Carving Out a Career
A Local 920 member never expected the small engraving machine he purchased during COVID-19 to lead to a full-time business
Brian Weight is a Sudbury local who serves his community as a volunteer firefighter. He also serves his fellow Local 920 members in Sudbury as chief steward.
Brian purchased a hobby engraver for fun during the winter of 2021 but only experimented with it a bit before losing interest. It wasn’t until the next year that he started engraving a few small items and listing them for sale on Facebook marketplace. He was surprised when they quickly sold.
Brian began engraving more items, such as stainless-steel drinkware and ceramic mugs, and from there, the business grew. Today, his company, Light Beam Laser Creations, sells a wide range of customized products—from granite memorials to wooden cutting boards.
Brian sells his products online and he rarely advertises, as his customers do a great job spreading the word. His garage is running out of space, now set up with three industrial grade engravers, an embroidery machine, a t-shirt printing machine, and a four-foot plasma table to cut steel. This is his full-time job, which he balances alongside his work as a volunteer firefighter.
A few orders stand out to Brian as major highlights. He was commissioned to engrave part of the National Lacrosse League trophy and watched live on TSN as the trophy was presented to the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team. Later, he saw footage of NFL Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin inspecting the trophy during a Bills training camp. “That was pretty cool,” says Brian.
He was also commissioned to engrave the awards being handed out at the Public Policy Forum’s Annual Testimonial Dinner. Brian was excited to recognize a few of the names on the awards—Olympic hockey player Jayna Hefford and astronaut Marc Garneau among them.
Another recent triumph was an order from Supreme, a New York-based streetwear brand. It commissioned 4,000 “Miner’s Lunchboxes” from iconic Sudbury metal fabrication company L. May. Brian was responsible for engraving each aluminum lunchbox with the Supreme logo—a task that had him working around the clock for two months. The lunchboxes were recently completed and are now being sold in Supreme stores around the world.
Brian has appreciated the ways he is able to integrate his engraving with his work as a firefighter. He is proud to support Camp Molly, a fire services camp that invites girls to learn about a career in fire services. He is the official merch provider for the camp and serves as an instructor.
In his own life, Brian appreciates the freedom to work from home and be available for fire calls in his area. Looking forward, he hopes to continue expanding his business and producing beautiful products for his customers. He is happy with the turn his life and work have taken.
“Before, when I was at work, I’d be counting the minutes to go home,” he says. “But when I go into my garage, I’ll go out there, and it’s like ‘holy jumping, I’ve been here for six hours, and it feels like I’ve been here for 20 minutes!’”