Simple Circle

[gtrscarz]

New to leather and having a hard time doing the simplest thing...making a perfect circle. Any suggestions or tricks greatly appreciated.

[electrathon]

Not simple at all. Short of a punch or clicker: A protractor, then trim oversized, then belt sand to the line.

[leatherjunkie]

aw beat me to it. was just gonna say belt sander.....

use a can or something that is a circle to the size you want lay on leather or paper for tracing then cut then use belt sander to finalize shape

[Andrew Chee]

I saw this in a japanese magazine. It was for cutting tight curves, not circles necessarily but the concept applies. You place your template over the leather, then instead of trying to cut along the curve with a knife, you cut straight down, then you make small downward cuts taking a small wedge of leather with you each time. If you cut wedges that are small enough, the end results looks like a pretty decent curve. Something worth trying...

Andrew

[gtrscarz]

thanks. i was thinking not so much of cutting out a circle, but carving a circle design within a piece. practicing on a bunch of pre-cut coasters, doing a circular design in the middle...but looks more like an egg.

[Tree Reaper]

You can use thin wall pipe or a stencil to make the outline and then follow that with your knife.

I used thin wall drain pipe from a sink drain to make the circle for the moon.