Cedar Grilling Planks and the Branding Iron

Cedar Grilling Planks are done!

 Just got the labels in tonight, got the order branded and packaged, and its all boxed up and ready for delivery first thing tomorrow! A little natural hemp rope to tie it all off. Not too shabby, eh?

 Here's my down and dirty branding jig. It's not glamorous by any standard, but it works fantastic. I started by working backwards from finding the center of my plank, then finding the edges of where the branding iron will sit. I layered up some scrap pieces of plywood at a 90 deg corner, reinforced it, and mounted it all to a big hefty piece of pine left over from the rustic entertainment center. The plank slides in place, then I take the hot branding iron, reference it in the corner, and set it down on the plank with a bit of pressure.

To heat the iron, I fired up a the weed burner torch on high, and set it just so on the gravel outside the shop, where it cant hurt anything. If you look close, you'll see the gravel starting to glow red. Almost ready!

 Test burn #1

 Test burn #2

Viola! I toyed with the idea of having a separate brand made just for the cedar planks, but this one I can use for almost everything I make in the woodshop.

 Sweet!

The branding iron leaves a slight discoloration around the logo, so it needed a bit of sanding to touch it up. Sanding also really helps define the logo itself, as you can see on the bottom of the two planks here.

...And what better way to celebrate completing the order than to grill up a tasty rainbow trout and corn on the cob? Thanks for the fish, Adam! Right out of Chickahominy Reservoir!