*Best DAD Ever* Leather Valet Tray

I had some leather scraps so needed to cut this in two sections to ensure I carefully aligned each portion. I cut the main piece first - the cut piece is 200 mm x 200 mm so align your leather scrap to allow a piece of that size to be cut from it. I had the fuzzy side of the leather up, and the smooth side down. The fuzzy side will be the inside of the valet tray when complete. 

Select the rectangle with “Best Dad Ever” and turn off the Output for the rectangle and the words. Confirm that the output is on for the main valet tray piece. Set the distance and mark a rectangle for processing. Move the rounded rectangle piece (and its inner items) to the processing location and process. 

Before removing the leather from the machine, be sure to check whether it cut all the way through and if not, process the outside cut again. My leather was fairly thick, so I processed just the outside rectangle a second time with a 1 mm deeper distance setting and three passes to get it to cut the rest of the way through. 

Place a second piece of leather - the final rectangle is 120 mm x 120 mm - in the machine, and set output to on for the Best Dad Ever text and rectangle cut outline. Turn output off for the part  you've already cut. Check the distance and set the processing rectangle area. 

Again, before removing the leather from the machine, be sure to check whether it cut all the way through the leather. If not, turn output off for the engraving and run the cut portion again. 

Select rivets similar to the ones shown in the first photo. There are three types you may find - regular plain metal rivets, rivets with fake stones in them, and screw together rivets. I wanted to use the screw together rivets, but I only had one set of them and this tray requires 4 sets. I used the regular plain metal rivets. 

Pinch a corner of the tray to align the pair of holes in that corner and thread one side of the rivet through the holes. Push the other half of the rivet into place. Set the assembly on the rivet die (the round metal disk), and place the metal driver on top of the rivet. Bang it about 5 times with a hammer to set the rivet. Repeat the process for the other three sides. 

Now that the tray is assembled, spread some leather glue on the bottom of the “Best Dad Ever” piece and place it in the center of the tray. Leave a heavy can on top of it to hold it down until the glue dries (about 2 hours). 

It's ready to give to your Dad, so wrap it up nicely. 

"Best Dad Ever" Valet Tray for Dad : r/xToolOfficial  ; https://x.com/LadyRuna/status/2060891586947658069 

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