How To Cut Large Circles?

[AndreasB]

Hi all,

I got another question for you guys.

I'd like to make some key fobs. I wanted to cut a figure 8 kind of piece of leather glue them together, stitch, dye...

I tried to cut the leather a couple of times but it didn't really work out nice. Also it's not really possible to sand the edges on the now remaining circle nicely so I wanted to improve my cutting result in order to not need to sand. But like I said it didn't get much better. Any advice?

I thought of getting a huge round punch an cut part of the circle away so I only have about 7/8 of the circle left and use this to punch my 8. Would that work?

Thanks

Andreas

[Jimbob]

Hi all,

I got another question for you guys.

I'd like to make some key fobs. I wanted to cut a figure 8 kind of piece of leather glue them together, stitch, dye...

I tried to cut the leather a couple of times but it didn't really work out nice. Also it's not really possible to sand the edges on the now remaining circle nicely so I wanted to improve my cutting result in order to not need to sand. But like I said it didn't get much better. Any advice?

I thought of getting a huge round punch an cut part of the circle away so I only have about 7/8 of the circle left and use this to punch my 8. Would that work?

Thanks

Andreas

Andy, that would work.....but big costs and lots of trouble....wonder what kind of knife you use....? If you have a sharp knife you should be able to cut every shape you want just fine.....try a German "Schuster messer" with slide blade or fixed.....have it razor sharp!!

And sanding the edges wil help to finish it of nicely, little burnishing and a bit wax makes it perfect....(Bandschleifer...?).

Practice a bit and you will be cutting circels around yourself in not time....I use a Round knife ,,,( Halbmond Messer....) works fine for me but needs practice..

Also dann mal los, und immer feste ueben...

Gruesse aus VA

Aloha

Jimbob

[Tree Reaper]

This is what I use to cut circles.

http://www.misterart.com/tools/paper-trimmers/lion-ev-r-round-circle-cutter.html

[AndreasB]

Hi Jimbob,

thanks for the advice. I tried cutting the circles with a really sharp cutter similar to the one you described and a rotary knife. The problem is when I try to cut the leather at once I need to apply a lot of force to the knife resulting in less control. And if I cut it in several runs the corner doesn't look nice. Also I tried it on my belt grinder but I would need a smaller wheel in order to get into the corners. Sanding by hand didn't work out great either.

Tree Reaper,

this seems to be a gizmo that might help. I need to find out if I can get a similar one in Germany

Thanks guys.

[TwinOaks]

For leather up to about 8oz, I often use scissors. I have a pair that came in a set of garden tools than have large handles and a relatively small set of blades, resulting in good cutting leverage. They are smooth bladed, which I find works well on veg tan leather.

[LNLeather]

Hi Andreas

How many of these do you want to make?

If it was me, and I wanted to be making and selling a lot of these things,

I'd figure out a way to make them good and fast...

You might want to think about getting yourself a small shop press

and buy a cutting die made to the specific shape you want. Some places make

a standard key fob shape that might be less expensive to buy, or if you want

a customized shape you might need to shop around for the best price.

It might be you spend a couple of hundred bucks, but then you can make lots of perfect cuts.

You get less waste and less frustration... You will have to decide if it is worth it.

You can check this out for some basic info

Plate Embossing And Die Cutting

and - here's just a couple of places you can get cutting dies made

If you are interested, I suggest emailing them and asking them about what you have in mind...

Texas Custom Dies

Tippmann

Edited June 23, 2012 by LNLeather