You can check Tandy leather and then there is Springfield leather Company I personally like to use Springfield as they are not a large corporation based company and if you call they will work with any requirements you may have.
1 Like
Sorry, @jeanneleigh, Iād be very skeptical about the laserability of any patent leathers. The āpatentā part of them is plastic of whatever makeup the particular factory formulated for function, appearance, and cost. Underneath is leather of unknown tannage. Sometimes the underside of patent leathers looks like veg tan, but not always, and thereās absolutely no way to know for sure. Safety-wise, that opens up room for both layers to contain a whole menu of nasty, toxic ingredients. Aside from safety, youād be cutting a two-layered product, with plastic on top and leather below. My guess is that lasering it would get you a scorched, drippy mess that would smell a fire in a Chinese toy factory where the dolls had real human hair.
If you want the look of patent leather on a lasered project, Iād laser veg tan of the appropriate thickness, then experiment with layering acrylic paints and craft resin (I like ICE Resin) on top. Iām not sure what the flexibility of your final product would be, but ICE Resin is quite flexible when applied thinly to papers. Youād just have to be sure to completely seal the leather layer with either the paint or an acrylic sealant so the resin didnāt soak into the leather and make a dark, hard stain.
6 Likes
Rats. I was afraid that might be the answer but was hoping it wouldnāt be. Thanks!
1 Like
Iāve never used craft resin, but Iāve achieved a patent leather-like finish using veg tan + dye + acrylic paint + a high gloss sealer like this.. I really buffed the leather after sealing, and in some cases used multiple coats. YMMV, but that has worked for me before.
3 Likes
Good idea. I like Eco-Flo as well.
1 Like
2 Likes
The way I answer ācan you laser it?ā with my glowforge is to ā¦ throw it in my glowforge and see what happens.
So far Iāve had pretty good luck with everything except for rubber gasket material.