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Theo Gibb

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Nov 13, 2021, 5:06:56 PM11/13/21

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I'm a repairer of accordions and concertinas and I'm interested in making spare parts with laser cutting. Mostly wood which I've seen laser cut by others, so I know that is successful. Also wondering about cutting leather. I've read it is possible, but has anyone tried?

Theo

Glen Beestone

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Nov 14, 2021, 5:24:56 PM11/14/21

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A lot of people successfuly use laser cutters to etch leather and it's certainly capable of cutting thin stuff.
Thicker leather is more difficult as the cuts get choked up with carbonized material which acts as a thermal insulator. the air assist blower in the head can help clear that material. Also it doesn't smell very nice (though nowhere near as bad as laser cutting felt)

Using masking tape can help give cleaner edges.

For reference our laser is a 60 watt model if you want to Google leather laser cutting tips.

Glen

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On 13/11/2021, 22:06 Theo Gibb <theo...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm a repairer of accordions and concertinas and I'm interested in making spare parts with laser cutting. Mostly wood which I've seen laser cut by others, so I know that is successful. Also wondering about cutting leather. I've read it is possible, but has anyone tried?

Theo

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Alistair MacDonald

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Nov 15, 2021, 8:53:26 AM11/15/21

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Hi Theo,

To my memory etching of leather has been done in the space. It really stinks. I mean it really stinks. I don't recall any cutting on leather. Tha ys not to say it did not happen, just that I don't recall it.

Raise was doing some leather work a fre years ago. I will have to remember to ask if she tried the laser cutter at the time.

All the best,

Alistair

On Sat, 13 Nov 2021 at 22:06, Theo Gibb <theo...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm a repairer of accordions and concertinas and I'm interested in making spare parts with laser cutting. Mostly wood which I've seen laser cut by others, so I know that is successful. Also wondering about cutting leather. I've read it is possible, but has anyone tried?

Theo

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Theo Gibb

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Nov 16, 2021, 4:49:00 AM11/16/21

to North East Makers

Thanks for the insights. I hadn't though about it making a bad smell! That's certainly something to consider in a shared workplace! The leather cutting I'm thinking about would be thin material, nothing more than about a mm. It's soft leather so not so easy to cut with a knife because it stretches as you cut. Die cutting works well, but has a significant tooling cost.