First pair of sandals underway

[deboardp]

I don't remember if I mentioned here at leatherworker.net that the VA approved my claim for disability compensation for acquiring disabling diseases due to herbicide exposure, but they did, about December 13th. I won't be homeless again, which at 77 is a matter of survival. I also don't have to make sandals now, but I want to, having spent the last 16 months setting up my shop, and today I am at this stage where the topsoles and straps for my very first pair since the 70's are cut and beveled. After I click send I'm going to burnish the strap edges with trag and start on the strap slots. I'm not using a punch for that, but will use my round knife and tiny circle punches and will make the slots 45 degrees rather than 90. I'll stitch on either side of the slots to strengthen the glue bond between top and midsoles. 

Progress!

Edited January 4, 2024 by deboardp
My phone changes what i write

[DieselTech]

Looks like you are off to a good start. Looks good. Keep us updated with progress. 

[deboardp]

OK so I had burnished those straps in the previous post. Today I cut some slots in one of the topsoles and realized I need a couple tools, for the ends of the slots, which probably need to be rounded to match the burnished strap edges. So that would be a circle knife, sort of like a round punch, but very thin like my round knife's thinness, because a typical punch spreads the leather, and I don't want to do that. A half-circle knife would be better, with diameter of 1/8", because I want to carefully cut the slot ends out. . It probably does not exist since slot punches always go straight down and through a leather topsole. But I'm doing 45 degrees, to set the angle for the strap going under the edge of the foot. The strap will lay flatter and be more comfortable if the slot is angled. Anyways here's a picture. Maybe you can understand what I'm setting. The slots are rough because I was using my round knife and removing leather from the two ends of the slots is difficult withOUT a circle knife. 

Edited January 6, 2024 by deboardp

[deboardp]

[deboardp]

If I can't find a1/8" diameter circle knife, I can make do with a 1/8" wide knife, sort of like a chisel, but knife-thin. So I can cut leather at the corners of the slots. I guess I can live with square corners. Would rather not, as debris could enter that tiny gap. 

[DieselTech]

Get a oblong bag punch, whatever your widths of your foot straps are. 

[deboardp]

Oblong punches cut by blunt force, straight down into and through the leather. I want a 45 degree slope through the leather. Also i want the slots to be parallel to the tracing of the foot. And all my slots are odd sizes. This one is a curved, sloped, 1-7/8" wide slot, another is curved, sloped, 1", and the 3/4" slots are actually 13/16", so the straps will be snug in the 3/4" buckles. 

I hope to improve my cutting skills! This first pair is for me. These slots are sloppy. 

Edited January 6, 2024 by deboardp
Phone typing mistakes

[deboardp]

Those two slots took me an hour to cut, with half the time devoted to clearing out the corners with tools not suited to the purpose. 

[deboardp]

3/4" slots are 13/16", not 11/16".

[deboardp]

This might work.  I can grind some of the back off so i can cut in the corners.