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Achieving Plastic-Free with the Router Milling Machine

Leaf Tree’s inventor is building a custom router milling machine for us to make our Leaf Tree Trunks out of wood instead of plastic The first round of Leaf Tree prototypes had Trunks with PVC cores. Our goal is to establish a fully transparent supply chain: be able to map where all of Leaf Tree’s materials came from and how they were made, as far back into the supply chain as we can manage. We…

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Thank you Virginia Cat Festival!

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Leaf Tree at the Virginia Cat Festival!

Leaf Tree will be exhibiting on Sunday, November 10th, from 12:00-7:00 PM at the Williamsburg Lodge in Williamsburg Virginia. We would love to see you if you’re in town! You can get more details on the event and get Sunday tickets for $20 ($15 for kids) at https://vacatfestival.com/info. Saturday tickets are already sold out, and Sunday sales end Saturday night, so get them while you still…

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Bamboo for Leaf Tree?

When in Portland we were able to visit Bamboo Revolution and were given bamboo plywood and board to make some Leafs and see how the material works with the system and see if we would eventually incorporate bamboo as an additional material option for our Leafs and other parts of the Leaf Tree system. We were finally able to cut the component parts for some new Leafs, and we’re excited to assemble…

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Dozing on High

While the Tree Top is perfect for rambunctious play, it’s also great for dozing high above the action in the home. This tree top is a fair bit smaller than the version we’re working with for our most recent Leaf Tree version, but Cosmo really enjoys it!

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Hammock Hunting

Feather fun continues as Cosmo lounges in the homemade hammock. The design is based on a bag pattern with handles as slots near the top, Cosmo’s mom decided to put lots of handles all over for the purposes of play!If you’re in the Northeast United States, keep an eye out for Only Maine Coons Rescue at conventions near you for some great peacock feathers and other amazing cat toys!

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Tree Top Trust

It’s great to see Comso comfortably play on the top of the Leaf Tree! He’s able to confidently reach far beyond the Tree Top with the stable base, solid core of the Trunks, and the grippy burlap cover for him to get reliable purchase with his haunchesWe got the feather toy from Only Maine Coons Rescue at the 2023 Pet Palooza! If you’re from the Northeast, keep an eye out to see when they’ll be at…

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Feather Fun

Cosmo is a huge fan of feather toys, and we got some great ones from Only Maine Coons Rescue at the 2023 Pet Palooza! If you’re from the Northeast, keep an eye out to see when they’ll be at nearby conventions for some great cat toys and to meet some beautiful Maine Coon cats

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An Escape from the Canine Chaos

The 6-ft Leaf Tree assembly not only satiates a cat’s love of looking down on things, but acts as a refuge from the intermittent chaos of other housemates. Cosmo’s brother, Griffin—a German Shepherd—loves playing catch in the living room: leaping into the giant bean bag, strewing toys all over the floor, and being generally rambunctious. But Cosmo can calmly observe the chaos from his perch on…

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Visiting Cosmo

After the convention, we went to visit Cosmo since Boo was staying with him while we were exhibiting. Cosmo still has one of the earliest versions of Leaf Tree—the simple toothless Leafs and even a 4-ft Trunk from earlier in development. He still really loves it though! Boo’s parent managed to grab a picture of Cosmo scratching the post (he acts embarrassed/guilty whenever he realizes he’s being…

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Bulk-making Covers

In preparation for exhibiting at Pet Palooza 2023, the inventor bulk-made lots of covers. The first round of removable leaf covers used metal grommets, but one of the goals with Leaf Tree’s design is to limit the variety of materials and parts used in its construction. In the spirit of this goal, we decided to use sewn button holes for this new set of covers. It takes slightly longer, but the…

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Testing the New Cleat Assembly Jig

When assembling a full Leaf, the spacing of the toe and heel to form the cleat is vital for the proper fit of the Leaf on the Trunk. To ensure a consistent fit each time, the Inventor designed a Leaf assembly jig. He designed and cut the pieces of the jig to fit the Leaf’s component parts for assembly, make tweaks while testing out the proper spacing settings for the jig, and used it to make lots…

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Starting to Explore Textiles

While Mindful Maker Co will be a worker-owned co-operative manufacturing center in the Shenandoah Valley, while we get off the ground we may outsource certain aspects of production to local (within North America) established companies or facilities to help manufacture specific components until we fully get off the ground. One of our long term aims, when it is sustainable, is also to enter the…

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New Toothing Jig Improvements

The first iteration of the toothing jig worked—but not particularly well because of the lightweight balsa core plywood. The new router clamp plate has been milled from solid poplar hardwood for improved strength and holding power.

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Thank You Pet Palooza!

We just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who came by the booth at Pet Palooza this weekend! We are very excited by your interest and enthusiasm for our idea.  We will continue to post updates on our progress, and if you subscribe you’ll be among the first to know when we start accepting pre-orders and when we announce our crowdfunding campaign

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Leaf Tree at Pet Palooza

Come and see Leaf Tree at the Fredericksburg Convention Center in Virginia, October 21st & 22nd! We’ll be bringing our newest iteration of Leaf Tree for attendees to check out, and will be around to answer any questions and make connections!  Doors open at 9am, and tickets are $8 for general admission, and pet tickets are free If you’re in the area and interested in checking out the convention,…

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Tree Top Taps

Before leaving Cosmo’s house after the road trip, the inventor got a few “friendly” taps from Cosmo from the top of the Leaf Tree Mk1V1.5. With the new Leaf Tree Mk2, we were able to leave the tree for Cos to enjoy!