3D printed branding-iron

By at 11:56 pm Wednesday, Nov 25

Joris sez, "Turn any logo or words into a custom metal 3D printed branding iron. It snaps on over a lighter, you turn on the lighter for 30 seconds and presto you are ready to leave your brand anywhere."

I once sat in on a Bunnie Huang presentation about labor conditions in South China, and he described the factories where rubber logos - the Nike swoosh on the side of a shoe, the rubber designer's logo hanging from the top button-hole of a shirt -- are made. The workers lack basic safety clothes and often end up with several companies' logos branded into their skin by the hot metal.

Since then, I've found it nearly impossible to think about branding without thinking of the young women of the Pearl River Delta with all those logo-marks -- vector art from the west turned into curdled flesh in the east -- burned into their skin.

Of course, you could use this to brand lots of things that aren't human skin! Wood-burning, leather-burning, probably even some kind of crazy brulee effect.


You type in your text or send us a link to a logo and we model and 3D print a mini branding iron for you. The branding iron clicks onto standard disposable lighters. You simply turn the lighter on for 30 seconds until the branding iron is hot and then brand away. A text branding iron costs $25 including shipping. A logo BrandingIron costs $25, also including shipping.

Customizable 3D printed BrandingIron (Thanks, Joris!)

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Cory Doctorow

Upcoming appearances

* Feb 9, 2012, DeKalb, IL: Day of Doctorow, NIU
* Feb 10-12, 2012, Chicago, IL: Capricon 32
* Feb 13, 2012, Arlington, TX: UT Arlington College of Engineering Distinguished Speaker Series
* Feb 16, 2012, Victoria, BC: 13th Annual Privacy and Security Conference

Recent books:
* Context (essays)
* With a Little Help (short stories)
* For the Win (YA novel)
* Makers (adult novel)

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