Vaelloc Report post Posted August 23, 2017 1st knife sheath with laser engrave skull. 1st time so it's off centered and lightened up with dye. Any tips on knife sheath itself to make it better. Anyone do laser engraving on leather before Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wedgetail Report post Posted August 23, 2017 Hey @Vaelloc, I use one of those cheap chinese KC40 lasers for making acrylic templates, rubber stamps, and etching on leather. Can probably offer a few of my learnings. First up, I dye before lasering. As you found out, dyeing sort of washes it which lightens it... and can make a hell of a mess too leaving debris over your piece. In the same way, i like to use Frisket film (low adhesive clear contact film) to protect the areas that are not being etched from the smoke, and from the debris from vaporised material when you brush it out. I like to use a semi stiff brush to brush out the debris... not one of your good horse hair ones though because it will get super dirty with the charcoal. What else.... make notes about your start and stop position for things using the same layout. Like when I do coffee sleeves I have a piece of cardboard I traced an outline of my coffee sleeve shape on, and the start coordinates. Now making one is just a case of slipping in my cardboard template hard up against two edges, placing my sleeve on, loading the laser template, and placing the image I want... comes out like below, centred every time Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
