PaxAddict

Hey folks! I've got a few projects that require belt scraps. I am looking for both 1.5 and 1.25 inch wide, 7/8 oz (with some Lee-way if you have a lot. Can use about 6-9oz). I need lengths of 4 inches or more for 1.5 and 3 inches or more for 1.25. These are big projects and I need a Good amount. If you have scrap longer than about 14 inches, feel free to cut them down to 14 so they stack nicely in a large flat rate USPS box. I've done this before, but my source for them isn't working leather anymore. Leather quality or source isnt super important, as long as it's good looking tooling leather. Marks or scars don't bother me, I think it adds character. Send me an email at phoenixcreations@hotmail.com with what you've got. Thank you!

Hey Neps, I'm in MN and need a ton of 1.5in belt scraps for a project. He's local pickup and you don't want many of the belt scraps. We could purchase together, and then you ship me most of the belt scraps?

Oh, man. you're right. Lamellar armor, but have each tab twice as long, so the bottom half of the leather piece covers up the top, stitched half of the row beneath it. I just have the pieces change direction, or stacking, in the middle, so it all comes to a head there. That is totally doable, reasonable, and will require a lot of patience and hand strength as I start punching these all out. That will totally work, though, and was a better idea than I could have ever come up with. With the addition of it being actual, functional armor. Not as functional as standard lamellar, since the extra length is just space for a sword to get caught between scales and cut the stitching open, but functional enough for a costume. Thank you! And if anyone else has any ideas, I'm still listening.

Hey, folks So, I'm a costumer. My wife and I pick some of our favorite characters from some of our shows, and we dress up as them for local events. Most notable of these events is CONvergence, which is a sci fi and fantasy convention where people from all around dress up and have essentially a four day party with 10,000 like minded people. So this year, my wife and I are looking to do Game of Thrones (or, A Song of Ice and Fire, for those of us who are fans of the book series) and I specifically want to do Brynden "Blackfish" Tully. Probably my favorite character from the series. And I have most of the costume figured out and budgeted, with one exception. His awesome "fishscale" leather armor. I've attached a couple shots of the armor, and I've bought a square 3 sided leather punch with rounded corners that is Perfect for this, so I can punch out all the scales by hand, but how do I turn the scales into armor? My first instinct was to just essentially buy a T-shirt and sew the scales into the shirt. Which is still a viable option for me, but I'm concerned with how it will lay. The scales overlap side to side, so there would be no lateral stretch, but there would be vertical stretch and I don't know how it would look. Additionally, this will be worn over riveted chainmaille, and a t-shirt would probably be torn apart pretty quickly. I'm not confident it would hold up. So I could rivet the scales to each other, and just make each scale long enough to reach the next row of scales, or rivet each scale to a piece of leather, but I'm concerned with how well it would breathe, and total weight. Are there any other options you guys can think of, or do.you have any concerns with the options I've brought up? Thanks! Wish me luck

Hey, folks So, I'm a costumer. My wife and I pick some of our favorite characters from some of our shows, and we dress up as them for local events. Most notable of these events is CONvergence, which is a sci fi and fantasy convention where people from all around dress up and have essentially a four day party with 10,000 like minded people. So this year, my wife and I are looking to do Game of Thrones (or, A Song of Ice and Fire, for those of us who are fans of the book series) and I specifically want to do Brynden "Blackfish" Tully. Probably my favorite character from the series. And I have most of the costume figured out and budgeted, with one exception. His awesome "fishscale" leather armor. I've attached a couple shots of the armor, and I've bought a square 3 sided leather punch with rounded corners that is Perfect for this, so I can punch out all the scales by hand, but how do I turn the scales into armor? My first instinct was to just essentially buy a T-shirt and sew the scales into the shirt. Which is still a viable option for me, but I'm concerned with how it will lay. The scales overlap side to side, so there would be no lateral stretch, but there would be vertical stretch and I don't know how it would look. Additionally, this will be worn over riveted chainmaille, and a t-shirt would probably be torn apart pretty quickly. I'm not confident it would hold up. So I could rivet the scales to each other, and just make each scale long enough to reach the next row of scales, or rivet each scale to a piece of leather, but I'm concerned with how well it would breathe, and total weight. Are there any other options you guys can think of, or do.you have any concerns with the options I've brought up? Thanks! Wish me luck

Okay, guys. I've got a pretty specific question now, regarding insoles. I know it's generally suggested to use like a 7-9 iron veg tanned leather for the insole, but I'm having trouble finding any in small quantities. I don't need an entire sole bend, so in looking around for heavier leathers I came across some 12-14oz moose which would get me a few pairs of insoles, for a pretty reasonable price. So, question, what is moose like? Is it suitable for making a holdfast in an insole? From the description on the site, it sounds like it might be a little too pliable, which would make the holdfast weak, right? Or am I worrying too much? Or should I just shut up and stick to the tried and true methods and materials? Leather in question: http://www.distantdrumsonline.com/servlet/the-14278/12-dsh-14-oz.-PALOMINO-MOOSE/Detail

What's the thickness? How do you think it would fare as shoe insole? Is it thick enough to carve a holdfast? Thanks!

I'm new to the leatherworking world, so I don't exactly know what a reasonable offer would look like, but I could definitely put these scraps to work, if for no other use than getting my stitching techniques down and practicing making things look nice and neat. Unfortunately, since my primary mode of transportation just went down, permenantly, I don't have a whole lot to throw around, but I'd be curious what you'd let this go for (I can offer more than the dumpster will)

You know, I did find exactly what I was looking for, the bifida cup sole, on their website, but I have to put all purchases on hold, because I might have just got an inside deal on something here. The reason I decided to get into shoe and boot making (aside from my ever apparent interest in leatherworking) is because a company I have been in love with, and always intended to buy from them. Well, they went out of business awhile back, and I didn't even realize it. Now I just found this guy who didn't get his last paycheck or a severance package, well he ended up with their sole molds. I might just be picking up an entire line of sole molds, in the Tabi style (split toe). The exact soles I'm aiming for here. Things might start looking up for me in the sole department. In either case, Saderma has the soles I need, so failing that, I can still start with more classic boots like I intended.

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?

Actually, I've already called them to attempt to order from them, but they will only work with liscensed companies. They didn't just hang up on me or anything, seemed like they wanted to help, but had no information on where I could get something on a hobby scale, as they work on a production scale.

Panhandle I've seen before, and didn't find anything that wasn't either welted, or flatsole. Southern has significantly more options, but still no cup soles, as far as I can see. I'll contact them, though, and see if they'd be willing to stock some 1375 Bifida, or something of that sort. Thanks for the tip on southern, they look like a great place to shop. Just the type of place I'm looking for.

I've actually tried asking a resoling company if they'd be willing to sell a few soles at profit to me, and they essentially yelled at me for asking them to do anything but resole a pair of boots. I'd be fine with a few pairs of vibram hiking boot soles, but can't find a single place that sells them retail. It's all either wholesale with a min quantity, or will only sell to liscensed businesses. So aside from eBay, I seriouslly can't find a place to buy ones and twos, and eBay doesn't seem to have any cup soles, they all have been flat soles this far.

I didn't know trying to buy rubber soles would get me arrows in the back -ducks- I'll keep looking. I'm a bit particular, and this is an intregal part of the look, and something I can't really see being recreated with leather. Though, I am considering more and more making a pair of welted biker boots for my buddy. That's still a bit in the future, though. I'll post progress pictures as I go, certainly, wins and losses. And if anyone has a lead on athletic type cup outsoles that I can buy in quantaties of less than 10 pair at a time, I'm all ears.

There's a lot of terms being thrown around on the various forums and blogs I'm attempting to absorb information from, so when a pair of "Bespoke shoes" was shown being made, I made the wrong leap. Thanks for putting me right on that one. What are the other options for making a holdfast? I haven't found any other beside channelling, but that might not mean anything. In either case, it seems pretty straight forward, so long as I mark everything out first and take my time with it. In my case, it doesn't actually need to be particularly strong, since I'm not welting (though I'll keep that option open for the future, seems like a neat method, and I have some friends that would appreciate the asthetics), so the insole will be sewn only to the upper, which will all then be cemented over, and to, the outsole. Seriously, though, I'm having an absurd amount of difficulty trying to track down a rubber outsole retailer. Aside from eBay, which is inconsitent, and has nothing near what I'm looking for. I'm looking for any form of rubber cup sole, athletic or light hiking, preferrably black, and I'm coming up empty. Any suggestions? Is there a secret cobbler's supply retailer out there I'm unaware of?

Ah, and by "Channel" I meant "Holdfast"

Looks like this type of shoemaking is called "Bespoke"? But I'm making a completely different type of shoe, only using the bespoke soling method

Wait, I might have my terms mixed up here. Yeah, okay. I misunderstood, I was talking about the insole. Okay. Let's see if I can give a better description here: I will be handstitching my insole to the upper, in the same method as welting, but without the welt. I'll hand stitch on a last, then trim down the excess and glue on an athletic sole. So, my question then, is not midsole weight, but insole weight. Enough to carve and stitch, but thin enough to still be soft on the foot? Sorry about all the confusion.

The problem is, is that the type of shoe I'm looking to make I've never really seen done before. It'll be essentially a side button moccasin, all leather, which I will stitch to the midsole by carving a channel in the midsole, and nailing it to a last, nailing the rest of the boot to the midsole and removing one nail at a time, as I stitch the two together. I don't know if there's a word for this method, but that's what I plan on doing. Then, once I've got the two together, gluing to it, a rubber athletic type outsole. Hopefully that made sense. I know I'm combining a few different methods here, and I know my utter lack of terminology may invest unease in my betters, but I've got it all worked out up in the noggin', and in the number of other hobbies I've picked up over the years, once it works in my head, I generally don't run into too many issues making it work in my hands. I'm just trying to find out how thick I need my midsole to be, so that there's plenty to channel through, and still be able to work it. So, midsole leather is a specific type of leather (vegetable tanned?) and comes in irons, as opposed to OZ. That's the kind of info I'm here to get. And the conversion rate comes out to about Oz < Iron by roughly 75%. Does that imply I could use a different type of leather for a midsole? I've got my eye on some nice 11oz buffalo leather, and if I can use it as a midsole, I might pull the trigger on it. Or, for midsoles, do I need something especially rigid, so it's easier to channel and work? Thank you again for all of this valuable information, I might have ended up channelling right through my leather, or found myself without enough to sew. Not a huge setback, but an easily avoided one, and I'm glad for that. As for the suggestions to get with a maker in my area, the problem is my amount of free time outside of the house. I'm in the US Army, so my free time is limited enough as it is, plus with a 6 month old daughter in the house now, making it out to apprentice with someone is out of the question. Then factor in my inability to temper my excitement, and I'm left with saying screw it, and learning on my own. Of course I'll run into road blocks, and I might waste a good amount of time and money due to inexperience, but I'm resliant in that way, and am confident (if I can find a good athletic outsole supplier) that I'll come out of this making shoes. Thank you for your patience, guys. Please stick with me. My ingorance is generally short-lived. TL:DR - So what problems would I run into if I used an 11oz buffalo leather as a midsole?

No, I'm definitely not making them on a production basis. I'm just getting into this, and looking to make my first pair for myself. This pair will be, essentially, hiking boots with an athletic rubber outsole. Just curious what the ranges were. Since I intend these to be a softer boot, more along the lines of a heartier sneaker that comes over the ankle, really, then I'll be shooting for the lighter of that line, around the 8 oz iron. I was leaning towards 8-9oz anyways, and was looking for a confirmation that I was in the right area. Of course, this is my first pair, so I expect it to fall short of my expectations, mostly fact gathering and the such. Thanks for the info, guys! Michael

What weight do you guys use for midsole? It has to be thick enough to carve into. I understand that beyond that, it probably doesn't matter much, but I was just curious if you guys have a weight you generally stick to when making a pair of shoes.

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!

I'm having some trouble finding -any- last measuring chart, to find out exactly what my last size would be. I could call J&V and talk to them personally about it, but they'll charge me 50 bucks an hour for their time. There has to be a chart out there somewhere. Obviously, each company will be different, but I don't have a preference to who I buy from, as long as I know that company is giving me the right size. Anyone here have a link? I'm at my wit's end trying to track one down.

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.