Chris DeGerolamo

We do use an air assist and it does help, but the material will char regardless. Consider it the nature of the beast.

Sorry, no it is not. It requires a significant increase in power to cut metals.

I've cut up to 10oz with no problems. Yes, it will char, but it can be removed by soaking and cleaning, sanding or burnishing. Thinner leathers have less char/burn since the laser can move faster.

The variance in power you will need to cut metal and engrave leather will force you to buy two machines...cutting metal requires a lot of power. We have a 35W Epilog and I've cut 10oz leather fine. I'd recommend maybe a 45 or 60 depending on what weight you intend on cutting. For production concerns, speed will likely be an issue, so think higher wattage... *sigh* there is a lot to say about this....I would suggest hopping over to http://www.sawmillcreek.org/forumdisplay.php?f=8 and read up on what machines people like. For me, I'd recommend either Universal or Epilog since they are American made. The machines have a slight learning curve but are invaluable once you get the hang of them. Plan on buying Corel Draw so that you have a good interface with which to send the prints. You'll need an exhaust system as well, and possibly a compressor for air assist. And a good UPS to protect against power spikes...and a fuse on your panel if you want to do it right.

We have been looking recently for a good machine that we would be able to use to sew holsters and some other small objects. Our holsters are generally four plys of 4/5 or 7/8 (for overkill) so we need something that can penetration those layers without fail. Does anyone have any advice? From what I gather, anything from a retail shop is out of the question. Will we have to spend $1000 or more to get a machine that suites us? I do not want any fancy stitching styles or embroidering garbage (no offense to anyone, we just have no use for it). As it stands now, it takes about 45 minutes for me to sew a holster now and it is killing our profit margins. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks! -Chris

Lasers are expensive, yes, but you are able to create so much more than handmade tooling/cutting allows. I agree, that yes lasering does take a bit of the "warmth" that handmade items carry, but the time difference is amazing. And we all know that time is money. The laser also allows us to cut leather and other materials the same throughout a production run, much the same as a die would with a press. Upkeep is not as bad as you would think - I would say it's similar to a car in that if you do routine maintenance, you're less likely to get a bombshell dropped on your doorstep on a Monday morning, ya know?

We offer laser engraving and cutting services on leather, among a variety of other materials. I have a few holsters that I have made using laser techniques - see my gallery on this forum. We currently do not stock it, but we can also laser engrave Delrin for custom cut stamps. Additionally, you may check out our company site at caddgraphics [dot] com for more examples, applications and additional information. Thank you.

Are you asking if we take laser work?? If so, my answer is yes and I'm sure Roy's would be the same.

New here so bear with me.. I got into leather applications on our laser less than 3 months ago. Since then, I have been able to design (in AutoCAD) holsters and cut the materials using our laser. All of the holes for stitching get cut as well, saving a tremendous amount of time (time=$). Using the engraving function, we are able to add text and artwork, of which we have a metric butt-ton. I have attached a few images; sorry for the lack of quality as these were taken with my phone and text messaged to e-mail. Thanks for looking.