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 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 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 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. 

[chuck123wapati]

11 hours ago, deboardp said:

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. 

try find a wood carving gouge that is the correct size. https://www.woodcraft.com/categories/carving-gouges

[deboardp]

I think a lathe gouge will be too thick behind the cutting edge. I need the cutting edge to be super thin. That straight blade in the knife pictured above, might be perfect. I'll grind some off the back so I can carve out the leather bits in the corners that the round knife can't get. But I'll look anyway. 

Edited January 6 by deboardp

[chuck123wapati]

16 minutes ago, deboardp said:

I think a lathe gouge will be too thick behind the cutting edge. I need the cutting edge to be super thin. That straight blade in the knife pictured above, might be perfect. I'll grind some off the back so I can carve out the leather bits in the corners that the round knife can't get. But I'll look anyway. 

you can get woodcarving gouges for hand work as small as you need, not all gouges are for lathes.  i use a small vee  and a small round for skiving as well as cutting corners and curves.

[chuck123wapati]

21 minutes ago, deboardp said:

I think a lathe gouge will be too thick behind the cutting edge. I need the cutting edge to be super thin. That straight blade in the knife pictured above, might be perfect. I'll grind some off the back so I can carve out the leather bits in the corners that the round knife can't get. But I'll look anyway. 

i double checked the link those are hand carving gouges that go down to 1mm.

[deboardp]

Oh! So they're thin!

I'll look!

Thank you!

[deboardp]

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

i double checked the link those are hand carving gouges that go down to 1mm.

My straps are 3mm thick, so the corners are half circles of 3mm diameter. I'm trying to learn the language of wood carving tools to understand which one i need. 

[Aven]

These might be small enough for what you are doing.  They are 1.5 mm.  Same place Chuck sent you.

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/flexcut-micro-tool-set-1-5mm-mt910

[Mablung]

A good friend is a very talented woodcarver, and he uses some very small gouges just like this for detail work.

[deboardp]

@Aven, @chuck123wapatiand @Mablung,  I ordered that Tandy Pro Knife pictured a few posts above and will see if it will work for me. If not I'll try either that 1.5 mm set, or the 3 mm set, as that is the thickness of my 7/8 ounce leather. I just need a U- gouge but apparently they are sold only in a set with five other tools, which I don't need. 

Edited January 9 by deboardp
Stupid phone

[deboardp]

The Tandy Pro Knife came this week and I was able to finish the corners of the slots on one top sole today. The blades that come with the knife are not very sharp and the steel is very hard, so I spent about a half hour with the coarse stone trying to make it sharp enough to cut leather with little back and forth motions. I managed with some difficulty to finish the task, but will definitely want that knife sharper for the second topsole. 

Notice the angles of the dead ends. They have to equal the angles on the other side of the leather sole. 

Edited January 19 by deboardp

[deboardp]

Progress

[deboardp]

[deboardp]

[Mablung]

The heat treat of my Al Stohlman head knife isn’t great, so sharpening can be a chore. Stick to it, though, being exceedingly careful with the edge angle and working the burr carefully, and they’ll sharpen up adequately. It’ll just take some time and patience. I think the steel is D2, which is relatively hard. 
 

You would probably find the discussion of knife sharpening under the Sharpening forum helpful. Lots of good videos and tips. 

[deboardp]

1 minute ago, Mablung said:

The heat treat of my Al Stohlman head knife isn’t great, so sharpening can be a chore. Stick to it, though, being exceedingly careful with the edge angle and working the burr carefully, and they’ll sharpen up adequately. It’ll just take some time and patience. I think the steel is D2, which is relatively hard. 
 

You would probably find the discussion of knife sharpening under the Sharpening forum helpful. Lots of good videos and tips. 

I had no idea there was a forum for sharpening knives. Thanks!

I did decide to change the profile of the blade, make the angle less, and it might be futile. Ilk check out that forum, maybe there's some tips that will help. 

I'm careful about the burr. I do circles until a burr develops along the whole blade, then turn the blade over and sharpen until there's a burr, and repeat.