Whoops, sorry, I saw your PM before this one…didn’t realize it still wasn’t working for you.
Did you try that last file I posted? It should engrave with pretty good detail. Maybe you just need to work on your settings. I’m going to recommend some, with a trick, but it means I’ll have to shift this to the Beyond the Manual section.
Okay, my top secret technique for engraving on leather is:
- Carefully remove the top surface masking, keeping it intact, because you are going to use it later.
- Put separate masking on the back side for the cutting stage. (Any masking tape will do.)
- You are going to do this in steps or stages, the first stage is the engraving part, but it is critical that the material not shift on the bed, so cut yourself some of these Honeycomb Pins out of scrap wood and use them to tack the leather down - flat.
- With the top surface exposed, for the veg-tanned PG regular leather, you will use 1000 speed/ 2% power / 195 LPI. (With the convert to dots option. Do not use Vary Power.) If you want a nice even brown result, use one pass. If you want to darken it, send a second pass at exactly those settings after the first pass is completed, and without touching the leather on the bed.
- After you have the engraving looking the way you want it, lay the masking back down on top of the leather, squeegee it on with a credit card, and do the cutting part. Do not under any circumstances let the leather shift on the bed, you might need to work around the honeycomb pins. Just make sure there is masking over the area where the cut is going to hit.
Try that with the leat file and see if it works.