Pyrography On Finished Leather, Or What Else?

[pyroleather]

Hi all, this is my first post.... I have a bit of experience with pyrography on wood (done it for a few years). Now I am trying with leather and so far I have achieved good results using not finished veg-tan leather.

I recently received a request to decorate chrome tanned leather, one is thin leather, the other is weighty hide. Both leathers are already finished (the customer has bought some leather bags and he would like me to decorate them adding a big logo). I have tried on spair pieces of the thin leather (the customer had a few leftovers out of the finished bags) but the chemicals on the leather.... stink (that's the least of problems.... I just mention it as joke :-) I am using gas mask, serious!)... The real problem is that the thin leather wrinkles as if the chemicals of the finish had it become like plastic (though I assure you it is leather). Not yet tried on the big hyde.

Any suggestion on how to proceed with pyrography on finished leather?

If not pyrography, could I carve or use any other tecnique on finished leather, both on thin leather and on thick hyde?

Sorry for the newbie questions.......

Thanks all!!!

[Dave D]

Last summer I did some pyrography on veg tanned leather, and those fumes were strong, too. I had a large fan and a particle mask on the whole time.

From my own mistake, I should have mounted the leather first. Perhaps with rubber cement first? (Not sure how the heat would effect that, though.)

I, too, am curious if anyone has had any success.

I made a "spirit board" or sorts for a friend to use at a renaissance fair.

[pyroleather]

Last summer I did some pyrography on veg tanned leather, and those fumes were strong, too. I had a large fan and a particle mask on the whole time.

From my own mistake, I should have mounted the leather first. Perhaps with rubber cement first? (Not sure how the heat would effect that, though.)

I, too, am curious if anyone has had any success.

I made a "spirit board" or sorts for a friend to use at a renaissance fair.

Thanks "Dave D" for your support and suggestions. Mounting leather first might really help in preventing wrinkles, though I tend to assume chemicals on finished leather react in such a way to the heated wire of the pyrography machine that wrinkles might be almost unavoidable. I see you used veg tanned leather for your project, which is surely recommended.

My aim is to be able to satisfy two present potential customers who would give me finished leather products. How do I tackle that? Is pyrography a viable way (this is what my customers would like me to use)? Is carving possible on finished leather? What are some other tecniques I could possibly use to decorate finished leather (colouring is not an option with these projects)?

I have already mentioned these two potential customers (they have tens of objects to decorate) that maybe we might do some "patchwork". I create their logos and decorations on unfinished veg-tan leather, I would then apply dyes and waxes so as to fit colour and finish of their already made objects and then I (or them) would stitch/glue them on their leather objects, but they didn't like the idea that much. Up until now they have decorated their leather objects with embroidery and this is what they will continue to do unless I come up with a solution, which should be an artistic tecnique applicable to already finished objects.

What choices do I / they have?

Suggestions are welcome!

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Thin leather will shrink, and wrinkle, when heated in this way. Do you have a burner with a heat adjustment on it? If so, you can dial the temp down to alleviate some of the wrinkling. Having the leather temporarily mounted will help too. There are some 3M adhesive products out that should work for this.

[Northmount]

Any suggestion on how to proceed with pyrography on finished leather?

FoxChapel Publishing did a couple special issue magazines, one in 2012 and one in 2011. Both have some info on using leather. Seems to me they suggested not using chrome tanned leather due to the chemical fumes. Issues available here I found them both to be quite interesting. Lots of info on techniques, tools, and interesting history and examples/gallery.

CTG

[Art]

Go to one of the shows he attends, and talk to Bob Beard about this. He does some of this as one of his many skillsets. You will get info on what to use and some howtos.

Art