News from the workshop

Cornwall will host the start of the prestigious Tour of Britain cycling event on 5th September 2021 and we were excited that Cut By Beam was chosen to design and make the ‘Saint Piran’s’ trophy for the Grand Depart stage of the race.

With an emphasis on using locally sourced wood from a managed woodland, we spoke to Tom Kemp from Working Woodlands Cornwall. He suggested we use a piece of oak from Devichoys Wood, which he manages for Cornwall Wildlife Trust, which happens to be on the race route near Falmouth. 

He gave us three options and we chose one with the most interesting characteristics; markings we knew would add a special quality to the finished award.

Looking at the rings, the chosen piece is estimated to be around 50 years old. 

We asked local wood turner, Thane Osborne, to machine it into a cylinder.

The client, Cornwall Council, gave us a fairly loose spec, but had briefed us on some essential elements they wanted to feature on the finished design, including a map of Cornwall and the St. Piran's flag.

Lynn designed and created the digital artwork in a format ready to etch on to the wood. 

Once etched, using the rotary attachment on our laser cutter, we hand finished the award with water-based paints, inks and nourishing wood oils.

Cut By Beam are keen to make more sustainable trophies such as this one. As well as being so much more pleasing to cherish and display, we like to think that our end products have minimal impact on the environment in their making. Even our workshop is run on sustainable heating and locally generated power. 

We are looking forward to watching the Tour Of Britain and seeing who gets to hold aloft the trophy we made for the Grand Depart at Cut By Beam.

More background information on the source of the original wood can be found in this lovely video featuring Working Woodlands.

It was an honour to make these beautiful etched cedar menus to be set out on the top most of tables at this weekend's G7 summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall.

Simon from Stallards and The Hidden Hut asked Cut By Beam to etch both the menus and the place name tags for the beach BBQ which took place for the world leaders and their partners.

It really was a memorable job to open the files and see the names on the guest list including Joe Biden, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson.

View more on the G7 Instagram highlights here.

Furniture for the summit was also created by local craftsman Scott Woyka and, to add to our excitement, Scott commissioned us to etch the G7 logo on to some tables.

We're etching a lot of enamel mugs at the moment.

With more cafés and shops opening up again after lockdown, many businesses have asked us to add their designs to the sides or bases of the blanks that we stock. They make great gifts as well as promotional tools for brands, artists or charities.

We tend to stock white or cream, 8cm diameter, mugs. And offer a range of different coloured rims. You're free to mix and match those colours if you can't decide which ones you'd prefer!

They're dishwasher and oven safe (up to 270 degrees Celsius). Our standard max engraving area on the sides is 55 x 55mm. But we are always happy to run a bespoke quote if clients want something larger. And you're welcome to pop an etch on both sides of the mug or even underneath. We just can't etch the insides. 

We're also happy to provide an 'etch-only' quote if you would like to source your own enamelware. Whether that be mugs, plates, bowls, etc. However, please bear in mind that lighter colours are more effective. Designs show up as tones of black, so if you have a darker background, the etch will not be as high in contrast. The mug below is a good example of the different effects you can achieve from using shades of black.

One of the biggest orders we've taken this spring was from Pavilion Bakery in London. They commissioned batches with their logo curving right around the base of the mugs. Whilst a little more expensive, the effect is stunning and proving really popular as they've recently asked us to do some more for their Newquay branch.

If you're trying to think of ideas to help you crowdfund contributions towards your latest project, how about engaging our lasers to create some eye-catching rewards?

Enamel mugs are particularly popular. One of the most recent examples being those with a design by Aidan Meighan - pictured above.

The Ernest Journal, which is a blog, iPad magazine and biannual printed publication, wanted to raise funds to launch their next issue. We etched Aidan's design on to a batch of mugs in July.

Soul Farm is 1.5 acre no-dig market farm growing seasonal vegetables in Falmouth, Cornwall. In late 2019, they wanted to raise money to help with the setup costs of their first season. We etched them these enamel mugs and they were included in some reward levels on offer through their Crowdfunder page. The farm is now up and running but they continue to sell the mugs through their online shop.

Kris Hallenga, founder of the breast cancer charity Coppafeel, is a good friend of Cut By Beam. She asked us to make these keyrings as a gift to those supporting her forthcoming crowdfunded book called 'How to Glitter a Turd' Pre-orders are currently still being taken! 

Get in touch if you have any ideas about fundraising thank you gifts. Chopping boards, drinks bottles, hip flasks, bar blades are just some of the items we can etch with your designs.