Chapter: One
Introduction to Leather Cutting
BSc: Leather Engineering
Target: 3rd Year Leather Engineering
BY: Fetiya H
2024
Leather product manufacturing sequence
Raw Material Sourcing
Pattern Making/Designing
Nesting/Spreading
Cutting
Closing/Stitching
Finishing
Packing
Delivery for Customer/consumer
Major Divisions of Ethiopian Leather Sector
No Industry Industry Output Product
Type no.
1 Tanning 32 Finished leather.
2 Footwear 24 Shoes (Men's, Ladies,
Children etc)
3 Garments 23 Garments, Belts, Wallets,
and goods Hand bags, Luggage bag,
factories backpacks, purses etc….
4 Gloves 4 Leather gloves,
5 Micro and 398 Shoes, Garments, Belts,
Small Scale Wallets, Hand bags,
enterprises Luggage bag , backpacks,
purses etc…
Source; All African Leather Fair 2017 LIDI
LEATHER CUTTING
TECHNOLOGY
CUTTING
Cutting is the process in which goods, garment
and Footwear material are cut and converted in
to the shape of the patterns of the component
of the goods, garment and Footwear.
Preparation for sewing
Necessity of Leather Cutting
Why Leather cutting is required?
To break the bulk size of Finished Leather in to
small garment, footwear and Leather goods
component based on required size.
To accomplish mass production (to get many
components at a time)
Cutting is necessary to retain final product. (Since
garment, footwear and Leather goods are made from
several pattern shapes)
To locate appropriately the position of the joint or
stich.
Some of the requirements of cutting
Precision of cutting line (straight, curved,
diagonal, circle, Zigzag etc.)
Clean edges -The raw edge of the cut panel
should not show fraying or snagging.
Un scorched (dried out), un fused edges
Consistent or regular cutting
Leather cutting Tools and equipment
Cutting table with cutting matt
Card board pattern
Leather cutting Tools and equipment
Leather cutting Tools and equipment
Cutter
It is utility knife, but it is actually a short, sharp
blade mounted on a pen-like aluminum body, used
for crafting and hobbies, such as model making
Leather cutting Tools and equipment
Shears or Scissors- This is a paired sharp cutting tool
used for the cutting of cards and papers for use as
templates and for the cutting of light leather, linings
foams and fabrics.
Head Knife- This knife is used for cutting and trimming
thick pieces of leather.
Gouge- This cutting tool is used for creating grooves to
make folding and creasing easy in leatherwork. V-Gouge-
This type of gouge is used for creating ‘V’ and ‘U’
grooves.
Leather cutting Tools and equipment
Hand knife for leather cutting
Skiving Knife- This is a sharp knife that is used
for removing the bulkiness of leather by
thinning. This technique is commonly referred to
as skiving.
Leather cutting Tools and equipment
Leather Skiver
This is an adjustable skiver so
that the leather can be skived
down (thinned) to various
thickness.
Strap Cutter-
This cutting tool is used for
cutting long straps of leather used
in making handles of bags, belts
etc.
Leather cutting Tools and equipment
Manual strap cutter
Works great at cutting all different weights of
leather.
•Can easily adjust to cut 1/8" to 4" strips.
•Handy cross bars add support.
•Have one regular blade and Additional
replacement blades.
•Measure in inches or centimeters
•Works right or left handed
Leather cutting Tools and equipment
Mechanical Strap cutters
Strap cutting Machine
Leather are cut into stripes of different width .
This machine uses a set of disc knives and
spacers used determine the width of each
straps
Leather cutting Tools and equipment
Swivel Knife- It is used
for making light cuts or
beveled lines to aid in
the folding of leather.
Bevel Point Knife- This
cutting tool is used for
cutting leather at right
angles.
Cutting mat or Glass-
It is the surface on
which the leather is
placed for cutting.
Types of cutting
There are two types of cutting system
1. Hand cutting
2.Machine cutting
HAND CUTTING
Hand cutting is one of the method of cutting
leather or any other leather goods making
material.
Hand cutting is done with the use of hand knife
and cutting patterns. This requires a high degree
of skill.
Hand cutting is a slow process in comparison to
press cutting but it is sometimes necessary
especially for low order of production or for
some difficult design patterns.
For successful cutting work good tools and good
materials are essential.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Hand
Cutting
Advantages
The cost of the patterns for hand cutting is less.
Simple cutting tools
Cost of space is low
Storage space is greatly reduced
The patterns are easily handled and very little time is
last in changing from one pattern to another
There is no power cost and low risk injury
No or little maintenance cost
Disadvantage
•High labor force
•Low productivity
•High wastage of materials.
MACHINE CUTTING
ADVANTAGES MACHINE CUTTING OVER HAND
CUTTING
High Speed of operation
Good Accuracy and uniformity
High Productivity
Negotiation of intricate/complex patterns and
Least wastage .
What is its disadvantage?????
Qualities required in A cutting man
The cutting man must be known:
How to make the correct judgment.
Know the principles of locating markers and knives.
Accept that each skin has a different quality
standard.
Know parts of hide/skin and their suitability for
cutting of components of the products.
Qualities required in a cutting man
Types of leather and their suitability for making
different types of leather goods.
To reorganize defects and how to take advantage of
those defects.
Assortment of leather for various thicknesses and
their suitability for various components of the products.
Know How to reduce materials waste.
Qualities required in a cutting man
Understand the Cutting Pattern:
The pattern maker must give in each pattern for
the following information, which would help the
cutter to cut materials easily and accurately.
Model number/code number of the products.
Pattern Name /Back, front, gusset, pocket,
handle etc…/
Number of components to be cut.
Name of raw material/leather, lining, foam etc…/
Qualities required in a cutting man
Understand the Cutting Pattern:
Center point for perfect joining the
components/notch mark/
Good components, defective components, partly
goods & partly defective components. (that is
the visual part must have good surface & invisible
parts has defective surface)
Safety rules to keep in mind while cutting
Wear Appropriate protective gloves
Always cut with a sharp blade
Make sure you are balanced and you footing is stable and
secure.
Keep you non-cutting hand away from the line of cut.
If the blade begin to tear the leather rather than cutting,
change the blade.
Do not use utility knives for non cutting tasks.
Questions
Comments and
Suggestions
