Mablung
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Well, a lot of things are right about these things, but the soles are a little too small (really not sure how I managed that, when I traced right from the completed shoe) and the veg tan toe counter in each is (a) too hard and (b) lacks sufficient toe volume. Wetting won’t do it, unfortunately. The leather is also thicker and firmer in temper than the previous stuff I used, so I need to adjust for that. Will need to adjust the pattern and then rebuild. Here’s a pic of one completed shoe. I think I’m going to either make a taller boot or lower the upper height just a bit as well; this height tended to cut into my ankle just a bit.
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Hoping to get the soles glued tonight before I head out of town and can wear them in a bit. I'll get some pics, too.
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Thanks! And yeah, I was thinking of doing the wet-walk-dry treatment to them. I think part of the reason the one felt tight is because I put a veg tan toe counter in the front, but I may need to add a little more "toe puff" to future iterations of the vamp and toe counter. We'll see how they come out after I move around in them a bit. I keep my toenails pretty short, so they shouldn't cause an issue.
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These things have taken longer to complete than I anticipated. Got the eyelets set late last night, as well as stitching the midsole to the second upper. Now just need to cut and glue the rubber outsoles, stitch the eyelet reinforcement pieces on the second shoe, and run the laces. I think these will end up being just a little short of toe room, so I'll add that into the midsole pattern modification. I'll wear these for a bit to see if they stretch sufficiently and to figure out what other modifications I need to make, then go from there. Looking forward to finally having these done.
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Never actually posted the pictures.
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Couple other shots of one in progress. Haven’t stitched the midsole fully or the eyelet reinforcement pieces. The dart and mild curve in the top of the heel piece appear to be doing their job. We’ll know for sure once I finish stitching the midsole and glue on the rubber soles. I realized, in stitching the other one’s midsole the other night, that I erred by failing to adjust the width of the rear of the midsole heel for the material I removed from the upper heel piece. So, it’s a bit puckered at the back. In my test fit, though, it didn’t seem to make a difference and will become even less of an issue after I hammer it down a bit, hammer the stitches, and glue on the rubber.
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Agreed with the others that those look pretty darn good. Yeah, clean up your stitch lines (I can’t cast too many stones, considering the state of the stitching on a pair of chukka boots I’m making currently), but overall those look good and substantial. See if you can sell some, as it sounds like you’ve sunk some money into the tools and materials and could use supplementing your income anyway, but also just enjoy those. I like it.
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6 inch hollow ground Splitter blades need sharpening
Mablung replied to Doc Reaper's topic in Sharpen it!
Sounds like a 1000-grit waterstone, or the equivalent in another kind of abrasive, would be a good place to start. 220-grit waterproof sandpaper might work, too, then work up through 320 and 400, followed by a good stropping. -
I’ll post some pictures some time soon, although “soon” might mean the end of the week. Hopefully earlier than that.
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Thanks for the suggestions. I modified this heel pattern to curve a little bit more, at least at the top. I’m a believer in changing this incrementally, so I’ll probably go ahead and try just with the dart, then make another pair. I could use some low-top shoes as well, so I might as well continue to fiddle. Plus, I have a whole side of SB Foote to work with, so I can make a large number of brown shoes. Good thought on the Kamsnap setter. I’ll take a look. The weird thing is, my 1/4” eyelets set just fine, no problems. I’m going to look at the anvil again and at Tandy to see if part of my setup is defective—I can feel a little burr around the outside of the setting eye in the middle, so I may just need to polish it with a small, fine file.
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Look at the tutorials on sharpening head knives in the Leather Tools and Sharpen It! subforums’ sticky threads. The chap who owns Leather Wranglers (can’t think of his name) does a video on which he demonstrates sharpening one of his knives. Probably the best video I’ve seen. Used his advice to get my vintage CS Osborne knife into scary sharp skiving shape. Learn to cut and skive with that single head knife, and you’ll be just fine. Not much you can’t do with a good head or round knife.
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Didn’t get everything done, but I at least got the dart right and did the butt joint to make the seam at the back. If I can ever get the 3/16” eyelets to set properly, I’ll be in business. For some reason, they keep coming out crooked and partially smashed. I think my setting anvil may be the wrong size, although the setter itself looks right.
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Hoping to get them done today and posted. How to do the dart @Aven described finally clicked in my head, so I tried it last night. I WAY overdid the dart, so I need to redo one upper, but I know now I got the idea basically right. I just need to tinker with the height and width of the dart to get it right. The leather I’m using is 5.5 oz., so I need to make it less dramatic than I thought I would.
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I had no idea such a thing existed until I went into the store a few months ago, saw the alum tan, and thought, “What the heck is that?”
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To that point, my local Tandy has some straight white alum tan for sale. I’ve seen chrome tan that’s already struck white.