While reading the posts on the Rigid Planner and the Sorby Chisels a problem
in my shop came to mind. I purchased a branding iron a while back, called
the company and told them I needed a custom made iron to brand approx 100
items at a time. I wanted to use a gas fired iron (because of cost) and
needed a iron that would hold up to this kind of abuse. I was told that
they could make the iron I needed to do the job, No Problem. Got the iron,
heated it up and started branding. during one of the heating cycles I hear a
thunk sound and look over to see the head of the branding iron on the floor,
the head had melted off the shaft (silver solder used to attach the head to
the shaft). Called the company and was told "you are not supposed to get
the iron hot". Now how am I supposed to use a branding iron if I don't get
it hot? For one or two items this iron would have done well, but I ordered
it specifically for large numbers of burnings in one setting, and stated
that to the maker. Has anyone else every come up with tools that do not
perform as listed by the maker, even when used "properly"? Not a bad tool
or the odd lemon but a tool not designed to do the job it is meant to do.
Wed, Sep 3, 2003, 8:26am (EDT-1) [email protected]
(Sweet=A0Sawdust) claims:
<snip> I purchased a branding iron <snip>
I read that, and didn't see a thing about you asking about either
repairing it, replacing it, or refunding your money.
Being silver soldered, I would think it would be easily repairable,
I would say either braze or weld it yourself, or get the company to do
it.
Easy enough to make your own next time, copper sheet, etching
cream, no prob. Instructions somewhere in the archives, if you aren't
sure about it.
JOAT
Failure is not an option.
But it is definitely a possibility.
Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
Web Page Update 2 Sep 2003. Some tunes I like.
http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofalltrades/SOMETUNESILIKE/
Sweet Sawdust wrote:
> Follow-up:
> I did ask for repair, it would take two weeks or more, and would cost about
> half what the iron cost, I did not have the time to wait. Company wanted to
> install electric heater for $150, I wanted Gas not electric. I went to a
> welding company and they would not touch the iron, they do not work with
> bronze. Went to a large machine shop that does custom work and they wanted
> $100 to repair. I drilled and tapped the head to accept a plate that I
> attached a new handle to and it works fine, cost $5 and 20 min.. I will say
> that the iron was one of the best engraved I have ever seen, deep relief,
> clear sharp lines, made a beautiful brand image when it worked. Company was
> "Brand New", they do wonderful work with the art, and would be fine for low
> use irons, I would not consider them again for anything approaching
> production work though, unless I modified the iron before use.
Silver solder melts at 1300F to 1800F depending on the type. Bronze melts at
about 1900F. If you melted the sliver solder your getting close to melting the
bronze.
--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
Greetings and Salutations...
On Wed, 3 Sep 2003 08:26:41 -0500, "Sweet Sawdust"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>While reading the posts on the Rigid Planner and the Sorby Chisels a problem
>in my shop came to mind. I purchased a branding iron a while back, called
>the company and told them I needed a custom made iron to brand approx 100
>items at a time. I wanted to use a gas fired iron (because of cost) and
Does this mean that you wanted to heat it once and be able to
brand 100 items? That is a LOT of heat for one run. I would expect
that you would have better results to brand two or three of them,
then, re-heat.
>needed a iron that would hold up to this kind of abuse. I was told that
>they could make the iron I needed to do the job, No Problem. Got the iron,
>heated it up and started branding. during one of the heating cycles I hear a
>thunk sound and look over to see the head of the branding iron on the floor,
>the head had melted off the shaft (silver solder used to attach the head to
>the shaft). Called the company and was told "you are not supposed to get
>the iron hot". Now how am I supposed to use a branding iron if I don't get
Hum...it is a little unclear to me how hot you were getting
the iron. If it was getting up over 1100 degrees, that is PRETTY
hot. What kind of metal WAS it made of anyway? Actual Iron/Steel?
>it hot? For one or two items this iron would have done well, but I ordered
>it specifically for large numbers of burnings in one setting, and stated
>that to the maker. Has anyone else every come up with tools that do not
I suspect the problem was a bit of misunderstanding here. You
were asking for an externally heated, hand-held branding iron, with
the specification that you would be doing VERY small production runs
(100 pieces or less). More than likely the manufacturer assumed you
would be doing a few (as mentioned above) and re-heating...and did
not understand that you were wanting to do 100 items at a shot.
Frankly, for that sort of use, I would recommend a somewhat
more elaborate setup, with either a hefty electrical heater, or,
a propane flame heater built into it. Otherwise I suspect that
there would not be enough thermal inertia in the iron to allow you
to do an adequate job for all 100 items.
A few years ago, I did site tokens for an SCA event. I looked
at a custom branding iron, as I had to make several hundred of them.
They were an octagon, with a branded pattern of Thor's Hammer in the
center, and, a frame around the outside edge of the token. A fairly
simple pattern, actually. Afte some experimentation, I ended up using
a wood-burning tool to free hand them. It took a couple of days, but,
went fairly well. The MAIN problem I ran into was that the branding
iron cooled so quickly that I had to reheat too often, and, that was
sucking up a lot of time. I thought about reworking it to mount on a
propane torch, but, as this was a last-minute project (aren't they
all) it was quicker for me to do them by hand.
>perform as listed by the maker, even when used "properly"? Not a bad tool
>or the odd lemon but a tool not designed to do the job it is meant to do.
>
>
Hum...Well, I have had a number of chisels (or, more
accurately, chisel-shaped objects) through the years that were of such
soft steel that they would not hold an edge long enough to cut any
useful amount of wood.
I also picked up some "snap ring" pliers at Harbor Freight the
other day for an emergency repair. The blasted things bent from the
force necessary to open the ring! They only cost $5.00 or so, and,
were worth about that much. I made do, but, I had to take the next
larger size wrench and carefully grind down the tips to fit the snap
ring holes, so as to get enough arm strength to open the ring without
bending.
Regards
dave mundt
Jack-of-all-trades - JOAT wrote:
> Easy enough to make your own next time, copper sheet, etching
> cream, no prob. Instructions somewhere in the archives, if you aren't
> sure about it.
Or ferric chloride, since I have some.
I don't even have any use for a branding iron JOAT, but now I have an idea.
Hmmmmmm....
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17525 Approximate word count: 525750
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
"Sweet Sawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>Has anyone else every come up with tools that do not
> perform as listed by the maker, even when used "properly"?
The Makita finishing sander, which was never designed to hold sandpaper....
-- Ernie
"Phillip Hansen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
> >
> > "Sweet Sawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > >Has anyone else every come up with tools that do not
> > > perform as listed by the maker, even when used "properly"?
> >
> > The Makita finishing sander, which was never designed to hold
sandpaper....
> > -- Ernie
> >
> I was thinking of getting one. Is it really a bad problem?
>
The sander itself works fine, but to make the standard quarter-sheet fit I
have to trim about 3/16" off the clamp end, then tear a little U-shaped
piece out of each corner to get it to fit tightly enough under the clamps. A
royal pain. My next purchase of sandpaper for it will be self-adhesive or
something that bypasses the clamps.
-- Ernie
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
> "Sweet Sawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >Has anyone else every come up with tools that do not
> > perform as listed by the maker, even when used "properly"?
>
> The Makita finishing sander, which was never designed to hold sandpaper....
> -- Ernie
>
>
>
I was thinking of getting one. Is it really a bad problem?
--
Phillip Hansen
Skil-Phil Solutions
take off 'boots' to reply
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
> > I was thinking of getting one. Is it really a bad problem?
>
> The sander itself works fine, but to make the standard quarter-sheet fit I
> have to trim about 3/16" off the clamp end, then tear a little U-shaped
> piece out of each corner to get it to fit tightly enough under the clamps. A
> royal pain. My next purchase of sandpaper for it will be self-adhesive or
> something that bypasses the clamps.
> -- Ernie
Thanks for the warning.
I have a DW 411 which works very well but is as noisy as hell. A few
minutes at a time with muffs is enough. DW and Makita are the only 1/4
sheet sanders available here in SA. Maybe have to keep the DW for some
jobs and get a 1/2 sheet for the major work.
PSA and hook and loop paper is also not readily available except for
speciality machines like Festool (cost an arm and leg though) so have to
have something that takes off the shelf papers. (Importing is not an
option due to the exchange rate and shipping)
--
Phillip Hansen
Skil-Phil Solutions
take off 'boots' to reply
"Sweet Sawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> While reading the posts on the Rigid Planner and the Sorby Chisels a
problem
> in my shop came to mind. I purchased a branding iron a while back, called
> the company and told them I needed a custom made iron to brand approx 100
> items at a time. I wanted to use a gas fired iron (because of cost) and
> needed a iron that would hold up to this kind of abuse. I was told that
> they could make the iron I needed to do the job, No Problem. Got the
iron,
> heated it up and started branding. during one of the heating cycles I hear
a
> thunk sound and look over to see the head of the branding iron on the
floor,
> the head had melted off the shaft (silver solder used to attach the head
to
> the shaft). Called the company and was told "you are not supposed to get
> the iron hot". Now how am I supposed to use a branding iron if I don't
get
> it hot? For one or two items this iron would have done well, but I
ordered
> it specifically for large numbers of burnings in one setting, and stated
> that to the maker. Has anyone else every come up with tools that do not
> perform as listed by the maker, even when used "properly"? Not a bad tool
> or the odd lemon but a tool not designed to do the job it is meant to do.
>
This computer is supposed to save me time, but I end up spending more time
with it.
Clearly this is a problem with the tool.
-Jack
> Has anyone else every come up with tools that do not
> perform as listed by the maker, even when used "properly"? Not a bad tool
> or the odd lemon but a tool not designed to do the job it is meant to do.
Anything sold at walmart pretty much.. =)
Sam
"Sweet Sawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> While reading the posts on the Rigid Planner and the Sorby Chisels a
problem
> in my shop came to mind. I purchased a branding iron a while back, called
> the company and told them I needed a custom made iron to brand approx 100
> items at a time. I wanted to use a gas fired iron (because of cost) and
> needed a iron that would hold up to this kind of abuse. I was told that
> they could make the iron I needed to do the job, No Problem. Got the
iron,
> heated it up and started branding. during one of the heating cycles I hear
a
> thunk sound and look over to see the head of the branding iron on the
floor,
> the head had melted off the shaft (silver solder used to attach the head
to
> the shaft). Called the company and was told "you are not supposed to get
> the iron hot". Now how am I supposed to use a branding iron if I don't
get
> it hot? For one or two items this iron would have done well, but I
ordered
> it specifically for large numbers of burnings in one setting, and stated
> that to the maker. >
>
Sweet Sawdust wrote:
> the floor, the head had melted off the shaft (silver solder used to attach
> the head to
> the shaft). Called the company and was told "you are not supposed to get
> the iron hot". Now how am I supposed to use a branding iron if I don't
> get
> it hot?
Yeeesh! WTF were they thinking you were going to do with it? Set it up on
the window sill as a decorative item?
Who was that, so nobody buys from them?
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17511 Approximate word count: 525330
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
Not if you go PSA or Hook and Loop.
I've got the old Rockwell 1/4 sheet. Gave away a B&D (gifted) and dad's old
Makita. Recommend the PC equivalent, and it does hold the paper, though
it's a bit tough routing it under the clips for a tight fit.
"Phillip Hansen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
> >
> > "Sweet Sawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > >Has anyone else every come up with tools that do not
> > > perform as listed by the maker, even when used "properly"?
> >
> > The Makita finishing sander, which was never designed to hold
sandpaper....
> > -- Ernie
> >
> >
> >
> I was thinking of getting one. Is it really a bad problem?
>