Water cutter for leather

[Ferg]

You could cut 3 to 4 oz. leather with a small inexpensive diode laser, it would be slow. If you are thinking Chrome Tanned leather forget the laser.

CO2 laser of 40W of power would cut about anything you want to cut in leather. It will stink and it will burn the edges black. Some manipulation of air assist, power, speed of cut,

will lighten the edges somewhat, it will still stink. Think a dead animal being incinerated.

On a budget? Go to Harbor Freight, buy a hydraulic press that has a jack with air assist, either do a little self build or have a friend with a welder provide the surface you need.

There are hundreds of posts regarding buying and modifying these presses on this forum. Slower than a dedicated $5000 dollar clicker. With good dies you can cut a large amount in a 

relatively short time.

I have two lasers, self built hydraulic press, and many knives. Believe me, you don't want to cut leather with a water jet. Laser cutting leather is messy at best.

Ferg

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Ferg

[Frodo]

 I hear led zeppelin in the back ground playing Dazed And Confused

Led Zeppelin - Dazed And Confused (Official Audio) - YouTube

 

 

Large companies use large clicker cutters and do not stack the leather in high bundles, because of quality assurance

If you are an up and coming company then you need to pick 5 or 6 patterns that you do GOOD  and not try to make everything in the world, THAT comes after you are established.  Right now it will be about building a solid clientele list and a good name

Get a large clicker press and fined a company that is willing to grow with you and provide you with dies.  you need to use 1 guy exclusively 

[Matt S]

@ThoughtFission So you're considering spending 40K on a waterjet cutter that /might/ cut leather to an acceptable standard, but not 7K on a laser plus extractor that /will/ cut leather (slowly, with possibly acceptable edges) or under 3K on a clicker press that /will/ cut leather /fast/ with good edges?

Waterjet cutters aren't exactly clean. I've not used one myself but all the videos I've seen of people operating them look very messy. Ever used a pressure washer to clean a patio? Now run it indoors, 8 hours a day. I suppose if you're running a business it's possible to partition your waterjet machine away from the leather storage and machine rooms. You'll also have to contend with the fact that the leather will be soaking wet (and potentially dirty). You'll have to factor in time and cost to dry (and possibly clean) this leather before the next stage.

I noticed that you've been making a lot of posts about saving money or doing things on the cheap. I know well how tempting that is, but in my experience that's the wrong way to setup a business. Cheap tools and machinery are some of the most expensive things you can buy. I'm not advocating to waste money but the frustration, the downtime (lost earning), the inflexibility (lost opportunity, and/or having to buy another tool to do that other job) and the early breakages associated with cheap (low quality and/or inappropriate) tools far exceeds what you initially pay for them in £/€/$.

[Uwe]

I’ve used a water jet to cut leather before. It worked okay, cutting four or so layers at a time sandwiched between foam board, but still was messy. That was when I had access to a water jet at my local maker space.It’s a monstrous machine and a maintenance nightmare. This will never exist in my garage.

If I were to start cutting custom shapes out of leather, I’d invest in a oscillating knife CNC cutting machine. I’ve seen these at trade shows and was utterly impressed. They can be large enough for an entire hide, or much smaller.  They’re definitely easier to maintain and less messy than a water jet. I can see a 2’x4’ version this living in my garage, for around $15K on Alibaba.com

 

 

[billybopp]

46 minutes ago, Uwe said:

I’ve used a water jet to cut leather before. It worked okay, cutting four or so layers at a time sandwiched between foam board, but still was messy. That was when I had access to a water jet at my local maker space.It’s a monstrous machine and a maintenance nightmare. This will never exist in my garage.

If I were to start cutting custom shapes out of leather, I’d invest in a oscillating knife CNC cutting machine. I’ve seen these at trade shows and was utterly impressed. They can be large enough for an entire hide, or much smaller.  They’re definitely easier to maintain and less messy than a water jet. I can see a 2’x4’ version this living in my garage, for around $15K on Alibaba.com

That looks really interesting!   I wonder if the cutting head is something that could be purchased separately and attached to a "regular" CNC?

- Bill

[Uwe]

They actually make combo CNC machines that have both a laser head and a separate oscillating knife head. The knife heads might be available separately, but I’m not sure.

You’ll need a special cutting bed that the knife can cut into, and perhaps a vacuum system to hold the leather down.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Uwe

[sbrownn]

On 2/18/2021 at 12:24 AM, ThoughtFission said:

The issue there is the cost of the cutter (10 tonnes or above) and the cutting dies. But I have seen some tutorials on how to make your own dies. Makes it difficult to prototype though. Need a new die for each change. Maybe I will give this a second look until I can afford a more elegant solution.

I'm not sure why you need a clicker die to prototype.  I use a 3D printer to make 2D patterns for my prototyping and then cut around them with a knife.  I had this idea to 3D print clicker dies that would have a slot in them that you could fit a band knife into.  I did give it a try but the band knife stock I purchased was way too stiff to bend and fit into the slot.  My pattern had too many sharp curves but if you eliminated the sharp curves the process works fine.  My next idea is to use a thinner bandsaw knife blade but I haven't gotten around to experimenting with it yet.   Another idea I had was to just use blades for the straight sections and then cut the curves with a knife. 

[Ferg]

I have a two head CNC router. Large industrial machine weighing 5000 #.

I also have a "Drag Knife" that attaches into the collets of the heads. The knife is actually either a Exacto blade or simply a Utility knife blade.

I can program it with the same G-codes used for CNC, the motors do not turn, you lock the router so it cannot free turn.

Obviously everyone isn't fortunate enough to have a $120,000 CNC to play with since we retired. The drag knife attachment cost about $200.

Uwe, you would love this thing! Lol

Ferg

[billybopp]

5 hours ago, Ferg said:

I have a two head CNC router. Large industrial machine weighing 5000 #.

I also have a "Drag Knife" that attaches into the collets of the heads. The knife is actually either a Exacto blade or simply a Utility knife blade.

I can program it with the same G-codes used for CNC, the motors do not turn, you lock the router so it cannot free turn.

Obviously everyone isn't fortunate enough to have a $120,000 CNC to play with since we retired. The drag knife attachment cost about $200.

Uwe, you would love this thing! Lol

Ferg

There we have it!  Thanks Ferg!  

PS - definitely jealous!

[Uwe]

The company I saw at the trade show a few years ago was actually Zünd, a Swiss company. They make high end cutting systems for the big production companies, unlikely to fit hobby and garage shop budgets.

Here’s one of their machines at work cutting and punching leather:

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Uwe