I’ve done very little with leather in the past. I’m a huge advocate of testing every time I print, even on known material because individual sheets can vary.
I’m trying to cut some black 3.9mm and I’ve made over a dozen of test cuts. The only way I can get thru is 100/FULL (I have a pro) with three passes, and it comes out a mess. Even speeding up just a little to 110 does not get close to cutting thru.
It may be that the material is not suitable, but I just figured I’d reach out here to see if those who have worked a lot with leather have any advice. I’m stumped.
Leather makes so much char and ash that I can see how this might be difficult. I have never tried it either, but there has been some discussion of wetting materials before cutting to reduce char… but I wouldn’t want to do that to the leather. What about trying to clean the char out of the cut between passes?
Maybe cut too large at first with a really dirty cut (say, outset by 0.1), then try to cut the real shape. Between passes you might be able to get better access to the cut channel because of the thin outer surround?
I’ve searched and read on various methods, but no definitive info I can find, and I have limited material for the project I’m working on. I’ve already burned thru (literally) 4sq" of it in testing.
I can see how the char from the first pass could prevent the beam from being effective on subsequent passes.
I might just have to pick up some thinner material for this one. I was just trying to utilize what I had, which was generously donated by a member here, and I hate waste it…
Have you tried adjusting the focus? I’d manually focus to the middle of your material. I think running at 100 speed and full power will pretty much obliterate any chances of a clean cut on almost any organic material — it just creates too significant of a heat affected zone.
Yes, tried that. It’s close to 4mm so I tried a 2-pass with the 2nd cut at 2mm vs at the surface. 150 speed iirc. I think the char from the first pass simply blocks any subsequent passes and you can’t just brute-force your way thru without significant burn.
Was out most of the day. Looking at it in sunlight, it’s destroyed and unusable. Guessing that means it’s oil-tanned. I’ll have to look for something else but iirc the stuff at craft stores is only smooth and black on one side. We have a Tandy but it’s about a 90 minute round trip.
The person who gave it to me has never cut leather on the GF, so they had no advice.
I made Rio’s collar from pretty thick latigo leather. That stuff is tanned every way possible I think… chrome, then veg, and then oil, I believe.
Either way, it was thick. Like .160” I think? Ultimately, I cut out a little jig to hold the leather. Ran a cut, then just flipped the material and ran the cut again to cut from both sides.
Sounds like it isn’t veg-tanned leather, which can give you problems. If that is the case, it might be best to cut a template out of acrylic or draft board and then use either an exact-o or box cutter with fresh blades to cut out what you envision. You can probably engrave after the fact if you want a fancy design on it, but thee patterning itself will probably have to be by hand.
Also, many would tell you to be weary of chrome tanned leather for the chrome fumes. My opinion on the evidence I’ve seen so far is that it is inconclusive as to whether or not it is harmful, since different tanneries use different processes with different amounts of chromium. I tend to avoid using the laser on it when possible out of an abundance of caution, as I have a little one in the same house as my glowforge.
But how to tell if leather is chrome-tanned? Well, get into a very well ventilated area, and take a lighter to a corner of a sample of the leather. If a green salt is left in the char after burning, it is a leather that involves chrome tanning.
The design is too complex and intricate to cut by hand (at least, for me) on leather this thick. I’m not worried about it being chrome tanned - when experimenting with cut settings, it was really “flamey” and that flame was deep orange.
I’m probably going to try cutting a uniform rectangle and using a jig so I can try cutting 1/2 from 1 side and 1/2 from the other.
Small chisels are helpful for intricate leather cuts, just punch straight down rather than trying to slice. You can get a very cheap set at Daiso for $1.50 that work nicely.
