Question About Laser Engraving.

[Dan28]

First off, I am new to leather crafting. I do have a pretty good resource I can use, as a co-worker has a rather high end laser engraving machine that she mostly used to make etchings into wood frames.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LaserCraftEngraving?page=1

She can and will engrave leather for me. I'm just curious if anybody knows whether to do it to the veg tan leather before or after the dying process?

[Greg528it]

The answer is.. YES. I have sandblasted leather before and after. The effect is different, and will depend on what effect you want.

Hog Hunter knife sheath.. blasted AFTER stained. I tried to blast past how deep the stain soaked in.

Leather portfolio.. this is drum died leather. for my wife, a nice subtle look

stained leather.. a piece I blasted BEFORE I stained, it opened up the grain and really took the stain. I also put vinyl decals on from my vinyl cutter and it masked

leather work.. the piece of leather plain as I sand blasted it.. with the decal stuck to it.

the laser burns.. I suspect it'll darken the leather, so may never be able to get a light pattern.

[Studio-N]

I concur - the answer is that it can be engraved before and/or after depending on what you're going to do.

on a lot of mine, I laser after I have dyed and finished so that the finish acts as a resist for the color fill I'm doing.

[knazim]

I have my own laser engraver and have used it extensively on leather. I first dye, apply finish and then engrave. See my pictures below of my work:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/159793131/ipad-nexus-kindle-galaxy-tablet-leather?ref=shop_home_feat_1

Just make sure that your friend understands that when you laser engrave leather it really stinks and you need to ventilate properly. The smell permeates everywhere so keep a few cans of Febreeze handy

Regards

Khalid

[Dan28]

Thanks for the responses. I gave her some pieces of scrap and good 9oz leather and designs I want to try today. They were unfinished, so I will see how it turns out. I'm going on vacation so I won't know for a week or so how it turns out.

I'm actually looking at one of the "cheap" Chinese 40W laser engravers on Amazon now. Wondering if it would be worth it to mess with it myself.

[Nuttish]

I'm not convinced the Chinese lasers are worth the money or trouble. The toolchain sucks and you end up having to become a hacker just to keep the thing working. Parts are not readily available and there is zero support.

Lasercut leather smells like death.

Our Epilog calls for 400 CFM at 6 inches of static pressure, which is oppressively expensive to do without installing a 90+ db motor or dust collector inside the shop. I sincerely doubt that recommendation is all that well conceived, but wutevs. You can adequately ventilate one of these things with one of those 400+ CFM stoner hydroponic blowers or the el cheapo Harbor Freight dust collector blower motor and the shortest, straightest runs of galvanized ducting you can manage for less than $300.

$0.02.

[Studio-N]

......

I'm actually looking at one of the "cheap" Chinese 40W laser engravers on Amazon now. Wondering if it would be worth it to mess with it myself.

When it comes to engraving, not a lot of power is necessary. 25W will give a good engraving on VegTan.

Because of the metallic salts in the leather, Chrome tan leather takes more power.

If you're planning to use the laser to cut the leather, you'll need a good 40-45 watts to get good results without a lot of burning.

I have a Universal Laser 45 watt. It is a 2001 model and has been a workhorse. If I had to buy another one today, I would choose

Universal despite the big price differences to other models. It is tried and true and the two times I needed support in the last 13 years, I got

good service. In america. In English.

Cheers!

[silverwingit]

Greg528it, all due respect to laser engraving, your sand blasting effects are the coolest thing I've seen in a while! Seems much more "organic" to my eye than laser engraving. Very innovative ~and~ effective, my favorite combination. I must find a place that can do that for me so I can try it.

Thanks for showing us!

Michelle

[knazim]

@Nuttish,

I have 80W Shenhui Laser that I imported from China. My Chinese laser has been fantastic. The machine works superbly, never broke down in the last 3 years and the support has always been fantastic. So based on the my experience, I will not agree with you that chinese lasers the not worth it. They are absolutely worth every penny and allow people to get fully functional laser for fraction of the cost of the Western Laser machines.

@Dan 28

I would suggest to not buy the machine on Ebay but buy from the chinese manufacturers directly. These is extensive coverage ont this topic at Sawmill Creek online forum. Please check that before you decide to buy a laser.

Regards

KN

[tcondie435]

I'm not sure where else to ask this so here goes.

Does anyone have any experience cutting chrome and oil tanned leathers with their laser. I've messed with it a little but there is a black dust left from our engraving and cutting in Waterhouse leather's Bandito oil-tan. The dust when brushed off seems to smear into the leather and it doesn't look good enough. I would greatly appreciate any tips on using lasers with leathers other than veg tan!

[stelmackr]

I'm not sure where else to ask this so here goes.

Does anyone have any experience cutting chrome and oil tanned leathers with their laser. I've messed with it a little but there is a black dust left from our engraving and cutting in Waterhouse leather's Bandito oil-tan. The dust when brushed off seems to smear into the leather and it doesn't look good enough.

A friend of mine show me how to place some low tack shelf lining paper over the leather and the paper prevented the black dust from landing on the surface. This was demonstrated to me with a veg tanned piece, but I assume it would work for chrome tanned.

Bob Stelmack

[tcondie435]

A friend of mine show me how to place some low tack shelf lining paper over the leather and the paper prevented the black dust from landing on the surface. This was demonstrated to me with a veg tanned piece, but I assume it would work for chrome tanned.

Bob Stelmack

Thanks Bob! I'll try that and once I get all this dialed I'll document it all here!

[Studio-N]

If anything else, you can simply wash the leather in the sink. I will not hurt it, but it may cause some stiffness in it.

[Nuttish]

Don't cut all the way through it. Only cut through the grain and finish the cuts with a fresh razor blade, which will follow the slight "channel" you've created.

Enough black dust to cause much less staining to your thread will blow out with compressed air. You can also use a very fine tooth brush with highly foamed saddle soap to lightly scrub your stitch holes if you're laser cutting them.

Wash the surface with foamed saddle soap to remove the film of carbon that collects as the machine exhausts fumes over the grain.

The laser will sometimes make a small spot of damaged grain when it's cutting over previously charred material farthest from the exhaust plenum.

The obvious trick to cutting edges is ... sand them.

[BenjaminEstberg]

So on the topic of chrome tanned leather, I have been racking my head to find out which leathers that can have a tape or mask applied to protect from the soot without causing the color to look faded when the tape is removed. I think that it is not removing the dye or color rather then stretching the leather when removed.  I have no problem with Capri or cowboy leather but when it comes to Laguna.......I think that a super low power like 10 doesn't mark but 11 will is the only option I have.  this means no tape or mask which in return leaves no way to fill the engraved area with inlay. I tried the lemon pledge idea from Studio-N.( thank you)  removes the soot well from blue, brown, timber wolf(gray), dark green and other darker colors. The biggest problem is with the red and light tan. it seems that the area cleaned (to me at least) still looks dark or discolored.  If I do the logo at 11 pwr, 500 speed and .089 int I can see the logo and there is no burn, the leather is still reddish when done. But it has no depth to the logo/ pattern. and again this leaves no option for inlay. For the other leathers I put down a 2" wide piece of blue painters tape, roll it real good with a rubber wheel roller ( a tape gun that I Mcguivered), hit it with the laser, then ( thanks Fed Ex) press a fed ex label over the logo/ pattern a couple of times to pick up the soot with out removing the tape. apply the inlay, let dry and remove the tape.  Awesome results so far.  I did 13 logos this am and have ohhh about 107 more to go.  Any pointers are more than welcome!!

 

Best,

 

Ben