Leather laser engraving and cutting for parts

[SleekStitch]

I want to start laser engraving leather and eventually advance to laser cutting parts. I would be extremely appreciative of any pointers or advice if anyone here has had trouble with either of those! In order to avoid making the same mistakes, I would really like to know what worked for you and what completely failed

 

[handcrafting]

there is a learning curve, but it can be a rewarding one. I'd advise you to start with veg tanned leather because you won't get as much fumes. Also, make sure to test on a piece you plan to throw just in case, you wouldn't want to damage a good piece of leather. As for the tools, the settings will vary so for engraving you're looking lowe power levels below 40% and higher speeds while for cutting you'll need to bump the power and reduce the speed. The most important thing is to practise

 

[Neuro901]

Heck yeah, that's a rad plan, you can start slow, dial in your settings, and test scraps first, I saved my bacon more than once, and hey don't cheap out on ventilation, seriously

 

[Tom Cart]

I want to start laser engraving leather and eventually advance to laser cutting parts. I would be extremely appreciative of any pointers or advice if anyone here has had trouble with either of those! In order to avoid making the same mistakes, I would really like to know what worked for you and what completely failed

Laser engraving and cutting leather can be tricky at first hehe, I found slower speeds and lower power settings work best for engraving without burning, the cutting part took some trial and error with thickness and settings, but once I got it right, it was smooth sailing, you can do it too

 

[shiba inu]

I want to start laser engraving leather and eventually advance to laser cutting parts. I would be extremely appreciative of any pointers or advice if anyone here has had trouble with either of those! In order to avoid making the same mistakes, I would really like to know what worked for you and what completely failed

I haven't tried laser engraving but I did try cutting. It's really delicate and you really gotta take care of it or else it's gonna easily get ruined. For laser engraving, that's on my list. I've witnessed other people doing it and I think we can do this after some trial and error.

 

[photographXYZ]

I want to start laser engraving leather and eventually advance to laser cutting parts. I would be extremely appreciative of any pointers or advice if anyone here has had trouble with either of those! In order to avoid making the same mistakes, I would really like to know what worked for you and what completely failed

Well, you can do it! Laser cutting is a delicate art, and so is laser engraving. At first you might not have well-aligned engravings but eventually you'll get there with practice. Depending on how fast of a learner you are, it's either gonna be really fast or really slow... so. You just need patience!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I want to start laser engraving leather and eventually advance to laser cutting parts. I would be extremely appreciative of any pointers or advice if anyone here has had trouble with either of those! In order to avoid making the same mistakes, I would really like to know what worked for you and what completely failed

I'm curious as to why one would laser cut and engrave leather, unless one is making it for sale to a demographic that wants something close to a factory made product? I'm obviously totally ignorant of the application of a laser to leatherwork, so I am likely missing one or more "pro" points, of the laser and the accompanying cost.

When I fashion a leather product be it mocs, shooting bag, knife sheath, hatchet sheath, cartridge box, & etc..., myself and/or my customers don't want it to look like it was bought from a factory, but made by hand, as finely as possible using older tech. So I hand-cut my leather, and hand embellish it when I want it embellished. I confess that I just ordered a "burning pen" to help me scribe an image on bags and such, because I could do the same with a forge, a nail, and a pair of tongs, but even with this modern "pen" my hand-work is not anywhere close to the precision of a laser.

I don't know, maybe I'm being stupid, and would sell more if I laser?

For Example, here is the front of a sea chest that I saw last Saturday at a Market Fair... It's laser engraved...

Now the chests were very cool, and the laser decoration is wonderful, but I'm not going to buy that for use at events, because that to me is obviously 21st century tech. That's just me, though, and not a reflection on the maker or the product, because at home, on the shelf behind my bar, on my boat (especially if I had a sailing boat) a sea chest with this on it would be very cool!


LD