Has anyone cut/engrave vinyl leather

I have a client that uses vinyl leather like material to sew into her handbags - it comes precolored in a various selection of colors such as teal, etc. I am wondering if anyone has used this in the GF before. I did a test but am mostly wondering if it is toxic/safe to use?

Thank you!
Amanda!

You would need to review the composition and combustion products from the MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet) to be sure. However, “vinyl” generally implies PVC, which will destroy your Glowforge almost Instantly.

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Vinyl is a biiig nono. HCL fumes will eat :grimacing: your machine.

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Oh no! Heard - thank you so much for your quick response!!

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Gahh yikes, no good! Thank you so much for your quick response!!

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You were wise to pose that question, could have been a very expensive mistake.

Hydrochloric acid damage from PVC… the electronics are the first to go.

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Just to reiterate what @evermorian said, it might be fine. You have to find out if the vinyl is pvc or not.

If it’s polyurethane or something you’ll be ok.

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So did you do a test in your laser, or you tested it some other way? Unfortunately, even running a very small piece in your laser can do some major, permanent damage.

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There’s a test you can do with a piece of copper wire and a propane torch. Basically comes down to getting the wire hot enough to melt some material on to the wire, and then hitting it with torch so it burns. The color of the flame tells you if it’s got Chlorine in it. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the color…

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Green. (Not good if it’s green.)

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It’s also useful to use MAPP gas torch to heat the wire (12ga is good) until cherry red hot - roll it in the material to get a blob on the end. Then hit the blob with the torch again to get it burning. That’s when you’ll see if you get a green flame or blue.

MAPP is good because it burns hotter and cleaner than straight propane so you get a truer burn of the material vs a mix of the material and the gas showing colors.

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Failed test on the left for chlorine and a pass on the right.

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Nice picture. Spot on.

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Thx, I was trying to describe it to someone awhile ago then realized I can be terrible at describing things lol. So needed some pics to make sure we were in the same reality.

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Would be good for everyone to have those (labeled so they remember good vs bad :slight_smile: ) on hand.

It’s the same with the test for veggie vs chrome tanned leather. Easy to confuse that the results are telling you.

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I have never done the leather test before, how is that one done? I read awhile ago you could put a strip of leather in boiling water and if it curls up its veg tan and if it just floats there its chrome tanned, not sure if that is the same one.

That’s one version. The other is the burn test. Veggie won’t flame but it will burn into ashes that are black or grey. Chrome will flame and leave green ashes.

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Thank you. Haven’t needed the info yet, but Tandy leather opened up last week. And I’m looking forward to that shopping trip on Saturday

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Thx I had no idea about that test

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