, but I’ve always wanted a custom branding iron. Ever since I was about seven years old and saw my first cattle branding. I know. Like I said. Ridiculous! Who would want a custom branding iron after witnessing the agony it brings to cute little cows at a young, impressionable age? But, hear me out!
No, It’s Not Weird to Want Your Own Branding Iron at the Age of Seven
I’ve always been a creative individual. Even though when you say “branding iron” the first thing most people think of is branding the identifier on the rump of their herd, the possibilities for custom branding irons is limitless!
You can brand dinnerware and metal tools, leather and furniture, so why could you not put your business logo on a branding iron? That would make each piece authentic with an almost permanent mark! I thought it was possible at least. It’s by sheer determination and stubbornness (with a little bit of luck) that I chose to be an artist. An artist that works primarily with wood!
I’ve done extensive research on other artists that use wood for their medium. It’s disappointing to discover that even though they use wood (usually accompanied with paint 😠), they all gravitate towards the same thing. Covering the backs with paper and stamp their logo on the paper with ink. I don’t know about you, but I wanted to be unique and have mark on my work that wouldn’t be able to be removed. Well, almost irremovable, damageable or tear-off-able. Branding was the closest thing I could come to! It’s just coincidence that I’ve always wanted one, right?
When I first decided to go forward with Schaedings and make this artform my business, the second thing I did was look up how much it was for a small custom branding iron.
I was NOT disappointed with all the options. It took me over a week to go through and choose a business that was within my budget. I needed an iron that would hold its form over many uses and had a variety of sizes to choose from.
Finding the Right Branding Iron Shop for Schaedings
My biggest hurdle was finding the best fit for a custom branding iron shop. I had a checklist that I needed to keep to and let me tell you, it was a lengthy process trying to find someone that had if not all, most of my requirements.
First, I needed an iron that was cheap enough to not break my next-to-nothing-budget for the brand. With that said, it also needed to be quality enough that it wouldn’t overheat and break because it’s too cheap. It had to be small enough to fit on small pieces of art, but big enough to be seen on larger pieces of art and I wanted the ability to purchase more brands of varying sizes in the future from the same company.
Marketing is something that you don’t want to have to go back and correct after time or alter if something changes. I wanted my brand(s) to be uniform in looks and materials so that in 40+ years there weren’t going to be ten different versions of the same logo because I had a handful of companies making my custom branding iron.
I know, call me paranoid and picky if you want, but I’m nothing if not a loyal customer!
It was 3 o’clock in the morning when I found the brand shop I wanted to use.
Exploring the Custom Branding Iron Shop
I ran into custombrandshop.com when researching various heating techniques one night when I couldn’t get to sleep. Their business just popped up as an add on Google! Not to mention that their website is beautiful, easy to navigate, and understandable (not full of jargon that is unnecessary to the consumer).
I did some perusing and Custom Brand Shop is not only located in our very own Boise, ID, but it’s also a family owned shop that has a dozen different options and variations for sizes, styles, designs and they provide a 3D draft of what your brand will look like before approval.
I already had my Schaedings logo in both PNG and JPG form, so I just had to upload it, click the size I wanted, the style of brand and I was ready to order.
Honestly, it seemed too simple and easy! But, a couple days later they sent the proof for me to approve and it was golden! I was half impatient waiting for it because I was so excited to finally have that thing I always wanted.
Sturdy, Inexpensive Wooden Handle to the Rescue!
At first, I was determined to get the 1.5 inch brand so I could use the electric soldering iron instead of open flame, but I also really was concerned at how small a 1.5×1.5 inch branding iron head would be. My logo design, as you know, is a feather and pine trees. You can’t really get much more detailed than a floating feather!
Having a black blob on the back of each art piece wasn’t my ideal dream, so I went for the two inch head that was only $10 more.
You’re probably thinking “what good is another half inch? Did it really matter?” I can confirm that it definitely did matter! When you bust out a basic ruler and see first-hand how much different the 1.5 vs. 2.0 incher is, it made a big difference.
I obviously had never had a branding iron before, so I included their $10 wooden handle with my order.
Shipped Separately – Did That Really Matter?
So, I will say that the wooden handle was shipped about two weeks before my branding iron. However, I had time to wait for it and I wasn’t bothered by it one bit. I saw a few people with negative reviews going off about how they should have been notified before ordering about them being shipped separately, but really? Really?
It’s a little ridiculous to me that you would give a bad review of a business because they were shipped from separate locations.
First off, their about section clearly states that they sometimes outsource their work if they need to. And secondly, I got like a bagillion emails updating me about my handle shipping WITHOUT the brand and that the brand will follow in a 7-10 days when it’s finished being created and quality checked.
Seriously, like 10 emails telling me what was happening and why it was happening. To me, that’s nothing to complain about.
The only thing that getting the handle first caused me was excitement. It meant that the branding iron was real and that it was going to be coming my way and that it would be perfect! (You know it’s gonna be perfect because if it had issues, they would have contacted you during the design process!)
Follow Your Gut When Ordering a Branding Iron
In the end, I decided that I could just ordered the cute, little, two inch guy for now. Good news is, they go up to six inches and I can tell you right now that I will be a repeat customer if they are still going strong.
They had a few options for heating techniques. I was oddly curious about holding it over an open flame or to use a blowtorch ( 😉 ), but I wanted something a bit more controllable. And subtle. I use any variation of wood I can get my hands on, so being able to control the temperature for the softer woods was important.
They suggested a hot plate. No one had uploaded success videos about it, but I got the one they suggested anyways. They wouldn’t be suggesting something that is a total failure, right? I have to say, it works like a dream!
I can start the brand heating while I do a few final touches on the piece right before branding. There’s been a few times I have branded a few pieces in a row. I just use the branding iron on my first piece, put it back on the hot plate to heat back up, sand the brand down a bit to get rid of the yellowing, and then prep my next piece.
By the time I’m ready to brand the second or third piece, it’s heated up again and I didn’t have to stand there watching and waiting to make sure I don’t burn my shop down!
…Anyways…
All-in-all, I don’t think I could be any happier with my branding iron from The Custom Brand Shop. I’ve used it over twenty times in the last three months and combined with the hot-plate they suggested, it works like a dream.
As with all new tools, I did some test runs before putting it to work on the back of an actual piece of my art, and I will admit that it took a minute! Some were too dark and caused my black blob. Others weren’t hot enough and barely made a mark. But I have gotten the hang of it now and I will never go back to just signing my name. Be unique!
I can guarantee you that I will figure out a way to brand my other art as well! Can you imagine my charcoal and printed digital art marked with a branding iron!? I am determined to make it happen, so look forward to it!
Anyways…
Don’t forget to check out My Shop to see other Schaedings creations! You can also look at past blog posts for some interesting content! As always, I hope your week was incredible and hopefully every day you find a reason to laugh and smile! 🌲
*Update 4/10/2021* Great news! Custom Brand Shop enjoyed our video so much they reached out to us and and gave us a referral link! You can use it to purchase your brand, and you’ll be helping support Schaedings in that way as well! Use this link: https://www.custombrandshop.com/r?id=joso9u Thank you!
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