Morse

I had a Home Depot 5 gallon bucket filled with "SCRAP PIECES" and did not want to throw them away. What to do with these? I decided to dump them all on the work table and think about it. OK! I am going to cut all the pieces into some modular usable form such as 2" x 2", 2" x 4", etc until my table had only what seemed more usable stuff to work with. Now what? I then laid out all the pieces in piles of similar sizes and then with blue masking tape made a 20" x 20" square on the pattern table (plastic sewing sheet with 1" square markings). From here I placed the cutouts in some sort of pattern that pleased my own eye. Each of you would find this a fun and creative adventure and come up with a unique solution. It took a few hours and requires some more cutting and sorting. OK! This is good. Now what? I then decided to make a pillow out of it. I pulled down from my stock of stuff some heavy RED CANVAS, from "Maker's Supply" and glued all the pieces very "carefully" with contact cement on to the canvas. Having done this I then sewed the glued creation to the canvas and proceeded to make a pillow using the same canvas as back and a 2" gusset with a number 5 zipper, then stole a pillow from my bed before the my wife saw what I was doing and stuffed it. I used up half a bucket of old scrap, spent $10 on canvas, and filled a couple of days with a fun project that produced a heavy duty reading pillow that my wife has taken control of. The second half of the scrap bucket will be MY pillow. The project opened up a whole new and creative way to use my shop, my leather and my time.

Dear Mr. Rocky, On June 4, you answered a question I posted on Leatherworker.net. I am a relatively new member and am not good at finding my way around the site. I hope this gets to you I appreciate your response and will try what you have suggested. I did call Leather Machine Co. on the problem and they had a very simple suggestion which I tried and it essentially worked. The said that as your reach the fourth and already skived corner lift the final edge up as your reach it. When I bought the machine it came with 3 pressure feet. I have no idea what each does. In any event, thank you so much for your assistance and I will experiment with your suggestions. santafesam3@gmail.com

I recently purchased a NP/4 skiving machine and I need an answer to a problem. When skiving 4 sides the last skive tears out the first corner. I assume someone knows the answer. What is the procedure? Is it the way I have adjusted it? Would appreciate some advise.

I am a new member so I am never sure where to post something, but I saw this concern about idea infringement. I was looking for a place to show (anybody who might be interested) an idea I came up with that when made became a wonderfully useful item. I wanted any or all to make it themselves, even sell it themselves. IF MY IDEA CAN BE MADE BETTER BY YOU then my idea has taken shape and grown to new heights. I learned this years ago at the college of architecture where we all were influenced by each others ideas and the guy who originated the idea did not always get a better grade than the guy who did a better job with the same idea. My project was and is a " Walkers water bottle and phone carrying case from leather both sturdy or soft leather. My wife loves it and REI probably has a dozen alternatives but we like leather stuff. Tell me where do I share it so that if you like it you can make it or sell it?

Tandy in Las Vegas closed but the Texas home office, I assume, is sending me stuff just about as fast. It would be a shame if closings were more serious than C19 temporary conditions. Though I am at a point of looking for more upgraded hardware I rely on Tandy for a lot of the items they have.

Tom, Your reply is greatly appreciated. You have encouraged me to carry on, so to speak. My leather and creative skills surpass my computer skills, a generational factor. My kids are grown and no longer set my digital watch if you know what I mean. Your making an effort, which I will study, has made a difference. Thanks

I have been doing leather work for some time now but need some answers and am turning to this site for assistance. My email address is "santafesam3 at @ gmail xxcom". I need first to learn how to navigate this forum and am not sure where to turn for directions on this. Secondly, my query or subject of concern is the following: I understand vegetable tanned leather and where to get it. All other leather products seem a bit more difficult to me and I want to learn how to find and buy these products with the same degree of absurdness as the veg tooling leather goods?? Can you folks shed some light for me?