Weekday Progress

Ron and I discussed hardware storage last night and poked around various websites. Sears no longer carries the 4-drawer tool chest sections we have a couple of, and what they do carry is expensive. (Sears has gone down the tubes in general, it seems) Menard's seems to have the best (on-line) selection and prices. I may hit Berland's House of Tools one of these days, and see if I get any ideas there. I'm still not sure making room on the shelves for another tool chest is the solution I want, but it's the best we've come up with so far.

Actually, the best solution would be winning millions in the lotto, hiring packers/movers, and moving to a house with a bigger workshop, in which we'd have a whacking big tool chest or two for tools and hardware. There would also be a way to store leather flat (hanging, I think) and away from UV light, and near my cutting table which would be away from walls on at least three sides. Hmm. Since I want windows/good lighting in my workshop, storage for large pieces of leather and the cutting table would probably be in a adjacent interior room or basement. Which would be ok. I want a dumbwaiter just for the cool factor anyway.

"Fine Woodworking" magazine puts out an annual "Tools and Shops" issue, which I like to drool over. Many things you want in a woodshop are also desirable in a leather shop: A nice workbench, lighting, space to move around, easy cleanup (sawdust vs. little leather bits), access to power/bench tools, yadda yadda. I don't see a need for woodshop-style dust collection, and leatherworking involves fewer power tools, but those are minor differences that I handwave away.

Messed about with belt satchels and sporrans while dinner was cooking last night. Got latches on a half-dozen of them, and sewed belt loops/sporran-strap dees on a bunch - putting dees for sporran use on some of the belt satchels. I also cut a new gusset for one of the sporrans, since the gusset I cut had vanished. It was less annoying to just cut a new one.

Tippmann Industrial, the company making my dies, called this morning, should be shipped today. They're in Ft. Wayne, IN, and their web site shows we're in the 1-day shipping range for UPS ground service, so I expect to see the dies tomorrow or Friday (depending on what time their actual UPS pickup is/was in relation to when the dies were packed). Yay!

Ron's been thinking about adapting the cavalry equipment pommel bags to make a shoulder bag/satchel for an iPad. I think he's thinking of mostly softer leather, and has his eyes on the Stupid Amounts of copper-colored leather we got Monday. Now he's got me thinking, but I'm more likely to stick with the firmer leather the pommel bags are made out of. We'll see if either of us ever gets sufficient Round Tuits. I cut the straps to make Ron a new 1-1/2" wide belt mumble years ago, and we still haven't finished it.

This weekend I need to interrupt Otter-ish work to do some general housecleaning, because the weekend after that we'll be at WisCon (only shopping in the Dealer's Room), then the next weekend is Robin's graduation, with at least one set of grand-parental-units coming to town, and the house is anything but presentable. Then after graduation the next two weekends are Border Skirmish and Ragnorak Rampage, and starting work on the MuseCon program book.