Water bottle holder

[matt22]

This little leather project holds either my vacuum flask or a standard Crystal Geyser plastic bottle. Using alternating slits, it expands upward when hung. This also grips the bottle like a Chinese finger trap. Rivets hold it all together. Remember not to cut leather dyed or tanned with chromium materials as they emit toxic fumes and particles. Dye or stain it after cutting.

[ptodd]

Very, very nice!!

[dklgood]

Nice practical cut.

[evansd2]

Nicely done. Love a good leather project.

This part:

@matt22

Remember not to cut leather dyed or tanned with chromium materials as they emit toxic fumes and particles.

Is debatable. There’s been some discussion about the risks of leather types.

The Truth About Cutting Chrome Tan Leather With A Laser

In the past the chrome tanning process used to contain Hexavalent Chromium which was dangerous when cut with a laser. This is no longer the case as Hexavalent Chromium has been banned from the tanning process and has been replaced with trivalent chromium. Trivalent Chromium is completely safe when burned and does not cause any issues with health or to the laser. This is only a quick summary, I will link the video where the professor of engineering from he university of SA gives a lot more detai…

And:

Use These Simple Tests for Leather Safety and Presence of Chrome!

Not safe for the machine? Got any data about that?

And:

The Truth About Cutting Chrome Tan Leather With A Laser

Nearly everything you laser will produce toxic byproducts. For more context read #4:

I’m unconvinced that chrome tanned is worse than any other tanning method.

[Thumper369]

Great design. I love the versatility.

Well done! Looks great.

[rappee25407]

Beautiful and illustrates once again how the GlowForge can link creativity with practicality. It is unique. No one else will have your water bottle holder, until, of course, others see it and want to know where you got it

[MakerMatthew]

Great idea and very practical!

[eflyguy]

I don’t use leather but I have looked into this several times, and the consensus I’ve found is the chromium used to tan leather has changed and evolved to be safe for laser cutting and engraving.

If I was using it constantly, I’d probably contact my supplier to be sure, but for the use our machines are intended for, I wouldn’t bother as long as it came from a reputable source.

[jamesdhatch]

@eflyguy

the chromium used to tan leather has changed and evolved to be safe for laser cutting and engraving.

You and @evansd2 are right. This is an old trope that should be taken out to the woods and left to die. It’s something that has a grain of truth that gets inflated into a big scary bogeyman and unnecessarily limits people. It’s not unlike the knee jerk reaction to vinyl that is all assumed to be PVC and does not account for the wide range of plastics called “vinyl” that don’t contain (or produce) a single chlorine molecule.

[ellencadwell]

Very nice design! How hard is it to put the rivets all the way up the side? Seems it would get a little tight to reach into the further up you go. But I love it!

[deirdrebeth]

That’s beautiful! Made to be practical, but every day art is one of my favourites

[matt22]

Easy. The lower rivet anvil is just a small disk about 1.5” in diameter and 1/4” thick. Just slid it inside the leather sleeve and set the rivet above it.

[ellencadwell]

Thanks for explaining!

[Aloha]

This looks really cool, what will it be used for? Attaching to a backpack?

[ca_worth]

basically a living hinge applied to leather. well done!!!

[pubultrastar]

Fancy! Very nice.

[trually]

I LOVE this! I’d love something like this myself, and can also see it being customized for students or teachers with their school colors!

[rvogt]

This turned out amazing!

[cynd11]

It’s a riveting masterpiece!

[matt22]

Thanks for all the comments. If anyone is interested, I can supply the DXF/GF files.

Matt