United Nations International Day of Women & Girls in Science 2024

To celebrate the United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11^th February 2024, Warco wanted to find out more about women working with metals. To that end, we recently met up with Laura Goring, a keen and talented artisan who works with copper to create both functional and decorative homeware under her cleverly-named ‘Cu Living’ homeware brand.

Laura was no stranger to scientific subjects (she took Electronics as one of her GCSE options) but it was in her early 20’s that she made her first foray into making items from copper having been inspired by the Molly Makes magazines that her mother and twin sister enjoyed. The three of them began doing craft projects together, and found particular inspiration from a copper magazine rack. Seeing that this was something she wanted to try her hand at, Laura and her mother bought a pipe cutter and some lengths of copper pipe and together they made one themselves. The sense of satisfaction spurred Laura on, and that Christmas, she set about making copper candle holders for all her friends and family, giving them as gifts.

Over the years, this rewarding hobby progressed to a professional level when she founded her business. Upon seeing the automatic pipe cutter used by her plumber, Laura began purchasing and learning to use new equipment that would help achieve her goals. She mastered soldering techniques from YouTube, ensuring she could get the perfect joint, and learned how to use a blow-torch safely (after burning herself many times through trial and error!).

Laura’s projects ranged from unusual and highly creative briefs from her brother (including a walking stick and shaving stand), through to popular homeware items and large copper displays for hire at weddings all over the UK.

We asked Laura how it has been for her being a woman in this traditionally male-dominated industry. “It has often felt intimidating to go into tool shops, and I hate to admit that after a few uncomfortable experiences, I resorted to buying my tools and supplies online. I also recall times where I was exhibiting at trade shows, displaying my wares, only to hear men pass judgment on my work, questioning if I had actually made those items myself and declaring they could do a better job. Of course, not all men are like this, and I’ve had exceptional support from my partner Mark. A builder by trade, he built me an incredible workbench for my copper-work.”

Despite some sexism in the industry, there are many rewarding aspects to Laura’s work with copper, including the unique antimicrobial properties that it has. “My neighbour’s autistic son had some anxiety around germs, but by making light-switches and door handles from copper, we were able to help overcome this. Copper really is both beautiful and functional, and it’s one of the reasons I love it. Unfortunately the trend for copper isn’t as strong as it was a few years ago, and I’m noticing a preference for silver finishes in the homeware setting.”

We asked Laura about any other challenges she’d had to face. “Since Brexit, the price of copper has gone up 33%. I had to start buying it in bulk to keep costs down, but that was tough for cash-flow. Price fluctuations in metal are one of the most challenging things as it makes it hard to get the pricing right for my customers. It obviously needs to be affordable and good-value for them, while giving me a fair profit that covers both my time and the raw materials.”

Laura still works with copper, but has also diversified by co-founding a polymer clay jewellery business with her mother, called KAURA (@kauraclay on Instagram). This exciting jewellery brand allows Laura to further explore her creative side while still working with the clay, resins and metals - in this case sterling silver and 18k gold plating.

When it comes to CU Living, Laura is more focused now on bespoke projects, and WARCO is in the process of providing Laura with a special trial of our 8” Warco bench-mounted polishing machine. Laura said “Polishing the copper, especially after it’s been tarnished by solder, is by far the most challenging aspect for me. Using wire wool to manually polish the items requires a huge amount of effort – especially to create that beautiful, mirrored shine that copper – at its best - is so well known for. The Warco 8" polisher looks great - more heavy duty than anything I've used before, with great clearance for manoeuvring the copper product. I have a plant stand project that this would be ideal for.”

We look forward to checking back with Laura soon, so see how she got on with the Warco 8” Polisher. Watch this space!