Hey everyone, as I progress through testing different types of leathers and styles and settings. Also doing some research, I still have two questions I could use some help with.
I am starting hat company and need leather patches and that led me to glow forge. I got it and have tested things out and seems like I am getting better results with ready to go dyed and conditioned leather pieces than the glow forge style raw leather. Also I like that the colors are consistent and allows for one less step in the creating process of dyeing the leather etc.
However, I am still wondering how people take care of the soot and charring once it is done. I have lowered my power and increased my LPI and seems to be much better and not so burned into leather like it was and also not cutting as deep into leather which is what I want. Does this happen to you or am I still needing to tweak my settings? These patches are meant for hats so I need it tough and able to handle weather conditions as much as a hat is supposed to.
Do people still use conditioner or wash the leather and engraved areas? I see people doing cutting boards to and wonder how this gets cleaned up to not allow the soot like stuff from the engraved to get on food or washed out from cleaning?
thank you for any answered questions and advice. Sorry for the ramble but I am trying to find ways to ask better questions.
I mask all the leather projects I do, when I engrave, I take a dry toothbrush and brush away the spot with the masking still on so the soot doesnât dirty the leather. The edges I was taking a baby wipe to clean, but now have a sander to clean them up with.
I sand off the char and then burnish my edges. Youâll definitely need to condition and seal the leather for it to hold up well. Iâm still learning, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I like mink oil for conditioning. Iâve finished some things with Kiwi shoe polish, which is kind of waxy, so might be protective against moisture, but since youâre selling stuff commercially, Iâd ask at someplace like Tandy what they recommend.
I keep a bin of coarse salt handy. I like the kosher salt. I put the leather pieces in it and shake them around for a while. It helps kill the smell and gets rid of most of the soot. If your doing production work, maybe some type off tumbler with large amounts of salt would be more efficient.
Iâve been using a belt sander, and as for masking, yes the stuff that comes on PG stuff. The comment above this one has a great answer for the masking.
Another option if you want to avoid the charred look/ smell is to stamp the leather instead. You can use the Glowforge to make your leather stamps, which give a beautiful embossed look.
I havenât tried that yet but always curious when seeing that stamp button. I will try it soon though. I was planning on doing both or like a limited edition stamped line type of thing.
If youâre using top grain leather (not suede) Resolene would give you some shine and a bit of water resistance. Itâs an acrylic leather finish available at leather supplies and Amazon - can be brushed or airbrushed on.
Seconding @PhxFrgeâs suggestion to use GF to make a stamp instead. It would alleviate many of your soot issues, look better, be more durable and take a lot less GF time. Engraving is slooooooooooow.
You may find a search in the forum on âchrome tanned leatherâ willl provide some resources if you canât find a credible source that supports your dire warning.
Iâm not picking on you, but this is a subject that is rife with misinformation. Simply put you & your machine, if properly vented, are at no more risk of poisoning from chrome tanned leather than from many other commonly used materials including MDF and plywood.
New to leather people should not worry about being poisoned from lasering chrome tanned leather. The general preference for veggie tanned leather has to do with the resulting properties of the leather not because some magic in the tanning process makes it safe to burn. The same is true of chrome tanned leather - there are properties of chrome tanned leather that make it more suited for some projects than others.
BTW, brain tanned and oil tanned leather are also available and laserable with differing results.
Iâd say they should worry about it, but if they mitigate their risks by having better ventilation than what the Glowforge comes equipped with, then they can worry less, but it should still be something theyâre aware of. You mentioned proper ventilation, but again, your average user wouldnât know what that consists of.
Common sense to one person isnât necessarily common to everybody, especially when diving into a field that is entirely new to some. If people want to risk their health and safety then thatâs up to them, surely, but better to be on the side of caution I say.
But scaring them with unfounded assertions of danger isnât going to lead to knowledge, understanding or common sense.
In fact, lousy ventilation is more likely to cause you problems with plywood (formaldehyde artifacts) than chromium byproducts. The chromium compounds used in tanning skins is pretty locked up chemically.
For some reason uninformed people associate chrome tanned leather with chlorine or cyanide and think theyâre gonna die. They donât realize how much exposure they (or their machine) has to those compounds through other materials. The trace amounts are just that, trace.