You might want to look into cutting tooling out of acrylic or delrin to make pressed patterns.
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There is a guy on leatherworker.net whoâll make you an acrylic stamp pretty cheap (or at least he did) and reported decent durability. But embossing and engraving/tooling provide different looks so both will need to be explored.
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This was my exact plan. I havenât done leather working before, but I am really excited to make stamps like this guy has and he is making transfer sheets as well, which I hadnât seen before. http://www.greyghostgraphics.com/transfer.html
Iâve done leather stamping in both acrylic and acetal/Delrin. Works great!
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I love that this topic brings so many people intrested in working with leather together to share ideas.
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We tried a few tricks to emboss leather. As mentioned, a deep-etched piece of acrylic can be used to emboss the leather (get it wet, press the stamp on with wood and a few c-clamps). That seemed to work well. Remember to inverse your pattern.
But you can also just dig into it with the laser, too. It tends to blacken it a bit (after all, your burning way the leather) but itâs probably possible to clean that up. I think the big problem is that cuts through the smooth surface so it doesnât look tooled, it looks cut.
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I just came across his article and thought others might find it usefull as well. Iâm going leather shopping tomorrow and will at least have some basic knowledge when I enter the store.
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I ran about 30 different types leather through the 40 watt laser on every power/speed setting when we first got it a couple years ago.
A couple chrome tanned leathers cut great, others shriveled like bacon, some completely ignored the laser and others just scorched. As @dan mentions, oil tanned is a disaster. And as several others mention, the volatiles are quite nasty for your health.
Itâs such a crap shoot that I only cut plain veg tan now. Even then, thereâs lots of a variation in thickness and density within a single hide and things go awry.
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I just wanted to alert yâall to a type of veg-tanned leather that might not be on your radar yet: kangaroo leather.
Itâs incredible stuffâabout the thinness of watercolor paper but essentially non-stretching and really tough, so it makes incredible book covers and other very fine craft items. Itâs typically used in expensive soccer shoes, car seats, gloves, and other applications that need thinness but extreme toughness.
I donât know about the current legality of shipping it to California (itâs gone back and forth in the past ten years), but Iâve had it shipped to Colorado with no problem.
The company I buy from, Packer Leather, gets theirs from government-mandated herd culling and the meat industry (at least they did last time I bought). Iâve purchased their K-Craft and K-Bookbinding leathers in the past. Both had a very, very smooth finish, and Iâve used both to make book covers that I then wrote on with calligraphy pens. It holds a really beautiful line with no bleeding at all. It also accepts watercolor paint really well.
Iâve never cut it on a laser (@ekla, have you?), but I imagine it would cut like a dream.
Here it is: http://www.packerleather.com/craft-leather.html
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Oh wow! So cool!
I am sure members will jump on this one.
I will fire off a e-mail now asking about California shipment.
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@morganstanfield Kangaroo leather is dreamy to cut with either laser or knife. Itâs thinner, denser and more even than cow so works better in laser. Behaves differently, tho, canât replace cow leather for all things.
Example:
http://store.dolcegabbana.com/gb/dolce-gabbana/sneakers_cod44635978ep.html
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My âwish listâ over at Tandy leather is at around $1000+ right now⌠And so far that is just some supplies and one piece of leather. I just started looking a punchesâŚ
Something tells me this is going to be one of âthemâ hobbies that cost me a lot to start, But never endsâŚ
I hate you all!!! 
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I havenât dived deep on this topic, but I havenât found any punches they couldnât be replaced by either direct use of glowforge or by laser engraving Delrin with the glowforge.
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@dan Something like this might be a challenge?
Seems the idea is to compress the leather, not to texture/burn it, so direct engraving is out. And making a punch out of delrin might not give the results needed. I donât know yet, def something to try. But I worry about how long it will hold up to hammering. and using a press for this would be silly as it would take for ever to use as it is a basket weave pattern.
But, like I said, def something to try when I get my leather.
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@spike if you have a resale number you can sign up for Tandyâs Elite club for free. That gets you nearly 50% off nearly everything on their site and no tax on consumables.
Also - lots of very cheap punches and tools are available on eBay.
Tandyâs quality is just ok. There are tons of other, better sources.
Japanese leather tools are exquisite.
Regarding your example stamp in photo - laser engraving Delrin would definitely do the trick. Thatâs exactly how a lot of cheaper custom order leather stamps are made.
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@ekla, Thanks, Great info. I have a business license, but not a resale number.
Do you have a good source for the Japanese leather tools?
Good to know about the example. Great info as always
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@spike 
try the business license, it might do the trick. In California getting a resale number is free and dead easy. You can get one from a BOE office in 20 min.
Japanese tools (and good leather tools in general) are quite the wallet rabbit hole.
Start here and eBay for entry level quality http://goodsjapan.com/leather-craft-items-14-c.asp
Olfa brand tools are also great to begin, get the Japanese market version instead of US whenever you can. You actually need far fewer tools than you might suspect, just find the good ones for the way you work.
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Youâre right, the business license might just do the trick. I remember not paying taxes on some supplies I ordered a while back and must have used that number if I remember.
Oh man⌠Too much fun shoppingâŚ
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Total newbie here. Is there a way to tell what type of leather youâre working with? Iâve ordered some samples of some printed leather that Iâm hoping to use for bags, wallets, and jewelry. Is there a good resource anyone can recommend for understanding the different types of leather and their applications?
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Your leather supplier will be the best source for that information, although they may not always know. If it can be embossed itâs veg tanned. Vegetable tanned leather does not mean they used cucumbers and lettuce, it means extracts from bark and twigs, and oil or chrome tanning means chromium salts are used. A lot of leather suppliers websites have guides that should answer your basic questions. From a laserâs point of view the question is how well does it cut. In general veg, or vegetable, tanned leather cuts well, oil/chrome tanned not so much. But the tanning process, dyes and finishing are all going to do their special thing so who knows how any individual type will cut.
Iâd recommend googling leather suppliers, ignoring the pictures of the leather and going straight to the FAQ section. And then just read them all. For the basics youâll notice a consensus answer around whatever specific questions you have.
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