laser engraving

[jbird]

I agree the hole way John

Josh

John Barton

True.........True!

[JohnBarton]

Kowboyboots:

Ok so when I first got the laser, a big ULS model, I was out in Vegas doing a tournament where we were laser engraving people's pool cues and cases and sundry small items like keychains, coasters, pool balls and the like.

A guy gives me his case and wants his name in HUGE letters all down the back of it. So I design it, build of some makeshift jigs to keep it in place and let it burn - well it gets halfway through the job and throws the breaker on the power line taking down the whole row of vendors. So then they get the power back on and I start where we left off and there is a line and it gets halfway through the job and throws the breaker again. Turns out the convention center charged me for the high power line and gave me the normal one. So they get that all rerouted and get me the dedicated power I paid for and I redesign the drawing to account for the lines and FOUR HOURS after I started the job it was done to the customer's satisfaction but not to mine.

Another time a guy wanted a skull on his and I kept going over it and it wasn't coming out right and I kept upping the power - until the guy was watching and asked me if it was supposed to be on fire. I told him it was normal, just flashes and when it was done it looked really great - - - - - - - for three seconds before the whole image crumbled into ashes. Turns out I forgot to focus the laser properly and thought I was properly focused. That cost me about $300 to replace the case with a new one.

And the last one - I did a pair of cues - beautifully - just perfect placement - right color to match the cues - everything great - except I misspelled the guy's name by one letter. That cost me around $1000.

Now I will rarely do anyone else's stuff but if I do I triple check everything before I hit go.

Sorry WRONG place. I meant to put this in the laser thread. Please move it if you can.

John

[kevinhopkins]

Hi Randy,

Basically, veg leather will work pretty well, pretty much all the time if the operator has is ducks in a row. And it looks really good. But if you ever decide that you need to do some lasering on chrome tanned leather, you'd certainly want to make sure that some one did a trial pc first. Not all finishes are happy under the laser!

Kevin

[K-Man]

Here's an example of laser engraving done on veg tan leather. In this instance, took a picture of a diecast car.

The detail on it is amazing. You would not be able to achieve the same kind of detail with traditional tooling IMO.

Edited April 27, 2009 by K-Man

[Kowboyboots]

I totally agree John, nothing is more beautiful then tooling. There is heart & soul in every piece of leather carving & tooling.

Lasering is just another medium that brings cool detail and something different.

My late husband bought the 2nd ULS system they sold, Beta model II, that was nearly 20 yrs ago. He got it to do fret work on the guitars he made. But you know after you have played with lasering everything in the house, even the mouse traps sooner or later you look for something new, LOL.

When I meet him I started the leather engraving but mostly I use hair on because thats what I enjoy.

When they made the first lasers they were not refillable, so one Christmas right in middle of the rush days mine ran out of CO2. Thank goodness the rep here in Washington has his demo for sale & I was only down 2 days.

I don't use mine every day but I can't imagine life with out it. I use it to cut very detailed signs, cad cut for printing t-shirts & hats, etching, burning, cutting things out, make filigree business cards....Its just endless the fun things you can do with it. But there is no soul in the work, its computerized. There is heart in my work though.

[JohnBarton]

I totally agree John, nothing is more beautiful then tooling. There is heart & soul in every piece of leather carving & tooling.

Lasering is just another medium that brings cool detail and something different.

My late husband bought the 2nd ULS system they sold, Beta model II, that was nearly 20 yrs ago. He got it to do fret work on the guitars he made. But you know after you have played with lasering everything in the house, even the mouse traps sooner or later you look for something new, LOL.

When I meet him I started the leather engraving but mostly I use hair on because thats what I enjoy.

When they made the first lasers they were not refillable, so one Christmas right in middle of the rush days mine ran out of CO2. Thank goodness the rep here in Washington has his demo for sale & I was only down 2 days.

I don't use mine every day but I can't imagine life with out it. I use it to cut very detailed signs, cad cut for printing t-shirts & hats, etching, burning, cutting things out, make filigree business cards....Its just endless the fun things you can do with it. But there is no soul in the work, its computerized. There is heart in my work though.

The soul comes from what you create with the tool. Whether it's a swivel knife or a laser engraver both are completely inert until a human makes them do something.

Last year two men I admire a lot were inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame. On a whim I had the idea to laser their bios on a cue for each of them. Now I hadn't used the laser for more than a year and I had never done anything like this on a cue where there would be a paragraph and a portrait running the length of the cue.

But what I did have were the templates on the computer that I had painstakingly worked out a few years ago to be able to engrave around the circumference on a tapered cone. It took me weeks to get this done where I could literally plop what ever I wanted into my template and laser it in the right spot. (if only it were that easy)

Anyway, so I first had to grab the bio and reformat it to fit the space, redo the portrait so it was properly setup and so on....you know how it goes.

And so in the middle of the night before the ceremony, I started this project and finished it four hours later. Without all the experience I gained a few years ago and the making of the digital templates I would have had no chance to use this tool to create this gift.

The next night I was privileged to be allowed to present these two legends with the cues and the look on their faces was completely priceless. The laser didn't make those items, I did with all my heart.

Did you ever laser baloney? We did when we got ours. Nasty metallic taste but really funny! :-)

[whinewine]

That's all I use is a laser.

Kowboyboots click any where on page to go to web shots.

I mostly work in hair on but there are plenty of samples of other leathers too.

Randy Sever of Sever Bros is using a laser on some of his trophy saddles, FYI.

If any one needs custom work I don't charge a set an $5-$10 on most projects.

Something like coasters I charge 50 cents to $1 depends on the size of the logo.

I have an advantage most don't have. Everything I have is paid for so I don't have to make a lot of money..

My joy comes from happy customers not the money any more.

You talk about scared putting things in the laser, I had a very expensive leather jacket someone wanted a design on the back of. We pulled it off but was pretty stressful.

Lately I have been burning sweatshirts with the designs, like burnout velvet. Looks really neat.

Kathy:

PM sent.

Thanks.

russ

[sheathmaker]

Bob, then there was a guy in Alpine, TX that used to advertise too.

That guy in Alpine, TX is Johny Wyerts (Yeah Johny with only one n). He is good and has a very nice school type teaching facility at his home in Alpine. He can handle up to five or so students and each has their own complete engraving station all set up with GRS equipment. His telephone number is or was 915 837 2969. On top of everything else he's a true gentleman and you'll be glad to count him as friend. Oh, yes, I did take his course and bought all the equipment and then found I didn't have time enough for engraving and leather both so leather won that battle.

Paul

[JohnBarton]

Here's an example of laser engraving done on veg tan leather. In this instance, took a picture of a diecast car.

The detail on it is amazing. You would not be able to achieve the same kind of detail with traditional tooling IMO.

You could definitely get this detail with pyrograpghy. And honestly I wouldn't put it past some of the artists here to figure out how to do this with normal leather tools.

With the laser though this sort of work is definitely easier once everything has been properly setup. SOMETIMES it's as easy as loading the graphic and letting it go and other times hours and days are needed to get everything just right to get to come out nicely.

The laser is essentially a printer so it's clear that it can reproduce detail on a 1:1 basis. Here in Xiamen though there are artists who do engravings on granite. They use a little tiny chisel and a hammer and can reproduce any photograph to the smallest details.