HobbledCobbler

Not yet! I've been working on getting my shoes lasts built. Hubby decided since his scroll saw wouldn't handle the thickness of the wood, he'd use a jigsaw and the wood layers came loose and I've had all kinds of weird stuff going on recently. Power going off. Power company is working on the lines in our area...everybody is getting power outages and things are going phooey! Including the fact that hubby decided we are having a big Thanksgiving dinner here, at the last minute! LOL! So I'm having to clean, reorganize, clean out all of the freezers, etc. Oh, and the transmission went out! So, everything is a bit out of kilter. Family members coming into town. Having to pick them up at the rental car place and everything under the sun. I reckon, the way things are going, things might start getting back to normal on the 25th. I hope so! But I'll try to remember to let you know when I start working on that. I need a new pair of slippers so I might do something just playing around with it.

Veg Tan is usually stiffer. I'm new at this too, but from browsing Tandy Leather and their catalogs, veg tan is for any kind of stamping. But for a bracelet, too! Especially, if you plan to put a snap in it for a closure. A pouch can be made from thin veg tan or from suede or other lighter leather. It depends on what size and and it's use. and what you want to do with it. If you plan on doing stamped designs, I think from what everybody has said and what I've seen is you need to use veg tan. If you are just doing beadwork on a pouch, then perhaps some economy suede splits will work. It's pretty easy to stitch and comes in a lot of pretty colors. Tandy also usually has a bargain bin but I'm not sure if they have that in their online catalog or not. Those usually contain a couple of square feet of leather at a really low price and they come in all kinds of colors w/different leathers. I don't believe you will be able to do a drawstring type pouch with veg tan. I don't think it would be suitable for it because it's too stiff. You can get some apparel or fashion leathers for that kind of thing. I don't personally know what you would do if you need a particular color other than to buy and mix dyes or get some of that acrylic leather paint and mix it. Except for the soling leather I bought, it's usually the color I want when I get it and although I scrounge leather from used furniture sometimes, other than cleaning it and conditioning it, I haven't tried to recolor it yet.

Welcome! Cute dog!

Oh, and I almost forgot because there was so much great feedback! That gouger on the rubber is a great idea! I bought some rubber off of Ebay. It's 3/8" thick. So it is definitely deep enough for gouges.

I don't know how to do all of the quoting stuff, so I'll try to respond. IF I actually had a shoe that fit close enough to my foot, I would use that as a pattern. I don't. I own a ton of flip flops! The last shoes I had that really fit 6 years ago, I wore out and tried to make a plaster cast out of them and that sort of failed miserably. I had a nice pair of military style boots but when I moved, they somehow didn't come with me. I can't wear any heels because I've broken my toes and they get stuck in the up position and I have to force them down. That hurts! And it sounds awful too, they crunch! Love the lasts you made. I got 2 pieces of 2x6 glued together and was worried that the height wasn't quite high enough and I was sort of thinking about doing a 2x4 on top. I've got lots of 2x4 chunks. The top of my arch is slightly above the 2 2x6's glued together. IF "crack" is the correct term, I didn't think that would be too difficult. I've got a Japanese style saw and a Coping saw. It's a lightning bolt shape. Thanks on the toe length. I had added 1/8" to the pattern and I'm thinking to myself, that just doesn't look like it will be long enough. One thing I did notice is that my foot width changes depending upon how I put my foot down. I'm a heel to toe person. I've always been told, "You walk like an Indian". If I put my foot straight down on paper and trace it, I get a different pattern than if I put my heel down and then the front of the foot as if I were stepping down. So I used that 'heel to toe' as the pattern. Which also makes it wider. Might keep me from getting calluses on my toes too! On the Ebay lasts! I've spent sooo much time looking through those! "In other words, for any given size last, the foot is smaller than the last". They aren't ever even close to being wide enough. Even the men's.I got close when the size started getting up to size 12 or 13, but it still wasn't wide enough to measure my foot without a ton of remodeling and then the length is all fooey.. You look at an outline of my foot and I look like a duck! http://www.marksdailyapple.com/flat-feet-treatment/ Scroll down to look at the guy's foot with the comment "Here’s one of a foot that rarely – if ever – saw the inside of a shoe." Except that I have high arches to boot! Thanks for your input and the time you spent responding. I really do appreciate it!

Welcome! I completely understand, " I actually want to make things that don't suck " I actually messed up a pair of moccasins! Don't ask me how! Never could get the gathers right and when I finally "settled", found out that I didn't allow enough for the high arch of my foot in the pattern. But welcome! I reckon we'll all learn together.

I wear flip flops pretty much year around because of the lack of wide enough shoes in the stores (my toes and the inside of my foot hang over the edges, too!). So, living in FL, I'm constantly having to be careful of walking into a store when the ground is wet because I can literally fall and break something or go skating several feet! Most flip flops don't have tread. So, that was why I asked. I can either find a soling sheet with some ridges on the bottom or I thought I might try putting a large enough pattern on the bottom to help with the slipping and sliding. I have not got any shoes made yet. I'm just recovering from a torn rotator cuff. And I still get twinges now and then. Didn't have to have surgery and I'm still seeing the doctor over it. The emergency room didn't catch that my shoulder was part way out of joint, nor did they see the tear in the rotator cuff! Amazingly bad! But wanted to send me to physical therapy. Ended up having to argue with the insurance company to get me to a real doctor, and the Orthopedic Surgeon did an MRI. Said it was a good thing I didn't go to physical therapy at that point because it could have caused a lot more damage. So, I'm still on the mend. They've been shooting me up with steroids. I tried prior to that making a gathered toe moccasin and I failed miserably. Mainly because I had to make my own pattern, and I have really wide feet and a very high arch. And when I went to gather and stitch the toe, I had to take that stitching out 3 or more times and I never just got it right. I put it aside. So, rather than flat pattern drafting, I thought I would try making a pair of lasts, which is what I am working on now. I like your shoes, by the way! Nice and practical, good and serviceable. They look like they'll last you for years instead of those cheap shoes that are in the stores. Do you plan on lining them at all? I want to do laceups. I'm concerned with the last making. You know how you cut the slot down the last and put a screw in it, so that you can get the shoe off after you make it? I've got a very wide forefoot and a narrow heel. I'm wondering if I can actually get the front of the last out! Hubby said just make a shoe with a very long tongue on it so that it reaches the bend of my foot. I think it's, BOOTS AND SHOES THEIR MAKING MANUFACTURING AND SELLING That I've been reading...down loaded a whole lot of them. Where they were talking about the allowances for lasts.Fleshy feet...bony feet...old feet...young feet... I've got old, bony, abused feet! LOL! So, I wanted to go ahead and add 1/8" but I wasn't sure if it was to both sides of the foot drawing (IE the bottom of the last) or if it was to the girth of the foot???? And I'm also concerned about the length of the toe area. How much exactly should be added to the toe length on the bottom of the last. I know leather stretches but my poor feet! Can you help me out there? Do you have any input on that one?

Did you tool the bottoms for traction or just to be creative? Does it keep you from hydroplaning when it rains?

OOOOOHHH! Those are beautiful! Just made my heart go pity-pat! Thank you for the download for the instructions!

Nice, I'm trying to learn to make a shoe last! Couldn't find any in my size!

Welcome! And thank you for serving our country! OK, for free images, black and white go to the Dover site and see if you can still sign up for free images in your email box. Also know that they have a LOT of books that are full of royalty free clipart on various topics. Some are simple and some are more detailed. They used to allow you to browse through the different topics and they would offer free images! Some of them are so cool! http://store.doverpublications.com/by-subject-art.html?gclid=CKWezJSwpdACFdgGgQodnuMEUA As for the Album, you can get the three ring binder spine with the clips to go through the holes, then all you'd have to do is attach the spine and covers and add your pages. Like this 3 Ring Binder Mechanism: https://www.etsy.com/listing/476702467/one-3-ring-binding-mechanism-aluminum?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=3 ring binder mechanism&ref=sr_gallery_3 I hope you have fun!

I appreciate that! However, I don't plan on going to Brooklyn any time soon! The lady at Simple Shoemaking doesn't charge for her instructions! Just for the kits or supplies. And she gives full instructions on making shoes.

I bought the exact same press with 3 dies off of Ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Grommet-Machine-3-Die-0-2-4-900-Grommets-Eyelet-Hand-Press-Tool-Banner-/300640050149?hash=item45ff8b1be5:g:DqkAAOSw4shX5QTB For $57 + free shipping The same people that sell those presses sell refills and some sell other dies. GoldStar said that their dies fit into my press and that they would get in the Speed Lace Hook die but they never have yet. I did verify that the holes in his press were the same as the holes in mine and that the dies were interchangeable. To find out if you can get other dies from other places (and a LOT of it is usually the same exact thing), measure the diameter and height of your die pieces and the holes they fit into. Now Twist Presses have a different system size and the hole that receives the dies are different. But they do carry different presses and different dies. You might want to call them up! http://www.campbell-randall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Fastening_Machines.pdf This is part of their product and prices: http://www.campbell-randall.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=74_96&sort=pd.name&order=ASC I can't comment on the QUALITY. I bought it and put it aside until we get our house upgrades finished. Have a feeling I'll be able to get some done this winter though.

I found De-Glazer! 1 qt. on amazon for $15 and it will take the surface sealer off and let me re-dye the leather. Tandy Leathercraft Fiebings Deglazer Quart 2105-03 by Fiebing List Price: $25.00 Price: $15.10 + $6.90 shipping You Save: $9.90 (40%) So, I ordered it. Figured with all of the leather I get, I'll need quite a bit of it. I'm thinking a nice turquoise would look really nice!

Awe! Not what I wanted to hear! But how can you tell the difference between vegtan and chrome tan? Yeah, I will. If I can't figure out a way to dye it, I'll have a lot of green accessories!