First Leather Project on the Glowforge

[geek2nurse]

@dave5

I am engraving on the piece and that is what is smudging the piece.

Ah. I use masking paper to prevent that.

@dave5

what do you use to finish the leather?

I’m pretty much still a beginner with leather, so you might not want to totally rely on me, but here are some posts with the finishes I’ve used:

Leather Day

I played with leather today. People at work have been asking for bracelets with words on them. They didn’t really say WHAT words, so I just came up with some. Then, of course, I had to figure out how to finish them. (Before you read any farther you should know that I know absolutely nothing about working with leather, so I’m pretty much making it up as I go along.) There’s a recipe using rusted steel wool and vinegar that supposedly makes a really nice black on leather, but since it actually …

Leather Feathers

Some of them are metallic acrylics, and some are regular acrylics with shimmery alcohol ink highlights, and some are all alcohol inks.

Acrylic paint on leather safe?

Acrylic works great on leather, and it’s fine to paint and then cut. Alcohol inks also work well. One of my favorites for gray / black on leather is to soak 000 steel wool in apple cider vinegar for a few days until it disintegrates, then paint the liquid onto the leather. [IMG_1696] The bracelet with the cutouts was colored using the vinegar mixture. The “Resist” bracelet was too, but then I topped it with some pewter-colored alcohol ink to give it a metallic sheen. I finished both of them…

"Fleather" Bracelet

I haven’t made any of these in a while. This one was a custom order. I like how it turned out! [IMG_2708] [IMG_2709]