Are folks here using "Cricut" machines to cut leather and vinyl camera covers?

eli griggs · Oct 3, 2022

Just as the title says, is anyone here using or, perhaps knows of anyone using Cricut machines?

Looking at the possibilities of these things to cutting thin leather designed to use with these machines, it seems to me to be a good way to re-cover a camera or three and I have several that would like re-covering in leather for a longer, active life.

There are also leather substitutes in vinyl made for these machines, thin and thicker vinyls as well.

Has anyone here tried to make their own covers yet?

chriscrawfordphoto · Oct 3, 2022

The cost of pre-cut leather camera skins is cheap compared to the cost of a Cricut machine unless you have a large number of cameras to re-cover.

AgX · Oct 3, 2022

chriscrawfordphoto said:
The cost of pre-cut leather camera skins is cheap ....

There are thousands of camera models out there with a pre-cut leatherette, but only for a handful of models a pre-cut
kit exists.

Such cutter only is part of the solution. One still has to do the measure up, which may be some hassle. Unless the old leatherette after having ben taken off is still up to size that so that it can be scanned.

eli griggs · Oct 3, 2022

chriscrawfordphoto said:
The cost of pre-cut leather camera skins is cheap compared to the cost of a Cricut machine unless you have a large number of cameras to re-cover.

Yes, the machines can be expensive but if you have access to one capable of doing the job, the expense is in the buying of leather or leatherette and, that's at the court of the question, of those that have access to such machines, are they cutting their own replacement covers?

eli griggs · Oct 3, 2022

AgX said:
There are thousands of camera models out there with a pre-cut leatherette, but only for a handful of models a pre-cut
kit exists.

Such cutter only is part of the solution. One still has to do the measure up, which may be some hassle. Unless the old leatherette after having ben taken off is still up to size that so that it can be scanned.

Scanning old covers seems to be the 'cleanest' path to a new fitting, but with today's habit of putting nearly everything on, online data banks, I would no be surprised if such files already exist.

monopix · Oct 3, 2022

eli griggs said:
Scanning old covers seems to be the 'cleanest' path to a new fitting, but with today's habit of putting nearly everything on, online data banks, I would no be surprised if such files already exist.

Well if you find a source please let us know. I've started to cut my own and making templates is not so easy, even if you have a complete one to scan. That will give you a starting point but it never fits perfectly straight away. I've found it almost as quick to measure up and start from scratch. I use a laser cutter so can't help with the Cricut. I did look at them but decided to go with the laser.

Don_ih · Oct 3, 2022

I did a couple of Contax and Yashica cameras by peeling off the existing and sticking them to graph paper to align them as best I could, scanned, printed out the result, and just used it as a template to cut new stuff with a utility knife. Doing any more seems excessive. I did about 7 that way.

M-88 · Oct 3, 2022

eli griggs said:
Scanning old covers seems to be the 'cleanest' path to a new fitting, but with today's habit of putting nearly everything on, online data banks, I would no be surprised if such files already exist.

That is true. If no such data exists, then one will have to resort to measuring tools, making paper templates to see if everything fits correctly etc. Just like I had to do last weekend with my camera. Taking dimensions and making a proper template took longer than cutting out the leather by hand and gluing it on the body. And that wasn't even a complex camera.

ic-racer · Oct 3, 2022

I guess you could offer covering for models in which covering is not available. Thought, Custom Camera Covers lists 400 and Camera Leather lists 150. Aki-Ashai does not list as many but they use die cutting which might make a cleaner cut.

AgX · Oct 3, 2022

So many models are already "covered" by respective kits? I am surprised.
(But it is also the first time I read about the first one of those three.)

runswithsizzers · Oct 3, 2022

Looks promising, but their website is not very good for detailed information. Half of the links are not working correctly for me. I tried to watch a couple of videos but lost patience waiting for the video to get around to "unboxing" the product. I don't need to be shown how to take something out of a box.

Similar to 3D printers, the crucial issue for me is, where do the patterns come from? That is, how hard is it to create the instructions (pattern) the machine needs to make something? For example, I just had my Konica T4 recovered with leather. The factory covering was shriveled and shrunken, so it would not have been suitable to trace around or scan to make an exact pattern.

It looks like the software uses a lot of cute patterns for gift cards and decorator projects which they provide, but no details were given about how to create an original pattern. Apparently, the only way to find out more about their design software, is to either give them my email address so I can watch their video - or to download and install the software.

My last concern is what materials can be used? The website heavily promotes their own line of paper, vinyl, etc. Can only their propritary materials be used?

choiliefan · Oct 3, 2022

The original covers were mass-produced using steel-rule dies in a clicker-type press.
Most recent cover kit I bought was laser cut.

VinceInMT · Oct 3, 2022

runswithsizzers said:
It looks like the software uses a lot of cute patterns for gift cards and decorator projects which they provide, but no details were given about how to create an original pattern. Apparently, the only way to find out more about their design software, is to either give them my email address so I can watch their video - or to download and install the software.

While not familar with this product, a quick glance reminds me of the vinyl cutter I had in my classroom when I was teaching over a decade ago. That machine preferred vector files and we could create those in AutoCAD, SketchUp, or other drawing programs although it could convert other files to that type. According to the Cricut site, it accepts bit-mapped .png and .gif files as well as vectors like .svg and .dxf. There are lots of open source options for creating those files.

https://help.cricut.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009556313-Uploading-Images-into-Design-Space

Even with access to the machine, unless you’re cranking out many of the same pattern, it’s probably quicker to do it manually by creating a paper pattern and cutting the final product with that.

eli griggs · Oct 3, 2022

VinceInMT said:
Even with access to the machine, unless you’re cranking out many of the same pattern, it’s probably quicker to do it manually by creating a paper pattern and cutting the final product with that.

True enough but on the other hand, once you do have the correct pattern, you can run-up a few extra sets, to trade for film, etc., so long as you are willing to sit on them for a few years before a proper trade comes knocking.

Godspeed and Good Health to all,
Eli

BobD · Oct 3, 2022

It would be nice to have software made for this purpose. Input photos of the camera, mark off the leather areas and it creates a printable template.

eli griggs · Oct 3, 2022

I wonder if ANY maker of analog cameras have these design drawings on hand and can provide pdf files, etc. on request?

Dan Daniel · Oct 4, 2022

You can do a scan of the leather piece and then generate a vector file from the scan. I forget what this is called in Adobe Illustrator, but it's a great starting point. If you can deal with Bezier curves and adding/deleting points, cleaning up after a test or two is pretty fast.

eli griggs · Oct 5, 2022

I'm hoping Gimp will do but I'll have to wait until I get into it to see what's what.

Dan Daniel · Oct 7, 2022

GIMP is a raster program. You need a vector program. Maybe vector functions have been added to GIMP over the years?

In Illustrator it is called Live Trace. See if other programs refer to it all.

eli griggs · Oct 7, 2022

Dan Daniel said:
GIMP is a raster program. You need a vector program. Maybe vector functions have been added to GIMP over the years?

In Illustrator it is called Live Trace. See if other programs refer to it all.

Cheers.

Are folks here using "Cricut" machines to cut leather and vinyl camera covers?

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