New To Leather, New To Shoes

[PaxAddict]

Well, I'm new to the site, and to leather working. Something I've wanted to get into for a very long time, but got the gumption recently, when I found out that the place I was planning to get a pair of custom shoes done, has gone under, leaving a particular niche open. So, I've decided to attempt to head that direction, and see what I can make out of this.

Now, this post is asking a bunch of general questions, and a few specific ones. Mostly, I think I understand the process, and specifically, how I want to go about it, but I'm still drawing a few blanks on how everything works.

Firstly, tools for the job. I understand that I need a last, first. (har) and I'd like to pick atleast one up in my size, and one for my wife's. So that much I'm following. Need some rubber cement for adhering the sole to the rest of the shoe, a good pair of leather shears, mallet, awl. I plan on hand sewing these, and I've come to understand that the awl is for making the holes I stitch through? Is there a specific type of needle and threading for the job? Are there any other tools I need?

I suppose I should specify what I'm looking to make. I want to make soft leather boots, tight fitting, in the style of an athletic shoe. For hiking and the like, and once I get pretty decent at it, I plan to transition into making leather Tabi, made for outdoor use, with a PU sole, like the one pictured.

So one of my specific questions, is boots like this, with a more athletic sole, the sole comes up the sides of the leather, as opposed to a more standard hiking boot. Is this an effect of the sole being concave? The sole is built like a bowl? Or is the sole flat, and a shoemaker would apply rubber around the edged to form a seal?

By looking at my own shoes, I'm under the impression that's the way the sole is built, with a wall around the edge. This makes this complicated for me, since I like the high wall, and wanted to use it in the tabi boots, like the ones pictured, but that means they either made those soles themselves, or had them special ordered from someplace. Is it unreasonable to think I could design my own soles? Cast and the pour? It seems like a ridiculous amount of work for something that will otherwise be fairly simple.

I don't plan on having a complicated design like the boots pictures, overlaying pieces and such, it'll be a bit more simple than that, but the basic idea holds true.

So, starting from the floor up, I guess my main question is: what would be the easiest way to get soles of this sort? Make them myself, or find a specialty supplier? How much would custom soles like this cost me, if I were to comission them? Where could I find a supplier who could do this?

Once I get that worked out, I think the leather questions will start pouring out of me.

Thanks for your time, Folks! I know this is a bit out of your lane.

[KAYAK45]

MY instinct tells me you should NOT START WITH TOOLS! You should start with books, videos and such. Search Utube and you will find hundreds of hours of video on shoe/boot making. Search for FREE books on shoe and boot making from before ..say..1920. Those are on home/hand made stuff. Decide what you want to do before you buy a single tool or supply.

Then armed with information look for only the tools ans supplies needed to do the job on ONE PAIR.

Go on from there if you still like the idea.

Good luck and Welcome

Kevin

[PaxAddict]

Aww, and here I just spent 50 dollars on two pairs of lasts.

Well, let's hope I'm still interested in the months to come!

[niftycurly]

The soles pictured are one piece and most likely custom manufactured for that shoe brand. Unless you want to rip a set out an existing pair you have two options a) sculpt and cast your design. Or b.) design your sole in 3D software (as the manufacturers do) and send the files to a service like Ponoko or Shapeways to have output in the material of your choice.

Either way, you should rip apart an old pair of thrift store shoes and look at the sole piece before you sit down to design, they usually have a waffle construction inside for flexibility and weight. If you want to be really fancy and are tech savvy enough, try the shoe design software from DelCam/Crispin. It's free to use, expensive as hell to export, but it's possible to translate to other open source 3D programs if you know how.

Personally I don't see anything wrong with diving straight in if you have the time and temperament to learn that way

Edited September 26, 2012 by niftycurly

[PaxAddict]

Lots of good information! I'm still trying to get my hands on a pair of those boots. We'll see ho it goes. How much do a custom pair of soles usually run? I wouldn't be able to purchase more than like 5 pairs in a run. So, ballpark price per pair?

[educatedcobbler]

if u wanna make shoe by hand i mean hand making shoe then u should bye some hand toolls like beeding hammer speicial type scissors knife ladies hammer , eye lyts driller , sewing machine and all avob u need pairs of last

needle specification: u may use 134 size LR cut