Ok, that settles it. The first thing I make on my GF is going to be Trogdor-related.
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Or you could just name your glowforge that. Make it a name plate lol
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orā¦when you feel like swearingā¦ādad burn itā
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$#*!&?! (Dad burnt it)
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Yeahā¦thatās more like it!
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My child proof swearing will never be the same
I just heard while attending a leather supplier trade show of a hybrid veg/chrome-tanned leather. The fellow (heās from a safety testing group) that described the leather, claimed that the veg-tan components added to the chrome-tanned process effectively block/trap the formation of hexavalent chromium during laser cutting - very cool, from a safety perspective.
Alas, he couldnāt identify a supplier of this material, so my question to yāall here is this: has anybody else heard of veg/chrome-tanned leather, and know of any suppliers?
Forgive me for dredging up an old topic, but I could use some help here. I read through this entire thread - as well as just about every other thread on the forum that mentions leather - and Iām still not finding a clear answer on what types of soft temper leather are safe to laser? Am I overlooking something?
For those who are unfamiliar with the different tanning processes and the resulting temper, veg tan or ātooling leatherā is generally stiffer leather. It can be carved, tooled, shaped and hardened (which may be why some people refer to it as āhard leatherā). Most other tanning processes - such as chrome tan, oil tan and brain tan - yield a softer more supple temper with more of a fabric like drape.
I know that softer leathers can be laser cut, as Iāve seen plenty of examples; but based on the info here, it seems that oil tan is a hot mess when laser cut and chrome tan is unsafe due to chemicals. Brain tan is an unlikely choice, as thatās a very labor intensive and uncommon tanning process; hardly anyone does it this way anymore so true brain tan is extremely rare and very expensive.
Readerās digest version: can anyone tell me what kinds of soft leather will play nicely with my laser?
*Edited to add: Iām also curious about the potential for laser cutting rawhide. I imagine that it will be super stinky, but safe - amiright?
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Thanks, @rhenley. Iām definitely not an expert on lasering leatherāthough I look forward to doing the work to become one!
Hereās what I currently understand about @Dreaās specific question about soft temper leathers: there is no good, definitive answer, because there are so many complicating factors (tannage chemicals, leather weight, finish chemicals, colorants). I do know that lasering service providers like LaserBean say that most soft leathers shrivel up to some degree when cut.
Iām planning to take the question one product at a time, one step at a time. For instance, I have one of Tandy Leatherās veg-tan, chrome-free Studio Sides. Itās thin enoughā2.5 to 3 oz. (1 to 1.2 mm)āto sew on a heavy duty home sewing machine (mine is a Singer Heavy Duty) and has a softish hand and drape thatās suitable for outerwear, pants, hobo purses, etc. When my GF shipping notice arrives, I plan to call Tandyās HQ and ask for an MSDS on the leather or any other information I can get about the tannage, colorant, and finish chemicals, and if it seems laser safe, Iāll cut a sample and post the results to the GF community, with photos. Iāll do that with other leathers I have, case by case. My guess is that weāre not going to find a lot of good options for soft tempers, and that for most of them, Iāll mostly use the laser to do a light etch of patterns on the surface that Iāll then hand-cut.
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Also, thinking about this has gotten me to wondering about how we might alter laser-safe leathers to get more laserable options. Would sandblasting a typical veg-tan give us a nubuck-like surface, for example? Should it be dyed before or after? It wouldnāt change the softness, though. How about running a very thin piece of veg tan through a roller system, and then tumbling it in a cool dryer?
THOUGHTS???
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Iād guess that sandblasting would yield a split-like texture ā¦ guess being the operative word.
- Edited to add that Iād dye afterward, even if using low voc dyes, just to err on the side of caution.
^That suggestion reminded me of the double milled veg tan that Iāve seen, which does have a softer hand (and a lovely texture, too).
FWIW, Iāve been researching this topic outside of this forum, and seeing posts on leatherworker.net and sawmillcreek.org that suggest that people do laser cut both chrome tan & veg tan ā¦ but that doesnāt necessarily mean that itās a good idea 
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YeahāIāve seen those posts as well, and I think, āNot around MY lungs, or MY laser.ā
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Bingo!
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I think this is going to be the week I should buy a lottery ticket. I emailed my brother and sister-in-law this morning. They are veteran garage sailors and estate sales junkies. āHey, if you have any leather working stuff, could you bring it when you visit this weekend.ā They Facetimed this afternoon with the haul they got at a sale this morning. Something around 25 bucks for all this. I donāt know if heās going to sell it to me now!
@Drea and @morganstanfield, take note.
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Nice haul! 
Heck YEAH! Great find! I love garage sales, eBay, and occasionally craigslist for leatherwork supplies and tools. People tend to buy into the hobby and then sell things in big, cheap batches when they tire of it. Iāve also gotten great deals on this Facebook group, āLeather swap trade or sell.ā
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Hopefully they will part with it.[quote=āmarmak3261, post:115, topic:943ā]
veteran garage sailors
[/quote]
Sorry, but, that made me laugh!!! 
I guess that would make me more of a garage pirate:
Ar-r-r-r-r-r-r Matey, what will you 'ave for that item thar?
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@marmak3261 I have a huge stash of leather scraps, and Iād be happy to send you some to experiment with. Most of it is veg tan in varying weights, and I also have some garment leather as well (the latter is most likely chrome tan).
They wonāt be huge pieces, but theyāll be good for experiments if youād like to try them. If youād like them just PM your address.
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A little late to this discussion, but I thought that this might be useful or provide ideas.
While I await my Glowforge, Iām using a 100 watt Full Spectrum Laser.
The pictures below represent a test piece I made this week from 3 oz chrome tanned leather that I laminated to 1/8" plywood, then raster engraved, then laser cut. The piece is just under 2" in diameter.
On a 100w laser (again, not the 45w of a Glowforge), the raster settings used were speed 100, power 40. I wanted to go through the top dyed layer of leather, but not through the full leather into wood.
The vector settings were speed 80, power 60, 2-3 passes. I say 2-3 because I made a couple of these and I was ok with two passes on some, needed a third on one where I was almost but not quite through. The settings need a bit of tweaking so I can be sure it will cut each time.
Weāve got a good ventilation system and the fumes did not significantly smell, although I canāt speak to their actual toxicity. I can say that weāve cut other items that smelled much worse and items from which the fumes made me cough for days while this had no issue over the 2 hours or so I was doing test cuts.
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