Custom laser engraving, deep 3D relief work, and personalized gifts — designed and made to order in Helena, Montana.
Run by Dyllan, self-taught since 2021. Every piece starts as your idea — a name, a photo, a design — and leaves as a one-of-a-kind finished piece.
The two full-wrap tumblers that show the tumbler work at its best. Both were made as personal pieces for Dyllan's wife — they show what's possible on a custom order, in that style.
A full wrap burned through black powder coat so the iridescent blue-purple metal underneath does the coloring — bull skull centerpiece with tarot cards, moons, stars, pumpkins, and spider webs in a western-gothic / Halloween style. Done as tumbler engraving on a rotary attachment, so the design carries all the way around the cup.
An intricate dragon worked black-on-black around the whole cup — tumbler engraving on a rotary attachment. No color at all — the design reads in light and texture as the tumbler turns, which takes a steady hand and careful settings.
Engraving, depth-map relief designs, and apparel work. Tap any piece to see it bigger.
“Cecil Rhoades III — Est. 1977” with a barrel and wheat design, frosted white on the amber glass. A keepsake-style gift piece.
A grayscale depth map built for deep 3D engraving — white carves high, black carves deep — so the finished wood piece has real depth, not just flat line art.
Bear design engraved on a round slate coaster — the rough stone edge and matte finish suit the wildlife work.
Interlaced Celtic dragon artwork made for apparel — the same design work that feeds the laser files.
The same Celtic wolf recolored three ways. Recoloring and layer work like this is done in GIMP, where Dyllan has worked since 2021.
Alongside the laser work, Lightning Customs does graphic design and photo editing in GIMP. Use the buttons on each piece to flip between the original and the finished edit.
AfterA hard diagonal shadow taken out completely — clean white background, and clean edges even around loose strands of hair.
AfterCoffee mug, plant, calipers, papers, and shavings removed, plus the diagonal shadow — keeping the notebook, pen, and tape that belong in the shot.
AfterTwo people taken out of a park group photo, with the tree trunk, bushes, path, and bench rebuilt behind them. The three friends in the photo are untouched.
AfterA trash can and a rusty pole removed, sidewalk and road filled back in, and a dull gray day color-corrected so the red pops without blowing out the rest.
“Quick and easy. Quality of work was amazing and was completed in a timely manner!”— Client review, 5.0 out of 5 · July 2022
Custom work on a 20W diode laser with 2 tumbler rotary attachments — wood, slate, glass, and coated metal. Names, logos, artwork, and full designs on gifts, plaques, coasters, and keepsakes.
Full-wrap tumbler engraving on a rotary attachment — the tumbler rotary attachment spins the cup under the laser so the design wraps all the way around. Work is done on powder-coated and electroplated tumblers, like the bull-skull and dragon pieces above. Electroplated blanks are where the color-under-black effect comes from.
Relief-style pieces carved from grayscale depth maps, run in multiple passes for real depth — the direction behind the wolf and Montana mountains work.
Printed pieces and parts alongside the laser work, for designs that suit plastic better than wood or metal.
Graphic design and creative services in GIMP (since 2021) — custom artwork, recoloring, layering, background removal, removing or adding people, shadow removal, and photo/video editing.
Made-to-order gifts built around a person — a name and date on a bottle, a favorite design on a coaster, a full-wrap tumbler in their style. If you can describe it, ask.
Everything is made to order, one piece at a time. There's no cart to check out — you talk straight to the person making it.
Email what you'd like — the item, the name, photo, or design you have in mind, and when you need it by.
You get the design worked up first, so you can see it and ask for changes before anything is cut or printed.
Your piece is engraved, printed, or edited to order in Helena, Montana — around 200 custom orders have gone out this way.
lightningcustomsllc@gmail.com — or follow the work as it's made on TikTok.