Leatherimages

I like the idea of a sealant behind the holes. A band of 1 1/2 to 2 ounce leather, skived along the edges, and glued in place would work also. An inverted seam involves a seam allowance (say about 5mm) skived and stitched right sides together. Spread the seam allowance, glue it down, and press flat. A bellows tongue is a good idea, but challenging. I've done a few. But you sure aren't afraid of challenges. Good on you.

Hey, it's starting to look like a boot! Great! The hand stitching gives it an interesting look, but the holes will let dust in very easy. I'd say if you're think a two piece liner, you should go that way. Maybe stitch inverted seam with "right sides together". What were you thinking for a tongue?

What I have done in the past with my miscuts, when I think I can get away with it, is: With a very pointed awl, get under the cut and lift the dermal layer back to the surface, The swivel knife rolls the top grain, down and open. My attempt is to lift the grain and then close the opening gently with the spoon end of your modeling tool. This is best done right away while the leather is still cased. If you hold your nose just right you can make it nearly invisible. And then it all goes to hell when you put stain on it, and you have to figure some way to camoflage that!

My wife was involved with the production of the Cristmas party this year, where she works in HR/Training and Developement. (I don't know why you need to know all that, except for the quiz at the end.) But here is a belt I made for her. It is 5-7 ounce milled tooling leather (my favorite). The front and side panels are joined with a butt seamed & appliqued lace technique. Dyed Black and British Tan the filligree edges were especialy nice this time, thanks to leather friend Spinner, who made a special little filigree burnishing tip for my dremmell. Thank you Spinner. The earrings are my first using feather leather. They're really light weight. Please don't tug. The smaller one is British Tan, with the other a Pearlized Metalic.

Try Fiebings British Tan, maybe add a touch of Light Brown. Sunshine would make a difference too, I like that.

Well obviously practice is involved. Which is to say practicing good technique. But what's that? One thing is keeping the blade verticle. Clicker blades are usually held more straight up and down, while cutting thinner leather requires laying the blade lower on the surface as one cuts. I'm guessing that if you're having the blade bend as you cut your curves, you must be using a thin blade, like an exacto blade maybe? Try this with an exacto blade. Using a needle nose pliers, grip the end 1/8" of the blade and snap it off. Now keeping a rouge stick close by to polish the blade, work your way around your curve with your blade held as close to straight as possible. This makes a pretty good clicker knife, and will help you get more cuts out of your exacto blades. You can progress with confidence, and move up to a professional clicker knife in time.. Another tip I'll share is to begin your cuts with your swivel knife. Wet your leather, scratch your pattern's cut line with a sharp awl, and cut like you would your tooling pattern. Now follow it up with your broken tip exacto. Practice keeping your eye focused on the line about 1/4" in front of your blade, and begin to trust that your hand will follow your eye. Good Luck.

Soap works by reducing the size of water molecules (don't ask me how), therefore it penetrates and soaks in faster. Don't use much though, you don't want the residue, of course.

One of our leather friends, Peter Main, demonstrates a "dry brush" technique, to blend and fade in and out of colors. It's a very effective way to achieve what an air brush is excellent at. Peter's book is available from the usual suspects.

Randy has it right. It would take a belt sander to get a smooth edge on the rubber. I can't imagine getting satisfactory results any other way. I use 120 grit on my belt sander. I'd think the only problem with home set ups, would be dust created by the leather. I guess a shop vac would help there. Don't lean on the belt too much, just let the sand paper work only on the rubber until you come into the plane of the leather stacks. It sounds like you'll have to work all the scratches away too. But when that becomes even and smooth, you can finish it off by hand. Wet/Dry sand papers, with sucessively finer grits, will give you a smooth edge to the leather, if you're patient. The results you get will be proportionate to the time you spend on it. For color, you can dye it first and wipe off the dye stuff as it's drying. The you can follow it up with the Fiebings Leather Finish. It's a liquid wax, and after a couple of coats, you can burnish it with a rag and some elbow grease, and then finish with paste wax to put a shine on the heels edge. Good luck,

Nick, I'm glad you're making some progress with the pattern making. What a great excersize to be tracing the shapes to get a feel for things. And I acknowledge your choice in the golash balmoral. Good luck with that. I've been doing too many things at once, but am right now in a process of being videographed while boot making. My neighbor is doing this to pass some time. It's a pinch on my schedule, but a great opportunity. I don't know what he'll want to do with it. Happy Thanksgiving.

You leave me chuckling Joe.

Very nice. Was it hand sewn? In either case very good looking project.

Great Rick, I'll just say this about our usual contact cements, it doesn't work so well on damp surfaces, like the sole leather would be at this stage. That's why I use water based. I don't know for sure, but that's my instincts. Additionally, the solvent based contact cements can seal the grain fibers enough to prevent your bottom finish from taking as well as you might like it. Of course there is the naumkeg.

This is the kind of thing that keeps me doing this. These two pair of boots are the fourth pair each for this husband and wife. They aren't fancy, but they are affirming. (A guy needs that sometimes.) Besides, they were the first boots after my new hip. The ladies boots are French Calf with tooled collars and pulls. In addition, for chucks and grins, I used the same rope design on the sole bottom. The silver belt tips on the pulls were ordered especially for this design. The Burgandy Ostrich boots were done with Ostrich belly for the tops, createing a half and half effect. The stitch pattern around the tops gives just a touch of style.

Rick, It's a ggod thing to worry about. it shows you care. When I'm pegging a pair of full soles on boots that I know will live in the dry SW, I use my lacing fid to "poke" a dab of water base contact cement into each hole made by my pegging awl. However I worry about putting a bunch of new holes in a handmade boot's insole when doing a sole replacement. So, depending on the exposure the boot will get, I'll sometimes choose to double cement the shank area of the new sole and put two rows of pegs that only penetrate the new sole. That awl is only about 5/16" long so it doesn't penetrate the insole. It's really just a visual reassurance for the customer, the double coat of cement is pretty dependable if done with care. Other times I'll put in a tight row of brass clinching nails, and then a row of the shorter pegs.

Occasionally we hear, regarding leather dyes, that we can get a deeper black by dying first in Navy or Green. Go ahead and try the same thing with these dyes.

For further information on insoles and techniques, please visit the Crispin Colloquy, http://www.thehcc.org/discus/messages/4/1080.html?1288494144 It is the forum for discussion for the Honorable Cordwainers Company. There is a vast archive on the subject going back several years. Check it out!

Thanks Rick, Glad to share. Hey, I still have that Clicker. Want to renew that conversation? Moe, There is only one sourse I know of. Walrus Shoe Company sells a book by George Koleff: http://www.walrussho...pages/lasts.htm I know of several who have used it successfully. Tell Larry I sent you. I have pictures of the process of fitting up the last, that is showing how I build a core size to a custom fit. Any interest in seeing a presentaion of that?

Nick, My Insole Presentation is over in the Show Off section. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Casey, What in the world did you do with an orange Islandic sheep!? Surely not a pair of woolies?