I’ve got my own branding iron! My logo, heatable and carved in brass!
It’s these guys who are making them and they’re really very supportive and customer-oriented! I’ve got the simple version that has to be heated externally (e.g. with a gas torch), but they also sell electrically self-heated irons as well.
It seems I still have to figure out the correct temperature for each soft- and hard woods. They recommend 400°C (~750°F) with about 5 secs. of burning time, but it seems you need a little bit less on soft or sappy woods such as pine or spruce. Also, it turned out it’s best to heat the stamp head from behind as it seems to make it heat up more evenly and the accumulated temperature lasts much longer.
Anyway: I still need a little training, but it’s a really cool tool for me and I’m glad I’ve got it.