130 Watt CO2 Laser

[RockyAussie]

4 hours ago, chuckgaudette said:

I've been disappointed with cutting leather with the laser. I'm using mostly soft leather about 3mm and the charring is just too much work to get off. What I do is use the laser to score the pattern on the back side of the leather and then finish the cut with a knife. That way there is much less clean up.  It's more work than if I had a clicker and some dies but at least I can get the pattern outline on the piece accurately.

Thanks for that Chuck. What watt size are you running? I am wondering if the size will have a big difference with the charring as well?

 

2 hours ago, Frankqv said:

Chuckdette,We have some charring,but I’ve been able to back off on the power tto minimize that. Excess charring could be focal length not set right?  All of our molded fold over are all double sided. 2-2.5 oz/ 4- 4.5oz glued back to back. We  cover the 4.5 oz side with low tack sign transfer tape. We trim the sides so we end up with 20 + ft2 laminated. We can slip it in the front door of the laser. I nest the patterns which maximizes yield. I use an outlined font to mark the make ,model,,IWB/OWB on each holster.We maintain specific inventories,so I’m able to mix the holster cuts on the one piece.

 

You are cutting through the low tack transfer tape when you are cutting and thus keeping some of the charring from transferring over?

I am thinking of making some pretty intricate stuff that would be impractical to further cut with a knife and so am wondering what methods people have found gives an easy clean up. For instance when I used to colour change shoes, I used a glass bead blaster to etch  and clean the shoes first. One little bit of sticky tape is all it took to stop the glass blasting away any areas I did not want blasted. The tape just makes the beads bounce off . Therefore I wonder if the transfer tape left on until after blasting would be an effective manner of char removal. Perhaps some edge sealer can penetrate the charring and keep it fixed? and so on. Brian

[Wizcrafts]

I think that the Leather Machinery forum might be a better place to discuss laser cutters. If there are no objections, I will be happy to move this topic to that forum. What say you?

[KittenThrasher]

7 hours ago, chuckgaudette said:

I've been disappointed with cutting leather with the laser. I'm using mostly soft leather about 3mm and the charring is just too much work to get off. What I do is use the laser to score the pattern on the back side of the leather and then finish the cut with a knife. That way there is much less clean up.  It's more work than if I had a clicker and some dies but at least I can get the pattern outline on the piece accurately.

My experience is similar to this, I got a 30W laser a few weeks ago and am still learning (quickly) the most recent thing I've corrected is the focus point, with this now correct the charring is a lot less bad. It's still easier to use the machine for marking out though. At the moment while I'm still getting a grip on it I'm using it to cut out patterns in 3mm acrylic (from DIY store for glazing shed windows etc, works great for this purpose. ) I'm looking forward to using it for a lot more over time.

[Frankqv]

I think you are right Wiz,please move it at your convenience ,Thanks

 

[chuckgaudette]

Brian - I'm running a 65 Watt machine. I've tried many different combinations of speed and power.  My machine has automatic focusing so that's not a problem. I have used light tack tape to mask off areas I'm cutting. The tape mainly keeps the soot that's being generated and blown around from the air assist from staining the leather. I've done some fairly intricate cutting as well and a laser is probably the only way to do some of this sort of cutting. But you spend time weeding out the tape after cutting.  Another problem with the charring is if you paint the edges with brighter color edge paint like a red or blue, the charring will darken the paint

[Frankqv]

For the edges we paint lighter we run them across a 3m scotchbrite wheel,knocks the char right off. I am going to try inert gas instead of air,that should prevent any combustion,and prevent Charring I read somewhere that"s how they cut exotic shoe uppers uppers now, Ill keep you informed.

[RockyAussie]

Thanks Chuck and Frank for that info. What I am wanting to be able to do is along the lines in these pictures below. This is at the very rough prototype stage at the moment and further pieces are to be added to it yet so please overlook the roughness as it has not been hammered etc as yet. As you see by the patterns the numerous holes and cuts that have to be precisely placed makes doing by hand tedious and with a clicker very expensive knife costs. Cleaning the edges in an efficient way may be important. 

ps. I got bored with stitching and wanted to explore other alternatives looks.

 

Edited April 5, 2018 by RockyAussie
Forgot to mention a name.

[RockyAussie]

I forgot to say I am calling this my Holy Poke method. If anyone knows what it should be called please advise us.

[chuckgaudette]

Very clever idea Brian. I was talking to some guys who were cutting belts with a laser. They put them in the washing machine to clean them up. It worked but the soft thin leather I'm using didn't look so good afterward. 

[RockyAussie]

34 minutes ago, chuckgaudette said:

Very clever idea Brian. I was talking to some guys who were cutting belts with a laser. They put them in the washing machine to clean them up. It worked but the soft thin leather I'm using didn't look so good afterward. 

Ouch ......That is a scary thought but I guess as a last resort maybe. I spose I'd have to have washing instructions next....Please remove your phone first blah blah