Leather/brass Engraving

[ktoddmc]

I have seen a few posts that talks about laser engraving on leather. I've spent considerable time looking for a machine that will do this. Does anyone know about these machines? Where to get them? What not to get, etc.? I am interested in something that will personalize latigo leather. I am just a hobbyist and I know these machine will be very high priced, but am still interested. As my experience grows along with my knowledge, I would like to know what is available in this hobby. One day someone might even buy something I make!?? I have posted similar questions dealing with dog collars and leashes. A few folks told me to use brass plates. The dilemma there is "how do you get the engraving to look professional on the brass tag"? Seems to take me back to the beginning. Any help would be appreciated.

[Ferg]

I have seen a few posts that talks about laser engraving on leather. I've spent considerable time looking for a machine that will do this. Does anyone know about these machines? Where to get them? What not to get, etc.? I am interested in something that will personalize latigo leather. I am just a hobbyist and I know these machine will be very high priced, but am still interested. As my experience grows along with my knowledge, I would like to know what is available in this hobby. One day someone might even buy something I make!?? I have posted similar questions dealing with dog collars and leashes. A few folks told me to use brass plates. The dilemma there is "how do you get the engraving to look professional on the brass tag"? Seems to take me back to the beginning. Any help would be appreciated.

Epilog Laser Engravers are some of the best.

They have a series they call Epilog Zing, comes in several sizes cheapest has an engraving area of 16" x 12". They consider this their Entry Level unit. I personally stay away from the cheapest of anything.

Access the Epilog Laser web-site. They have a link to take you to your nearest Distributor. That is the only way you can get a price. Get ready for sticker shock.

ferg

I have seen a few posts that talks about laser engraving on leather. I've spent considerable time looking for a machine that will do this. Does anyone know about these machines? Where to get them? What not to get, etc.? I am interested in something that will personalize latigo leather. I am just a hobbyist and I know these machine will be very high priced, but am still interested. As my experience grows along with my knowledge, I would like to know what is available in this hobby. One day someone might even buy something I make!?? I have posted similar questions dealing with dog collars and leashes. A few folks told me to use brass plates. The dilemma there is "how do you get the engraving to look professional on the brass tag"? Seems to take me back to the beginning. Any help would be appreciated.

Epilog Laser Engravers are some of the best.

They have a series they call Epilog Zing, comes in several sizes cheapest has an engraving area of 16" x 12". They consider this their Entry Level unit. I personally stay away from the cheapest of anything.

Access the Epilog Laser web-site. They have a link to take you to your nearest Distributor. That is the only way you can get a price. Get ready for sticker shock.

ferg

[Spinner]

+1 to 50's suggestion for Epilog. They make awesome stuff. The lasers are adjustable in intensity so you can burn/etch leather, wood, plastics, most metals, etc. They can also be programmed to do precision cutting on wood, etc (with minimal scorch marks on the edges). If there is a major woodworking show in your area they may even be there with live demos. A previous acquaintance of mine had one he used to engrave his co. name and such into his anodized aluminum tool handles.

Edit: in the meantime, on brass plates, simply visit your local trophy shop or mall store like "Things Remembered" to have them engraved. Many times if you get a number of them done at the same time you can get a discount. They can usually turn them around in 1-2 days for decent prices.

Edited August 2, 2010 by Spinner

[Studio-N]

I like both Universal Laser systems and Epilog. Both have a 'trophy shop' model that is probably under $4k. I personally went with the ULS and the deciding factor was the rotary fixture. For the type of hollow vessels I was turning, it seemed to work better. The other thing to look at is table size, but the price of both models goes up with that. In both cases, even the small models have enough laser power to do leather. A mere 20 watts is all that is necessary to engrave leather. Ok, now metals like brass is a different matter. At <50 watts, metal can be marked (as in the serial number tags attached to any electronics these days). If you actually want to engrave (cut/remove) metal, you have to step up to one of the larger models that include a beam compressor. Basically, it puts more heat at the same point with the same amount of power. This is done by changing the frequency of the laser beam and some fancy optics. this really moves the price of these from the 4 digit range to the 5 digit range. Hope that helps.

[ktoddmc]

Epilog Laser Engravers are some of the best.

They have a series they call Epilog Zing, comes in several sizes cheapest has an engraving area of 16" x 12". They consider this their Entry Level unit. I personally stay away from the cheapest of anything.

Access the Epilog Laser web-site. They have a link to take you to your nearest Distributor. That is the only way you can get a price. Get ready for sticker shock.

ferg

Epilog Laser Engravers are some of the best.

They have a series they call Epilog Zing, comes in several sizes cheapest has an engraving area of 16" x 12". They consider this their Entry Level unit. I personally stay away from the cheapest of anything.

Access the Epilog Laser web-site. They have a link to take you to your nearest Distributor. That is the only way you can get a price. Get ready for sticker shock.

ferg

Thanks and you are right I need to sell a bunch of collars and leashes to justify that. Thanks again

[JohnBarton]

I have seen a few posts that talks about laser engraving on leather. I've spent considerable time looking for a machine that will do this. Does anyone know about these machines? Where to get them? What not to get, etc.? I am interested in something that will personalize latigo leather. I am just a hobbyist and I know these machine will be very high priced, but am still interested. As my experience grows along with my knowledge, I would like to know what is available in this hobby. One day someone might even buy something I make!?? I have posted similar questions dealing with dog collars and leashes. A few folks told me to use brass plates. The dilemma there is "how do you get the engraving to look professional on the brass tag"? Seems to take me back to the beginning. Any help would be appreciated.

I know a lot about it - we use a laser engraver in our shop.

The thing you need to know is that the laser is a super versatile tool but it's not as easy as throw it in an burn it. In order to get really GREAT markings on your leather you will need to learn a lot about what the laser can do and how it interacts with various materials. Not all leather is easy to cut and mark.

The place for you to start is www.sawmillcreek.org which is a board for woodworkers. They have a very good section on laser engraving.

If you call Universal Laser Systems they will tell you who the nearest ULS dealer is and you should be able to go to them and take your material and see if it will do what you want. The rep can explain what you need to learn and how the laser works.

I recoomend the ULS lasers HIGHLY. Their software is amazing for controlling the laser and in some ways it's almost as easy as using a printer. (ALMOST). www.ulsinc.com

If you go through my website - www.jbcases.com you will see lots of cases where we used the laser. Mainly wherever you see a case with funky curves and odd parts then it's 99% that we used the laser to make those shapes. We make our own stamps using the laser, we make tap-offs, we laser fine lines which will be tooled later, we make tool-placement templates - this is so that we don't need to scribe lines to keep a row of stamping straight - we make jigs and molds, and and and....... When our laser goes down for a few day we feel the pain because it's such a great tool in our shop.

When you combine laser engraving and hand-tooling you can make some amazing pieces.

But it's also good to remember something. The laser can't do everything - it's only as good as your input.

I once spent two days trying to get a Medical Combat Badge to come out looking good when done by laser. I spent a good ten hours working with this image and playing with the lines and power settings on the laser until finally I just handed it to my tooler and said you try it. He tooled up the badge in a few hours and it looked better than anything I could have ever achieved with the laser in my opinion.

The laser is just a tool. Whether you make boring stuff or inspiring art is all on you.

If you have specific questions feel free to contact me.