ABurchIV

I know that this is an older thread butI'd like to add some information for those like me that came late to the discussion. Leather working for me is a hobby, my job involves observing body biomechanics and treating dysfunctions. The reason why you can't make a perfect replica of the foot using any medium, is because it's a dynamic structure that changes shape constantly. The three arches of the foot (medial longitudinal, lateral longitudinal and transverse) all change shape. There is a difference between weight bearing and weightlessness as well as a change during every part of normal gait. Additionally the metatarsals and toes splay outwards during portions of gait and come back in during others. I can understand the frustrations getting a properly fitted shoe, but casting the foot in any one static position would cause way more problems than it fixes. If you want to customize a last for better fit, then take all of the standard measurements in multiple positions. First seated with the feet flat on the floor but unweighted, then standing, then in the toe off position, midstance position and finally heel strike position and look at the variance. Some measurements will change almost insignificantly others more so. For those that have insignificant variance I'd recommend using the standing measurement as the feet are very pliable when not weight bearing. The two measurements from Golding that are likely to change the most are Joint and Instep. The joint measurement takes place at the heads of the metatarsals which splay outward during toe off and the instep follows the transverse arch which widens from heel strike to midstance then narrows from midstance to toe off. For those two, I'd go for the mean of all combined measurements as the smallest measurements take place while no weight is on the foot and the leather will have a natural give to it that should accommodate the largest measurements. Finally the shape of the toe box itself needs to blend the proportions of the style and the needs of the toes. Too many shoes have an unnaturally narrow toe box which jams the toes together and prevents splaying at all. If you want a narrow pointed toe, taper in a bit slower and extend the full length a bit further than what traditional styling would suggest and bond additional material between the lining and outer leather. The outside of the shoe will be about one size larger than your normal shoe size but the inside will remain the correct length and give the toes the additional space they need. It'd be like ordering one size larger and then stuffing the toes with paper, just a more permanent and much better method. As for building better arch support,you'd be better off leaving that to the orthotics makers as youaren't measuring the real arches so much as trying to force them to where they should be which is a whole other can of worms. The three arches are made up of 12 bones, many ligaments and controlled by the actions of 15 different muscles. You have to craft a theoretically perfect arch that matches the anatomical structure of the one you are working with. The whole reason I'm getting into shoe/boot making is because I spend all my day standing/walking and I have to wear dress shoes. I also have a difficult foot to fit, but more importantly, a lot of shoes just seem to ignore foot biomechanics entirely.