Custom stainless steel cutlery for restaurants and hotels

Custom cutlery: what it is and when it is needed

Custom cutlery means stainless steel knives, forks and spoons bearing the logo, name or monogram of a venue, laser-marked on the handle or the blade. The mark is not a label or an applied colour: it is the metal surface itself, altered by the beam.

It is needed when a restaurant opens, when the table setting is renewed or when the brand changes; a hotel or a caterer also uses it to recognise its own cutlery. A private customer can also have initials marked on a set to give as a gift. The other front-of-house items, from wine glasses to menus, are on the page about personalisation for restaurants and hotels. Cutlery is one of the workshop's personalised items with laser engraving.

Laser marking on stainless steel cutlery

Laser marking of cutlery uses the fibre source, one of COOLASER's four laser sources: CO₂, diode, fibre (including MOPA) and UV. The type of mark is chosen according to the desired effect:

• Annealing marking: a dark mark that the laser forms by heating the surface of the stainless steel, without removing material; the cutlery stays smooth to the touch. For some cutlery and finishes it is the preferable choice.
• Deep engraving: the laser cuts the mark into the metal, and the mark can be felt to the touch. The deeper the engraving, the more it resists abrasion.
• Colour marking: coloured marks on stainless steel, for special pieces, described on the page about laser marking on metals.

On knives with wooden handles, on request, the logo can also be engraved on the handle.

Logos, names and monograms on cutlery

Cutlery can be marked with the restaurant or hotel logo, the name of the venue or group, a monogram, initials, a date or an inventory code. The mark usually goes on the handle, front or back, or on the blade of knives, and stays in the same position and at the same size on every piece in the batch.

Knives, forks, spoons and serving cutlery

Laser marking is done on stainless steel table and serving cutlery: table, steak and fish knives, forks, spoons and teaspoons, serving cutlery such as ladles and slotted turners, cocktail spoons and other steel bar tools.

The venue's cutlery and the test piece

The cutlery to be personalised is usually supplied by the venue, which ships to the workshop the cutlery it already uses or has just bought. For those who want new cutlery already marked, COOLASER assesses requests case by case. Text, position and size of the mark are agreed beforehand, and before the series a test piece can be marked to see the result on the real item.

Batches and identical reorders over time

A venue's cutlery gets lost and worn, and new pieces must match those already in use: a reorder repeats the same design, size and position as the first order, even after some time. The same applies to engraved wine glasses and glasses, described on the page about glass and drinkware engraving.

Washing and dishwashers

Laser marking on stainless steel is not an added layer: there are no inks, paints or adhesives that washing can remove. The deeper the engraving, the more the mark resists the abrasion of washing and daily use. For some cutlery and finishes, however, annealing marking is preferable, as it darkens the steel without removing it: the type of mark is chosen on the piece, also with the test piece.

Sizes and limits

The limits of cutlery marking depend on the shape of the handle and the free space on the piece.

How it works

Cutlery personalisation is ordered in four steps:

1. Request: the form asks for the type and number of pieces, who supplies them, the logo or text and the lead time.
2. Quote: the workshop assesses the cutlery, the mark and its position and prepares the price.
3. Marking: the text, position and size of the mark are agreed beforehand, also with a test piece; the batch is then marked in Italy, in the COOLASER workshop.
4. Delivery: shipping throughout Italy and abroad (outside the European Union, any duties and customs charges are paid by the recipient), or, on request, collection from the workshop.

What to prepare

For a custom cutlery quote, the type and number of pieces, the logo or text and the desired position are needed; for the venue's own cutlery, a photo. The logo works best as a vector file (SVG, AI, EPS or PDF), but PNG or JPG are also fine, up to 10 files, 20 MB each and 30 MB in total.