Branding - question for a story I'm writing

[LucyH]

So hypothetically, suppose someone decided to brand somebody else using a stainless steel fondue fork, heated as much as possible on a stove element turned on high.

-Would the fork glow?
-Would it be hot enough to instantly kill nerve endings and not hurt that much?
-Would it scar well if the fork were applied for long enough?

Even if you're not sure, if you have some kind of relevant knowledge and a guess, I'd love to hear it.

 

[Stella_Omega]

The fork could be brought to a glow, probably not bright, but I've toasted enough hot dogs over agasring to prove that!

It would hurt like fuck. As one neuron gets killed, the next in the line, so to speak, becomes the new "nerve ending." There might be a moment of shock but-- burns don't stop hurting. The tool doesn't have to stay on the skinfor long at all, if it's glowing red hot. I think the temp is like 140, or 160 farenheit? Boiling water is hot enough to cause damage.

It could scar, for sure. Some info on ways to use that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarification

 

[switchbitch]

So hypothetically, suppose someone decided to brand somebody else using a stainless steel fondue fork, heated as much as possible on a stove element turned on high.

-Would the fork glow?
-Would it be hot enough to instantly kill nerve endings and not hurt that much?
-Would it scar well if the fork were applied for long enough?

Even if you're not sure, if you have some kind of relevant knowledge and a guess, I'd love to hear it.

stainless steel comes in different grades, expensive fondue forks are 18/ 8 grade stainless steel(close to surgical steel in quality) however most fondue forks are not high-grade steel and have a chrome coating to make them look like they are, when chrome is heated hot enough to glow it produces chromium dioxide which is quite toxic (so not a good idea to use branding implement). For the benefit of the story it would be better to use high-grade stainless steel which glows cherry red for an eighth inch thick wire (common thickness for fondue fork) at 560°F which can be easily achieved by holding it in a burner for sufficient time for the steel to absorb the heat. It loses that glow fast when taken off the heatand fades quickly to a smoky blue.
As stellar said it hurts like blazes cause it does not only heatthe place where it touches. It produces radiant heat for a surrounding area corresponding to the speed at which it is losing heat, in other words the faster the heat is dumped (by pressing it onto a cold surface like skin) the larger the area around it will be affected by the heat. It also super heats the moisture in the skin making it steam and smoke, both of these things project radiant heat around the site.the finer the wire used the less heat it is able to hold and the less surrounding tissues are damaged.for instance using a redhot needle held in a pair of pliers can produce quite localised pain.
I hope that helps

 

[HottieMama]

I was strike-branded by my ex. not with a fondue fork but with a small, initial cattle type brand. (surgical steel.) I have no idea if it glowed or not, as my eyes were shut firmly. As for pain, let's just say I am a heavy masochist and still almost passed out. The one thing I remember the most was the smell....OMFG....the SMELL. If you have never smelled burning flesh, it is an experience like no other. Nausea-inducing is a mild way of describing it.


As for scarring, it's been about three years since mine was done, and it is still quite visible. I believe the branding iron was held to my skin for about 30 seconds...

 

[switchbitch]

I was strike-branded by my ex. not with a fondue fork but with a small, initial cattle type brand. (surgical steel.) I have no idea if it glowed or not, as my eyes were shut firmly. As for pain, let's just say I am a heavy masochist and still almost passed out. The one thing I remember the most was the smell....OMFG....the SMELL. If you have never smelled burning flesh, it is an experience like no other. Nausea-inducing is a mild way of describing it.


As for scarring, it's been about three years since mine was done, and it is still quite visible. I believe the branding iron was held to my skin for about 30 seconds...

delicious, I know this makes me a sick puppy but I love the smell of branding . Strangely enough the smell of burning flesh through accident or disaster does not have the same appeal at all and makes me feel sick.

 

[LucyH]

I do kinda have my heart set on the fondue fork. It can be an expensive one. One of those wedding gifts that they never got around to using until...

Thanks for the information, y'all. Very helpful.

 

[boredgenius]

All metal will glow if you get it hot enough, a gas stove should be able to get the fork hot enough to glow.

As everyone has said its going to hurt an incredible amount, and its not going to just hurt for that moment its going to hurt for hours if not a day.

Yes it will scar.

 

[switchbitch]

All metal will glow if you get it hot enough, a gas stove should be able to get the fork hot enough to glow.

As everyone has said its going to hurt an incredible amount, and its not going to just hurt for that moment its going to hurt for hours if not a day.

Yes it will scar.

yes it will scar and possibly days of pain

 

[LucyH]

delicious, I know this makes me a sick puppy but I love the smell of branding . Strangely enough the smell of burning flesh through accident or disaster does not have the same appeal at all and makes me feel sick.

My brain does things like that too. It may not be *that* strange.

 

[LucyH]

As everyone has said its going to hurt an incredible amount, and its not going to just hurt for that moment its going to hurt for hours if not a day.

How long do you suppose it'd take for it to ebb enough for a guy who's a masochist to have sex?

 

[switchbitch]

How long do you suppose it'd take for it to ebb enough for a guy who's a masochist to have sex?

Why would a sadist wait until the masochist is ready?
OK OK I'LL BEHAVE !LOL It depends where the brand is placed.

 

[twister947]

I realize this is for a story, but I'm curious...why stainless steel? Is that just because fondue forks are generally stainless, or is there a medical reason (after you get past all of the medical reasons why branding is a bad idea, that is)?

 

[LucyH]

Why would a sadist wait until the masochist is ready?
OK OK I'LL BEHAVE !LOL It depends where the brand is placed.

Wrist.

And she kinda has to wait, because if he's not ready, it kinda doesn't work. In my limited experience with one serious masochist, pain overload interfered with an erection, even if he liked it. It made a lot of sense to me for it to work that way, so I assumed (perhaps foolishly) that it generalized.

 

[LucyH]

I realize this is for a story, but I'm curious...why stainless steel? Is that just because fondue forks are generally stainless, or is there a medical reason (after you get past all of the medical reasons why branding is a bad idea, that is)?

Advice I browsed before posting here suggested that high quality stainless steel, or better yet, surgical steel, was a good choice of metal. (As opposed to, say, coat hanger wire.) I also figured that specifying the metal might eliminate the "it depends" factor, if the type of metal made a difference.

 

[HottieMama]

Wrist.

And she kinda has to wait, because if he's not ready, it kinda doesn't work. In my limited experience with one serious masochist, pain overload interfered with an erection, even if he liked it. It made a lot of sense to me for it to work that way, so I assumed (perhaps foolishly) that it generalized.

Mine was on my right hip and I was "ready" a few hours later. A wrist shouldn't be worst than that. Also, after the initial "shock" wore off, mine hurt much worse during the healing process than any other time. It is a burn so it "draws together" and "pulls" as it is healing. It was EXTREMELY itchy and sore...

 

[Stella_Omega]

Wrist.

And she kinda has to wait, because if he's not ready, it kinda doesn't work. In my limited experience with one serious masochist, pain overload interfered with an erection, even if he liked it. It made a lot of sense to me for it to work that way, so I assumed (perhaps foolishly) that it generalized.

I like the touch of realism. You can use the wait in fact, to good effect-- her keeping her patience, either magically knowing-- or else, hoping she's guessed right but masking her unsureness-- before making her sexual demand.

 

[catalina_francisco]

Can only speak from our experience. He didn't use stainless steel...used a form of thick wire which glowed red and white when being heated in gas flame from the stove, made lots of loud spitting sounds on contact (and he tells me there was a terrible smell of burning flesh I was saved from enduring due to the flu I had), and have to say the pain was over in less than a nanosecond once the nerve endings were burned. The surrounding flesh was painful for a week or 2, but not unbearably so except when he hit or flogged it. We also took care to clean the area thoroughly on a daily basis to ensure there was no infection. Think there are still photos of the experience in the Branding thread we posted a few years back.

Catalina

 

[DVS]

The graphic details of some of these posts are going to make me not want to grill steaks any more. And that's a very large favorite thing in this neck of the woods. I live in BBQ and grilling country.

Hopefully, I can stay out of this thread and allow the vivid thoughts of it to leave my memory in time. Grilling is usually a summer event and that's still a cold winter away. I can only hope my old brain will help me channel this thread into the dark passages of never to rememberville.

Please understand, it's nothing personal. Branding is fine, for those of you who enjoy it. And while the act isn't unpleasant for me to watch in a video, that's as far as my enjoyment goes. Now, if someone could pass the steak sauce?