Five Hides and the PU Sheet Range, Tested

The hide side is small and specific: top grain cowhide in brown, deep brown, olive and black, plus coffee crazy horse.

Alongside it sits a wide range of PU sheet in plain colours and two-tone stock that reveals gold, silver or black.

Hide is what this page is about. For the finished PU pieces — notebooks, wallets, patches — see laserable PU goods.

Twelve laserable leather and PU products — a vintage brown leather sheet, blue round patch, bookmark, money clip wallet, watch box, MagSafe wallet, assorted-colour notebooks, mouse pad and iron-on patch set

Genuine Hide or PU? They Do Not Behave the Same

Genuine leather is a natural material. Thickness and density shift across a single hide, so one setting reads slightly differently in different places, and it darkens with depth.

PU is manufactured, so it repeats exactly — which is why batch work lives there instead. It also melts rather than chars if you push the power.

Browse tested leather

Five recorded leather settings from 22% at 203 mm/s up to a four-pass cut at 80%, each with the resulting tone

Pick Your Leather

Hide behaves differently from synthetic, and waxed finishes differently again.

Top grain cowhide and genuine hide

A natural material, so thickness and density shift across a single piece and the tone varies with them. It smells when lasered and darkens with depth.

Vintage Brown to Black Laserable PU Leather Tray blank

Crazy horse and pull-up finishes

A waxed surface that lightens where it flexes. The laser cuts through the wax layer, so the mark reads lighter than on plain hide, not darker.

Laserable PU, plain and two-tone

A uniform synthetic that engraves identically every time, and two-tone stock whose skin peels away to bright metal. Both are covered in full on the laserable PU page.

Which xTool Machine Is Best for Leather?

Leather is the least demanding laser material there is, which means almost every machine handles it.

xTool S1 diode laser for powder-coated metal

S1 and M2 — the most recorded

Blue-light diodes account for 24 of 39 community leather records. A brown leather wide keychain engraved at 250 mm/s and 60% on an S1 20W.

xTool F2 Ultra MOPA laser for colour marking on steel

F2 Ultra — cutting as well as engraving

Deep brown cowhide engraved at 203 mm/s and 22%; black cowhide cut through at 30 mm/s and 80% over four passes.

P2S — CO2 for volume

55W CO2 cuts leatherette cleanly on the honeycomb panel at 45 mm/s and 40%, and the large bed takes full hides.

F2 Ultra UV — the finest detail

3mm top grain cowhide engraved at 225 mm/s and 65%. UV gives the crispest line on a natural grain.

Leather Settings Tested by Real Makers

The machine each job was run on, and the numbers that produced the result.

LSA Leatherette No Foam Backing

P2S (CO2 55W) · Honeycomb panel 45 mm/s · 40% · 1 pass

Deep Brown Top Grain Cowhide Leather

F2 Ultra (Blue light 40W) · Process on flat surface 203 mm/s · 22% · 1 pass

1/8"(3mm) Top Grain Cowhide Leather

F2 Ultra UV (Ultraviolet light 5W) · Process on flat surface 225 mm/s · 65% · 1 pass

Black Top Grain Cowhide Leather

F2 Ultra (Blue light 40W) · Process on flat surface 30 mm/s · 80% · 4 pass

Brown Leather Wide Keychain

S1 (Blue light 20W) · Process on baseplate 250 mm/s · 60% · 1 pass

Explore the Materials Lab

Nine laser material families from the Atomm Materials Lab

All laser materials

Wood, acrylic, leather, metal, glass, stone and the rest — thirteen families with tested settings.

Nine laser wood surfaces — basswood and birch plywood edges, walnut, mahogany, cherrywood, bamboo and MDF

Wood, plywood and MDF

Forty boards from basswood ply to oiled MDF. Grade decides the cut, species decides the look.

Fabric and felt

Felt, canvas, denim and tote blanks. Synthetics seal their own edge; cotton does not.

Engravable jewelry blanks

Bar pendants, signet rings, cuffs and tags — already cut, drilled and finished.

Leather Guides & Ideas

Deeper reading once the material is sorted.

Everyday Carry, Personalized: 30 Engraved Leather Wallet Designs

30 free engraved leather wallet ideas — monograms, wildlife, pop-culture, and quote designs for personalized laser-engraved wallets and card holders.

2026/08/21262

48 Custom Leather Keychain Ideas

48 custom leather keychain ideas from the Atomm community - engraved leather key fobs, name tags, layered cut-outs, and leather-plus-hardware builds with free files to edit and export.

2026/07/31594

12 Free Personalized Leather Coaster Ideas

12 real personalized leather coaster designs from the Atomm community — sports, seasonal, decorative, and monogram templates, free to preview, edit, and export.

2026/07/16695

FAQs

Can a laser cut leather?

Yes, but it is mostly used for engraving. Only 5 of 39 community leather records are cuts. A diode or CO2 will cut thin hide and leatherette; thick top grain needs several passes and leaves a darker edge.

Leather Materials for xTool Laser Machines