It stinks but it saves time.
Will post more when finished
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I see something like this being a big seller at a renfaire.
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That’s a good bag for someone looking to learn leatherwork. It can be easy, and as you grow in experience you can make it more and more complicated.
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My next bag I make I am going to try actually indenting the leather and dying it two colors to make it stand out more this one looks great but it could really look a lot better.
As always I love taking skills from 2 or more areas and combining for advanced effects or faster productivity
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Ah like my badge holder? I used red then block dyed black over it.
Here is george explaining block dye technique
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Frank, I’ve been really impressed with the items you post. Thanks for sharing what you create.
I’d like to try my hand at cutting and engraving leather. Are there any hints you’re willing to share on speed, power and any other insights you’ve gained? Thanks.
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Sure I recently discovered there are some leathers out there that have what’s called a chromatic dye these do not cut well on laser.
I also try to keep leather as flat as possible when storing it is difficult to keep it consistent if it is wrinkled.
Use the lowest setting that will get the job done I have a 100 watt co2 so the settings might vary between my laser and the space
But on thicker leather I use 80% power @ 30speed for cutting thru and 30% power 30% speed for engraving. But as always best practices would be to do some test pieces laser cut leather will speed up process so much!
Last be prepared for a bit of odor I got a great inline exhaust but I still smell the burn and it is awful like what you would expect burnt flesh. But I have got use to it personally.
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You can steam leather to flatten it.
@Frank I appreciate the quick response and will keep your advice in mind.
@Malissa Great tip. Thanks!
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I’m also wondering if leather is wet when you cut it how it would cut? I googled the answer. I think we would need to do some test and have some guidelines.
"One of the main obstacles to overcome is the adverse reaction that leather can have to the heat of the laser engraver, particularly when laser marking over larger areas**.** One way to overcome this is to pre-soak the leather before it is placed within the laser engraving machine. CAUTION: do not place wet materials inside the laser machine! Prior to attempting this technique seek detailed advice from our support department
When pre-soaked the excess moisture within the material acts as a heat-sink to minimise the material warping and/or excessively charring during the laser cutting and laser engraving process."
Dallas makerspace also had a discussion
To cut down on char, you can wet the vegtan thoroughly, dry off any surface moisture, and laser while still wet. Minimizes char and edge stiffness. If planning to tool, let dry until ready, then tool.
I have tried wet leather in a laser. It does not cut very well and misses a lot of cuts causing inconsistent results.
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In regards to the statement
CAUTION: do not place wet materials inside the laser machine!
Does that mean it just shouldn’t be dripping or do soaked items also raise concern? I’d be interested in testing techniques with others in the evening. I don’t have any leather yet but could order some.
“If planning to tool, let dry until ready, then tool.”
Tool as in stamping? Hotstamping I think is done dry, and if you have a clicker (basically a 2ton press but more surface area) it can stamp dry especially oiled skins, but if your tap tap taping with the background stamps and stuff you case the leather (soak for an hour then place between two peices of glass overnight)
I don’t technically case the leather because I never know if I’m going to have time to work on stuff tomorrow, and I’m incredibly impatient. So I soak the leather with a spray bottle, give it 5 min, then start carving.
Don’t bother tooling chrometan. It’s way easier to etch a decorative detail in brass and rivet it to the leather than it is to get a good print on chrometan without ripping it.
However note, when wet a misplaced thumbnail can leave a permanent mark on the leather. Also, if it isnt flat when it dries it will be heck trying to get it flat. Lastly, when you wet leather wet the whole peice because if it discolored a little it will be consistent across the piece.
I don’t lasercut leather, because… well I dont know why.
These are all my opinions of course so take it at whatever that metaphor is.
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So I believe the quick answer on using wet leather is if there is moisture in the material and you heat it with a laser it evaporates into steam. As the steam travels up it goes into the laser tube leaving behind particulates on lens.
A dirty lens could cause damage to laser.
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That makes sense.