It’s a braided, waxed polyester thread. I tried a twisted poly thread (unwaxed, so I had to wax it myself) and some waxed linen thread, and both were significantly tougher to thread through my needles and to sew with. I kept breaking the linen thread when I was pulling it tight, but the tiger thread was really strong and didn’t break at all on any of my projects. I think the actual name brand is “Ritza 25” but it has a tiger on the label and I see most people referring to it as “tiger thread” on the guides and videos I’ve seen. It sounds like it used to be hard to find, but I just did a search for “tiger thread” and found Rocky Mountain Leather Supply. They have it and they do free shipping the US, so I jumped right on it. I just got black, but I’m definitely going to pick up at least a few more colors, too.
I’ve only done one leather project so far (non-laser), and Ian Atkinson was a source I listed as being helpful in the video I made about the project over on my YouTube channel. You’re right…he’s super in depth and there is really a lot of information there! There were a couple of videos on the Simplecove YouTube channel about leatherworking that I found valuable also. He actually mentioned tiger thread. When I looked it up, it just looked quite expensive.
I’m not sure of the thread brand that I got, but it looks braided and it is already waxed (I thought I remembered it being nylon, but it might be linen). I just have black thread too, but would like an off white color as well. I think those both go really well with a lot of projects.
It is really great to see the results you got from using the Glowforge to do the holes and how well they aligned, even without glue.
Here’s a hint about edge finishing that I found while researching: use some glycerin saddle soap. Just wet the edge, and then rub the bar of saddle soap on it. Then, use a burnishing tool to slick it down. Gives it a nice look and feel.
Leather working was one of the main things I wanted to do with the Glowforge, so I’m really happy it’s been working as well as it has for me. The Tiger thread isn’t cheap, but when you buy the whole roll it really isn’t too bad. Like $30+/- for 500m, I think? I’ve been using maybe 1-2m per small project I’ve done so far, so that spool will probably last me years.
Thanks! The real key to the stitching holes was to try to make them as similar as possible to the holes you get with the diamond chisel. At first, I was trying to make actual diamond shaped holes all in a row, but it was removing too much material and they didn’t close up after sewing like the punched ones do. Just making a series of small, diagonal cuts was pretty much perfect, and it goes so quickly! The trick is to make sure that you flip the design over so the stitches align properly when you put the pieces back to back. The luggage tag design I got from the catalog actually has the pieces simply duplicated, so when you put them together to sew, the diagonal slits form an X and you don’t get the right look to the stitches. I opened a ticket about that, so hopefully they release an updated version with the right stitches soon.
Thanks for the tip about edge finishing! I’ve been using the Tandy Eco-Flo gum tragacanth on mine and they’re looking pretty good, but they can definitely be better. I think I need to turn a better slicker on my lathe, and that should help. I’ve been using a piece of linen fabric to generate the friction and it just isn’t as good as the wood, I don’t think. I’ll have to try the saddle soap as an edge treatment, too. The tragacanth gives it a really smooth, glossy finish if you do it right, but it’s also kind of smelly and difficult to apply cleanly.
I thought about going with the gum tragacanth, but many old pros mentioned other things being used (I searched a lot on leatherworking.net). One thing you might try before going to the effort of turning another burnisher on the lathe is canvas or denim. Many people on that forum liked using canvas to create the friction. I don’t know if they just had some wrapped on a burnishing tool or just had it held in hand or what?
I found the saddle soap bar on amazon for about $8…not too bad. It’s going to last a long time.
I think the thread I bought was under $5 for a whole roll! I can’t remember how much thread was on the roll, but it is a lot.
That is a really interesting point about making smaller holes so that the leather kind of closes up around the stitches. That’s important for the look, it seems. (or should I say, seams? ha)
When you made the holes thinner, did you have any trouble getting the needles through?
I will try some canvas with my next one for sure. I think some of the issue is that the burned leather edge behaves a little differently than a normal cut leather edge, so it’s going to take some experimentation to figure it out. I’ve thought about taking some sandpaper to my edges to get rid of the burn first, and then finishing, but at a certain point I’m putting so much extra time into it that I’m no longer saving myself much by using the laser, you know? I’ll keep experimenting and if I can’t get an edge I’m happy with, I might have to sand and then finish eventually, but if I can avoid the extra steps that would be nice.
Yeah, the Tiger thread isn’t cheap compared to other thread options, that’s for sure! If you can remember where you got yours, I’d love to get a spool and do a comparison. If I can get good results for less money I’m always up for that.
The needles I’m using are 002 John James saddlers needles with 0.8mm thread and going through the cut slits isn’t too tough. You definitely need to have strong fingers (or use pliers) to get some of them through, but it really wasn’t too bad. I sewed the card holder up while I was on a conference call and didn’t get any comments about ungentlemanly grunting or anything.
Ooh, love this idea! I can get a 25-pound bag of salt from Costco for like $5, and that ought to clean an awful lot of leather. I’ll share my results here once I’ve tried it. Thanks!
I went back and found the thread I ordered: http://amzn.to/2jbmm4T
The spool is not as large as what you ordered (a little more than half), but the price is significantly cheaper. And this thread is slightly thicker (1mm) than what you had.
Yeah, I totally agree. And I didn’t even think about the burnt ends finishing differently…good point. If you do sandpaper, only sand in one direction. I didn’t heed people’s recommendation about this, and mine stayed kind of fuzzy in parts.
I was actually just putting the brown color of this thread into my cart when you wrote this. It’s coming from overseas so it won’t arrive until next month, but I’m happy to wait. I was hoping to get some thread in 1mm as well to see how I like it compared to the 0.8mm stuff.
With a salt bucket and some new edge-slicking options, I think my next project is going to look even better! Thanks everyone for your help.
Yup, just some 3/4oz economy sides I’ve had sitting around for ages. I’ve still got a ton of it, and planning on using it for all sorts of projects. I’d really like to find a good quality low-tack paper masking material that I can use on it, so I’m keeping my eyes open for that as well.
I know some people have purchased some low tack paper masking from a few different places. I want to say @Tom_A had a good source/experience recently with some, maybe from johnsonplastics?
I’m curious to see how other leathers tanned in different ways react to being lasered. I know Dan mentioned a while back that oil tanned leathers just turn to goo, but I read a post recently where someone had used some oil tanned leather and it turned out fine.
The leather I’ve been working with is combination tanned…some veg and some chrome, I believe. I’m not sure how that would work either, since most say pure chrome tanned leather is a no no.
(Discourse doesn’t like that we’ve had so much of a conversation. ha)
I see that Johnson Plastics has this stuff (https://www.johnsonplastics.com/glassguard-6-x-100yd-paper-mask-for-laser-engraving), which sounds like the best fit, but I’d love to hear directly from someone who has used it on leather before I buy a full roll. I got a bunch of masking tape that will work great for wood and plastic, but it’s too tacky for leather, and tends to pull up tiny flecks of the surface when I remove it.
I’m planning to stick with veg tanned, at least until I clear through the pile of backstock I have sitting on my shelf. I’d be interested to hear how the others burn, though!
I just cut my first bit of leather today, box-o-scraps from tandy. I used TransferRite Hi-Tack (592U) to mask both sides. It pulled some fibers from the suede side, but not too bad. The edges didn’t smell great (mild burnt-hair smell) but I was not hit with the noxious scent I was expecting after reading other folks posts. I washed the pieces in the sink with warm water and some gentle kneading. Now they just smell like slightly damp leather.
Most of the time, at least in my experience, the longer the masking material stays on any material, the more the adhesive will cure, and the more difficult it will be to remove later.
I think you’re absolutely right about adhesive sticking more and more over time. I keep trying to mask the piece right before I cut, and remove it right after, but I have two young sons and so literally nothing in my life goes according to plan.
Wasn’t me. But I’ll say that I’ve used regular ol’ beige masking tape for everything so far and have had nothing but great results. I have a 2" roll. NOTE: Haven’t tried it on leather yet.
And that stuff is pretty cheap too, so that’s good to hear. I would bet it is too tacky for leather, just like @septimus39 said for whatever he was using.
Do you find that the 2" roll does just about anything you want it to with multiple passes if need be?
I’ve found the 2" roll is really quite good. No need for multiple passes. At first I thought I wanted like a 6" roll. But 2" was readily available at the local store so that’s what I bought. And I’m glad I did. 2" is a little more versatile. BUT! Early on I wondered what would happen if there was overlapping strips or, conversely, tiny gaps between the strips. There’s definitely a difference in both. As such, I’ve gotten surprisingly good at lining up the strips edge-to-edge.
This is what I’ve noticed as well. I’ve got a bunch of 2" tape that I’ve been using for my leather and if I leave even the tiniest hairline gap or a tiny bit of overlap, it definitely affects the result underneath. It’s not as tough to line it up as I thought it would be, especially on smaller pieces. I really wanted to get some 6" wide stuff too, particularly so I could just lay it down on a large piece of leather and then cut things out of it until it was just scrap, like I do with Proofgrade materials. If I can find some that doesn’t get too sticky over time, I’d still like to get to that point, because it’s just so easy. I can ask my wife or even my 5-year-old to drop a pre-taped piece in there for me while I’m at the office, which is nice.
I figured it would take some precision with how you lay the strips, but that is really comforting to hear that some readily available rolls will do just fine.
But I’ll say that I’ve used regular ol’ beige masking tape for everything so far and have had nothing but great results. I have a 2" roll. NOTE: Haven’t tried it on leather yet.