Recently I made a die for debossing leather. Pictured below is the rawhide after debossing.
I made the die from 1/4" acrylic with the image inverted and engraved to a depth of just over 1/16".
photo.jpg
Recently I made a die for debossing leather. Pictured below is the rawhide after debossing.
I made the die from 1/4" acrylic with the image inverted and engraved to a depth of just over 1/16".
photo.jpg
Mike Null
St. Louis Laser, Inc.
Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
Gravograph IS400
Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
Dye Sublimation
CorelDraw X5, X7
Nice Mike, How much detail do you think it will hold? How are you pressing it?
Martin Boekers
1 - Epilog Radius 25watt laser 1998
1 - Epilog Legend EXT36 75watt laser 2005
1 - Epilog Legend EXT36 75watt laser 2007
1 - Epilog Fusion M2 32 120watt laser with camera 2015
2 - Geo Knight K20S 16x20 Heat Press
Geo Knight K Mug Press,
Ricoh GX-7000 Dye Sub Printer
Zerox Phaser 6360 Laser Printer
numerous other tools and implements
of distruction/distraction!
Nice Mike!
That is certainly less expensive that having a metal die made.
Dave
900x600 80watt EFR Tube laser from Liaocheng Ray Fine Tech LTD. Also a 900x600 2.5kw spindle CNC from Ray Fine. And my main tool, a well used and loved Jet 1642 Woodlathe with an outboard toolrest that helps me work from 36 inch diameters down to reallllllly tiny stuff.
Marty--good to hear from you again. That is the piece of leather made from the die I made. As you can see the detail was quite good. He pressed it with a homemade press using a hydraulic jack.
Dave--the comparable metal die was $300. I charged $30 but after i made it realized I hadn't quoted enough and advised the customer that future pieces would be about $40.
Mike Null
St. Louis Laser, Inc.
Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
Gravograph IS400
Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
Dye Sublimation
CorelDraw X5, X7
Mike, very nice work as usual.
Do you know if customer softens the leather prior to pressing.
Trotec Speedy 300 - 60w, with Quatro CSA-626 fume extraction
Xenetech 1625 x2,
New Hermes TX pantograph, CG4 cutter grinder
Brady Globalmark2 label printer,
Assortment of custom tooling , shears & punches, heat bender.
Software: Xenetech XOT, Corel X3, Bartender label software
It's been a challenge to say the least... work is flowing faster than it's been for me, but being short handed makes it difficult to stay ahead of deadlines..
Actually I want to try this with Air Force Shields on leather key fobs.... This could bring production costs down if I just have to press it instead of lasering it...
Martin Boekers
1 - Epilog Radius 25watt laser 1998
1 - Epilog Legend EXT36 75watt laser 2005
1 - Epilog Legend EXT36 75watt laser 2007
1 - Epilog Fusion M2 32 120watt laser with camera 2015
2 - Geo Knight K20S 16x20 Heat Press
Geo Knight K Mug Press,
Ricoh GX-7000 Dye Sub Printer
Zerox Phaser 6360 Laser Printer
numerous other tools and implements
of distruction/distraction!
Wetting leather before embossing will yield a better mark. The trick is to know by how much.
Epilog Legend 36EXT ~35W
30W Fiber Laser
Ender 3 PRO
Corel X6
AutoCAD 2019
FFL 01
Chris
You're right, these were wetted before pressing. The leather was thick and if not wetted before pressing they would have left virtually no image. I experimented but had only a drill press to use as a press. You can guess that wasn't going to work.
Tony, thank you. As I understand it, with rawhide you can wet it or use a heated die. With leather that has been finished you can only use the heated die.
Last edited by Mike Null; 08-07-2014 at 4:18 PM.
Mike Null
St. Louis Laser, Inc.
Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
Gravograph IS400
Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
Dye Sublimation
CorelDraw X5, X7
I use a 1/2 ton arbor press, works just fine. 50/60 bucks maybe at your big box discount tool shop.
Epilog Legend 36EXT ~35W
30W Fiber Laser
Ender 3 PRO
Corel X6
AutoCAD 2019
FFL 01
Less than $40 at Harbor Freight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalog...?q=arbor+press
[SIZE=1]Generic Chinese 50w 300x500
Lulzbot TAZ 5 3D Printer
Corel X7, Photoshop CS6, Lightroom 4
Modo, Bryce, Poser
If You Can Read, Thank A Teacher. If You Can Read It In English, Thank A Veteran
That's what you do in a herd: you look out for each other. - Manny from Ice Age
Chris
This die was 3" in diameter. I'd be surprised if a 1/2 ton press would work with the design of that logo. If so, i think one of those may be in my future.
Mike Null
St. Louis Laser, Inc.
Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
Gravograph IS400
Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
Dye Sublimation
CorelDraw X5, X7
Mike.. I did it with two Irwin clamps (but I used the high pressure ones, not the $5 specials)
between two sheets of Corian. I made a positive and a negative using the 3D mode on the
laser, so the pos and negative 'plates' fit together like a hand and glove.
I did wet the leather, and then left it clamped for about 20 minutes, tightening every
now and them. But the piece was about 2" x 6" or so.
Definitely not the way to do it for production! I just wanted to see if I could do it.
(never touched leather before, so it was all new)
Chuck
That's very impressive. It looks similar to a belt I hand tooled years ago.
Mike Null
St. Louis Laser, Inc.
Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
Gravograph IS400
Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
Dye Sublimation
CorelDraw X5, X7
Epilog Legend 36EXT ~35W
30W Fiber Laser
Ender 3 PRO
Corel X6
AutoCAD 2019
FFL 01
I'm not talented enough to do tooling, just enough to copy. I found a pattern online
and copied it into Corel, duplicated etc.. It was just something I wanted to try.
BUT it tells me that the arbor press might just work. If I had one I'd test it for
you. Plenty of scrap Corian around here ;-)