Chakotay

I'll go against the grain and say my lasers have become my most used and indispensable machines; even more so than my sewing machine! I do most of my cutting on them. I can create, modify, and tweak my patterns quicker and more accurately. I now also incorporate the stitch holes into my patterns. Makes saddle stitching a breeze.

Sounds just like my Class 26. Guess that's just the way they sound.

This. Though I often stamp the entire front and back as well ... just depends. Especially if the holster is a "Mexican-loop" style with a skirt (one I make frequently), there's really no reason to stamp the back side. It's literally never going to be seen.

I'm definitely in the minority here. I only use water-based contact cements like Aquilim 315 and EcoWeld. I find them much easier to work with and plenty strong enough . . . though I'm using them to glue items that eventually get stitched anyway. The high-VOC glues quickly give me headaches, and I don't like their 'stringiness". Once you get to finishing your edges, rub them with a rubber cement eraser, sanding belt cleaner, or even a piece of denim. It will catch all the tiny gummed-up fibers and make your edges smoother.

Etsy is my go-to for leather patterns. If you have a bit more to spend and don't mind the wait, there's Babylon Leather. It's an overseas outfit that sells physical patterns in either acrylic or cardboard. Huge selection of bag/satchel patterns and I've purchased several times from them.

It's great for applying dyes and oil.

good to know.

Isn't everything ultimately made in China? I've bought loads of tools, including a full set of piping feet for my Class 26 from Amazon. All made overseas. Works just fine. In many (most) cases, you don't have a choice.

I've only had experience with LightBurn to run the machine. But as Bert03241 mentioned, I don't actually do any design in LightBurn. I create the design in Adobe Illustrator and import into LB just to position and choose power/speed/pass settings. As someone else said, Inkscape is another vector program that's a free download. As always, Youtube is your friend on all of these.

You'll eventually want the ability to actually CUT your leather pieces out, not just engrave. Not sure if the Laser Pecker will do that (someone else can chime in). For around that price level, there's a whole host of open-gantry style diode lasers that will cut and engrave on Amazon. I have direct experience with the Creality Falcon 10W. It's a good machine for what you're wanting.

check out about 13 mins in . . .

Sold!

Selling an almost-new TandyPro Strap Edge Beveler. Used once. comes complete with the box. $200

If you buy a generic one of these machines, this video may be helpful. It absolutely works . . . but there is a learning curve. https://youtu.be/pG8j8ql2oIw

price

Alternatively, you could just drop $200 for a cheap MSLA 3D printer off Amazon . . .

I do all my designs in Adobe Illustrator. Inkscape is a good freeware alternative. Then import those into Lightburn.

see attached: It's quite a list.

I have not tried cutting metal with either of these lasers. Just leather and wood. Yeah, at the moment the 22W is a lot more expensive and I wouldn't be able to justify the price with my current production volume. Personally I would go with the 10W version and simply adjust the gcode settings to accommodate.

Just adding to the leather & laser knowledge-base by dropping a link here to a video showing me cutting leather on the new Creality 22W laser and directly comparing it's performance with the original 10W version. Very impressed with both these machines. The new 22W blows through 9oz veg-tan.

I normally run #207 thread in my Class 26. I've even accidentally run #277 on the top (grabbed the wrong spool.) It ran fine.

Yep, you found them! Some of the items (like the shaped die cutters) are best used on an arbor press (or similar). You may see me on the videos pounding on them with a maul, but that's usually just because I only needed one or two cuts and didn't want to set up the camera for it. The leathercraft stuff on Amazon really runs the gamut of junk to very good. Just read the reviews carefully. But at the price it's a good place to try a particular tool before spending real $$$ on the expensive version. For instance, before dropping $180 on a single Sinabroks stitching punch, I decided to try the $40 "WUTA" brand stitching punches (a set of 3) first just to see if I like this style of stitching. They work great and l never bought the Sinabroks verison.

I believe Babylon sells both craftboard and clear acrylic templates for this satchel. I get them from Amazon. Just look up "leather corner cutters" or similar. There's several styles of them and they're pretty cheap.

I actually made a video of this for my Youtube channel. I didn't use a pattern at the time of filming. However, you can get one from Babylon Leather (link in the video description . . . note I don't receive any commission for this.)

Back when I started using it you couldn't find it anywhere else. Found an international seller on eBay who sold gallons of it relatively cheap. But good to know I can score it more locally now! When I run out of my current supply I'll defiantly go there.