Printing and curing leather

What is the thickest leather you can cut and work with

Pretty thick, but leather chars, and charring increases as speed decreases. So be prepared for a fair amount of cleanup of charred edges on a thick piece of leather.

Read #6:

2 Likes

You can engrave leather up to 2" thick, but cutting is another matter that might vary depending on they type of hide and tanning process.

1 Like

What are you engraving, elephant leather? What creature has skin that is 2" thick? :slight_smile:

10 Likes

Well as I have aged, by skin has become quite thick as I parry the slings and arrows of the world. I assumed other hides were similarly affected by age. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

12 Likes

Right after this sentenced, I choked on my coffee. Very lucky my laptop is set a good distance away, can’t say the luck extended to the books in front of me though.

Once I stopped choking, I made the mistake of continuing to read while drinking coffee. Now I’m off to google the thickest hide in the world…well, not sure about leather, but for skin, looks like sperm whale’s win.

9 Likes

Holy crap, 35 cm/ 13.7 in. Uh, yeah, you’re going to need a bigger laser.

Of course, if this is your issue this begs a whole pile of other questions.

8 Likes

Haha nothing that thick… maybe .125 at most

4 Likes

Looking a the cut thickness

3 Likes

.125 cuts like a breeze using the PG settings. I’ve cut up to .250 with little to no issue. I generally run a 2nd cut line at like double speed to catch the little strings that always get left behind. Both veg and chrome tanned (though the chrome tanned smells awful so make sure your exhaust is working well!)

4 Likes

I’ve cut about 10 - 12oz leather (getting about 1/4" thick) is the thickest I’ve tried, but went with A LOT of passes, and not really worth it. Much prefer cutting with blades (rotary or knife). But for some projects I do cut 8oz latigo–or usually just a deep score and settle on getting about 80% cut and just finish with blades…

But LOTS of variation in the result between hides, and even within area of the same hide (e.g. belly vs. shoulder) due the properties of the leather itself and the processing done to acheive the thickness (e.g. splitting, pressing, and other finishing), as well as if it’s “stuffed” leather (harness leather) vs. cheaper stuff…

4 Likes

Just commenting to say I love this post. :rofl:

3 Likes

This topic was automatically closed 32 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.