Where the Laser Meets the Leather:

Techniques in Laser Cutting and Engraving Leather

SARAH PIKE

If you had ever told me that, as an artist trained in traditional figurative painting who works in stone lithography, I would
end up running a laser cutting business, I wouldn't have believed you. But it was through my printmaking discipline and
sensibilities that I came to work with laser cutting. And today I draw great satisfaction in helping artists—primarily
bookbinders—bridge the gap between handcraft and new technologies.

In this article I will share a variety of laser cutting and engraving techniques for working with leather and parchment.

A Look at What's Possible

Laser cutters, which vaporize material using a pulsating That said, the question I most often get is, “Can you cut
beam of light, perform three main tasks: they cut, line metal?” The answer is no: a fiber laser is needed for
engrave, and area engrave. When the laser cuts or line laser cutting metal. Due to their size and cost, fiber
engraves, it follows the path of the line; when it area lasers are more often found at businesses that service
engraves it moves back and forth like an ink-jet printer. industrial companies.
Note that in this context, engraving refers to the partial
removal of material that can be performed at multiple While I'll try to be as specific as possible, so many
depths (fig. 1). variables come into play that it's difficult to give
universal guidelines. Laser cutter settings can vary
greatly depending on how the leather was processed,
the dye used, what part of the skin is being used, and
the life of the animal. So for each project I undertake, I
conduct a round of material testing as an essential, if
sometimes time-consuming, first step. With laser
cutting it's not unusual for the testing and prototyping
phase to be lengthier than production. But not to worry,
that's why I’m here with the knowledge and experience
to help you solve problems and strategize an approach
Fig.1. Laser cutting, line engraving, area engraving to challenges that may arise.

The type of laser cutter you're most likely to come Now let me introduce you to five options of laser cutting
across at businesses like mine or at makerspaces and and engraving leather and parchment, along with
universities are CO2 lasers. These lasers can cut and special considerations for each method.
engrave a variety of organic materials, such as paper,
board, wood, leather, fabric, acrylic, and much more.
 Fig. 2. Laser cut leather backed with leather, 4” x 3” Fig. 3. Laser cut marquetry, 4” x 3”

1. Laser Cut Leather

Laser cutting is particularly well suited to projects Special Considerations

where fine, precise cutting is needed (fig. 2 & 3). • While a laser cutter can cut very intricate designs
at a small scale, there is a threshold. A good rule of
Preparing Leather
thumb, though there are always exceptions, is that your
• Depending on the intricacy and scale of your
thickest line shouldn’t be narrower than the thickness of
design, you'll generally want to work with leather that
the material. When working with small-scale images, do
has been pared down. Leather is dense material and
a test cut to see if the image or material needs to be
the density can vary across the skin so the power of the
altered.
laser is often set slightly higher to insure that it will
completely cut through in all. Paring leather to .018” or • Laser cutters burn material away, which can
less is optimal for marquetry, inlay, and small-scale create a char residue on the cut edges. When leather is
designs. pared down, the residue is minimal or may not be
noticeable. But when the leather is thicker, the residue
• Tighten the leather by pasting off the backside
may come off on your hands. Pasting off the face of the
and smoothing it out on Mylar or dampening it and
leather or using low tack mask can help protect the
drying it on a sheet of glass. This will not only help
leather during production and assembly.
flatten the material but also create a tighter structure,
resulting in a cleaner cut. • For interlocking pieces, kerf is adjusted in the
digital file. Test the material for kerf loss, adjust the file,
then test again—making additional adjustments as
needed. Laser cutters are super precise but there is a
limit to their tolerance and because of density variation
in a skin, kerf loss can slightly vary. Sometimes
expectations of “perfection” need to be adjusted.

2 Where the Laser Meets the Leather: Techniques in Laser Cutting and Engraving Leather
 Fig. 4. Laser engraved leather, 4” x 3” Fig. 5. Laser cut parchment, 7.5” x 5”

2. Laser Engraved Leather 3. Laser Cut Parchment

Laser engraving leather can achieve an embossed Laser cutting expands opportunities for creating pierced
look. While many leathers turn darker when engraved, parchment (fig. 5).
some turn lighter (fig. 4).
Preparing Parchment
Special Consideration • While preparing parchment for laser cutting is
• The effect of laser engraving leather varies greatly best tackled on a case-by-case basis, one of the most
depending on how the leather was processed and, if important prerequisites is that the parchment lie flat. A
colored, the nature of the dye. With some leathers, the parchment's susceptibility to changes in humidity and a
engraved area turns a lighter color; with others, it turns propensity to return to the shape of the animal can
darker. You might be able to get a range of values by present a challenge. You can use double-sided tape to
changing the settings. Again, testing is essential, as it's temporarily adhere the parchment to the laser bed.
difficult to predict how a particular leather will react to
Special Considerations
engraving.
• Optimal thickness for laser cut parchment is a bit
• Depending on how powerful the setting is, laser tricky. The thinner it is, the easier it is to cut. But if the
engraving can leave a charged residue in the engraved parchment is too thin, the heat of the laser can cause it
area. Pasting off the face of the leather or using low to flex and distort.
tack mask can help protect the leather. Sometimes
• Since laser cutting is a heat-based method, you'll
when this residue is brushed away it reveals a lighter or
most likely see discoloration on the cut edge. The
modeled area.
darkness of the color will vary depending on the type of
skin and the thickness.

Sarah Pike 3
 Fig. 6. Laser engraved parchment, 7.5” x 5” Fig. 7. Laser engraved parchment marquetry, 3” x 3”

4. Laser Engraved Parchment

I am a particular fan of techniques that are unique to However, if the laser is adjusted to a higher setting, the
the laser cutter. Laser engraved parchment is one of engraved area does become recessed and turns
these. When I first started experimenting, I thought I darker. What is fascinating about this is that the texture
would achieve a watermark effect similar to laser produced varies depending on the type of animal and
engraving Japanese paper (fig 8). But instead of how deep in the epidermis the laser penetrates (fig. 7).
making the engraved area more transparent when I
Special Considerations
laser engraved the parchment, something else
• All the same special considerations that apply to
wonderful happened. The areas where the laser hit
laser cutting parchment, above, also apply to
turned white (fig. 6). Instead of created a recessed
engraving. Here, the flatness of the material is even
engraved area the surface is ever so slightly raised.
more important because swells can change the
distance between the laser and the material, turning the
engraved area off-white or light tan.

• Engraving settings can change, depending on

where you're engraving on the skin. Plan on testing on
different areas of the skin and expect the amount of
overage to be high.

Fig. 8. Laser engraved Japanese paper, 3” x 3”

4 Where the Laser Meets the Leather: Techniques in Laser Cutting and Engraving Leather
 Fig. 9 Laser engraved acrylic die stamp (left), laser cut leather embossed with die stamp (right), 4” x 5”

5. Laser Engraved Die Stamp with Laser Cut Inlay

Laser engraved die stamps expand opportunities for Special Consideration

embossing texture and images into leather using • Laser cutters work by pulsating light. You can set
non-heat means. the PPI, or pulses per inch, at different resolutions to
either accentuate or diminish the visibility of these
In Figure 9 the laser cutter was used in three ways:
pulses. Depending on the image and the engraving
process, a diffusion dither may be visible on very close
• The shape of the fox was laser cut out of card
inspection.
stock, then glued onto board to create a recess.

• The leather inlay was laser cut.

• An acrylic die stamp was cut and engraved to

transfer lines and texture to the inlay.

Another example of the use of laser engraved acrylic

die stamps can be seen in Amy Borezo’s binding for
Primates, published by 21st Editions (fig. 10). For this
project I laser engraved two 15” x 15” plates and one
thinner plate for the spine. They beautifully embossed
the leather with an image of a forest, rendering a lost
and found effect.

Sarah Pike 5
 Fig. 10. Primates, Anne Berry Charles Darwin. Published by 21st Editions, 2018. Edition of 17.
Full leather binding, print folder, and presentation box by Amy Borezo.
Photo credit: 21st Editions

Conclusion

From laser cut leather to engraved parchment and

acrylic die stamps laser cutters offer a range of options
for bookbinders and leather workers but this is only the
beginning. There is so much more they can do,
including cutting and engraving binders board, custom
acrylic gluing templates, and fine paper cutting. The
opportunities are endless.

Acknowledgments Biography

Thank you to Peter Geraty who lent his expertise and Sarah Pike is an artist and owner of FreeFall Laser, a
curiosity to exploring new applications for laser cutting laser-cutting studio in the United States specializing in
in bookbinding. Sarah Pringle for her enthusiasm and creating custom work for artists and designers. She has
openness for sharing her knowledge of parchment. spoken and given demonstrations on innovative laser
David Lanning of J Hewit and Sons Ltd for inviting me cutting techniques at the American Institute for
to write this article of Skin Deep, Volume 47, Spring Conservation Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas; SNAP
2019. http://www.hewit.com/download/sd47.pdf International Printmaking Symposium in Rhine,
Germany; and SGC International Conferences in
Portland, Oregon and Dallas, Texas.

© Sarah Pike, 2019

[email protected]
www.freefall-laser.com

6 Where the Laser Meets the Leather: Techniques in Laser Cutting and Engraving Leather