RockyAussie

I can now see a bit more of where and how your going with this.This looks like a shoe last and not a boot last to start with. As Electrathon has pointed out some method of breaking the last will need to be sorted out. Some old ones I've used have a scaloped out section from the lower instep on up and toward the heel which is held in place by a screw. It appears that you may not have taken into account a lot of important measurements and to help with this I have inserted a link that I would think you might consider looking at first. I do not want to dishearten you with where you are at but I have to say I would remove all that cork and start again with some 3mm veg leather if possible. Try and work more with the last shape when building up in a more all over way. I would start with building up first the width of ball (metatarsal area a bit then try and overlay this in a more complete way right across the whole last. This will help to maintain the actual last shape better and thereon your shoe as well. Please pay attention to the instep and long heel measurements when adding on this layer. The best of shoemakers will often not get a good fit straight away and there are a few things that can be done to make this a little easier. The first I would say after getting all of your measurements close is to put a 3mm piece onto the sole of your last (glue it on and metal plate on top if you want.) and this will allow you to put in a cushioned sock liner insole which can easily be sanded down or added too, to get a more comfortable fit. When you have the leather insole glued and attached to the upper and held in place try it on for size here and make any adjustments such as loosing or tightening. Don't forget to do that with the sock liner insole in place as well. Another thing that can help is a little foam on the lining side of the heel counter at the top as this can help a bit with the counter not being a perfect fit to the persons heel. Make this thin at the top back and go wider as it wraps around. This would be about 80mm long and about 20mm deep in the widest part and around 2 or 3mm thick when compressed into place.The last your showing here is a low heel height and I would think only about about 1/2" (13 to 15mm high). Getting the heel height and toe spring right is often overlooked but is an important part to get a correct comfortable wearing shoe. You have the advantage here of tacking on temporally heel pieces until it feels right in wear. Here is the link- http://chestofbooks.com/business/clothing/footwear/The-Manufacture-Of-Boots-And-Shoes/The-Operation-Of-Measuring.html A few pics of the tools that you have may help as well. That's it for now Brian

Lookin good so far mate.Not sure if you are thinking of putting the last stitch in at the top of the gusset just over the edge onto the top/lid but if your not going all the way around I would recommend doing so. I only mention it as I have seen a few projects lately that are not doing that for some reason.Brian

I will check back for the pictures a little later and let you know what I think best.It may be best to show an outline of your foot and whatever measuring procedures you have done.Brian

Are you wanting to make closed in footwear? Can you post a picture of the last side on and down from on top and bottom?

As Electrathon says a build up with leather is the way I would recommend. A few slice marks in it from patterning will not effect the lasted result and won't hurt your cutting knife either. I have not ever used cork board for building up with and I doubt I can see much of a reason why. With leather you can get it take up and go around the compound curves fairly easily and sand or skive down to the required size. The whole lot can be peeled of normally if you want to go back for another job. In the past I found difficulty getting B size lasts and in the hot Queensland weather and the open style footwear normally worn the average feet here tend to be broader across the metatarsal area. That is the wider part of the foot before the toes. I overcame this by doing a 3mm moulded poly type board cast over this area and sanded down into shape and this then allowed me to clip it on or off for whatever size needed A or B in this area of foot. As to how much in size you can build up it is only relevant to the feet in question and the desired shape you want.You'd be surprised at some of the shapes you get when doing surgical shoes after a while. Regards Brian

Still maybe something to consider tho. I can remember with one Frobana I had and wanting to use it without wax and with nylon or poly thread, I put in a separate set of tension discs off some old Singer and it worked beautifully. It gave way better control of the tension adjustment in that way. The double tooth feed foot reminds me of the foot for rubber soles as there is also one with a single spike and blade which puts a bit of pre hole for the needle and a slice into the dampened leather to allow the stitching to bury and be hidden.I don't think a lot of these slippery type threads were around when they designed these machines.Regards Brian

I reckon you will have her blessings all the way it looks beautiful.

If the rest of the stitching looks good and the tensions look good (knots in the middle) I would think that you could have hit a hard patch and the foot pressure was not enough to keep the job down. If it jumps a bit occasionally I'd say foot pressure as that will allow more thread to pull through and then have no where to go.

Nice style. Is it a wire or plastic rim support?

OK. I would find it difficult to see how the sale value would return the effort but if your getting the work enough that's all that matters in the end. Have you tried Schmetz LR needles in the 4500? You can get a heavy left right saddle look if that's what your chasing. Thanks for the better buckle picture. I think it would look nice with croc except I'd have to change the tongue for a rounded shape one.The flat ones are murder on the holes and the last thing I like is getting a belt back to be fixed up. Regards Brian

Welcome and I think your in a good place there as a few on this site like Caza Lopez should be pretty close I think. A whole heap of water between me and there unfortunately.

Looks good but why the hand stitch on the small one? How does the large bag attach to belt loops or ????Love the buckle on the belt.

Beautiful restoration. Now it has to start paying for itself I think.Roller next then extractor adaptation?

Very clever and very well done.

Although I use several different types for different purposes the most common one is interfacing which is a non woven fabric type stuff that most sewing fabric type places stock. I don't use the iron on type I generally just spray glue and attach most of the time.With handles a sheet type fabric would work well if not better. When working with crocodile and particularly glazed croc it tends to be want to curve back into a round shape and to overcome this I attach to the croc an interfacing and carefully flatten out and leave under a flat press overnight (thick craft-wood on top of marble slab and more weights on top). The interfacing finishes well short of the edges and skiving and the croc is generally recut to shape after the flattening process.

Nice looking set up. I would have thought it would be difficult on wheels to treadle.Looks forward to seeing the operational video.

Wow the quality of the video is fantastic and I agree this should be a great comfort for the owners of any of this type of machine. Thank you Uwe. I will here on refer to this procedure as the Uwe Grosse 441 timing method with respect.

Interesting idea but I think just a couple of inches in and tapered off would do due to expense.Could be quite difficult with snaps though I think.

Ah Ha, Now I get it. Good idea.

Just curious is that 8 snaps to reverse or what Matt S. Regards Brian

WOW that is one super bargain. I already have one the same but I would buy it anyway if the shipping only cost as much as the machine on top. $2200 total or a bit more.

Well that is interesting and a blessing I think in this case.I'm glad you have it back to working again and I will think about what else could be causing this issue more. Let us know if you find it. Brian

I have never had to adjust up on this cam area and I think it best Bob helps you further with this.I would not think to loosen off the bottom adjustment screw until after the top is now set right. I am surprised that there is any timing marks at all on the shaft as I did not believe the Cowboy versions had any there. I understand that they know where the thread take up cam at the end of the main top shaft should sit in order to get a zero position happening and as for all the other rotations to use from there to me is still a mystery. I would think if you followed what Bob said above you should end up getting that part in proper alignment and go from there. As I said keep taking photos and sharing. You may find this thread useful or maddening-

Here is another manual that I think someone said was easier to understand and it may help to cross reference with the other perhaps.It is a pdf file .inst-441.pdf

If possible please post some pictures of the parts you refer to and mention what adjustments you do .If you get all of it right it may help others and if you get it wrong we may see and pick up why. Regards Brian