Engraving Arts Branding Iron

We recognize that custom branding irons are not very common, but we are including this review to ensure that we live up to our name, Unique Reviews. We conducted a thorough search for shops that could create an industrial-strength branding iron that we used to burn logos into thin plywood. After several phone calls, we decided on Engraving Arts. Due to an apparent backlog of orders, our branding iron was delayed, but we received it in within three weeks which is relatively reasonable. The price with tax and shipping came out to over $400, and although this is definitely not cheap, it is an acceptable price when compared to other price quotes we received.

Our 3.5" x 3" (89 x 6mm) logo was provided in .5" (125mm) thick bronze that weighed almost 2.5 pounds (1.1kg). Engraving Arts offered different mounting options, but since we were mounting it to our own custom-made woodburning jig, we just wanted a plain tool. We were told that the iron would last between 50,000 and 100,000 cycles; since we are making about 7,500 impressions, we cannot verify their claim. Please note that there are less expensive branding irons available for those that do not need such a robust tool that can withstand a production run.

Engraving Arts uses an EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining) process to create their branding irons. The logo is first milled into an electrode which is used to 'etch' the final material. This process provides a very accurate final product that matches the computer file that we provided. We were particularly impressed with the sharp inside corners that they were able to provide.

After setting up the iron in our burning fixture, we tried a short production run. We were very impressed with the results and the logo is crisp and evenly burned.

Slightly faster and slightly cheaper service would have been appreciated, but overall, we were pleased with the transaction. We would also have liked to receive the electrode with the branding iron in case we wanted to place a reorder, but they recycle their used electrodes by machining down the milled surface to accommodate subsequent projects.

• purchase price - $390 plus tax and shipping
• availability - online at brandingirons.net

Unique Reviews overall rating: 88 out of 100

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