Vintage cobbler and shoe making tools

[fredk]

I've never seen a slide-hammer that small. I've use very large ones, 1lb and 5 lb, on my cars

When tacking heels on medieval style shoes I used a length of steel bar to reach in

[Tastech]

@Mulesaw @fredk. Its not hard to make a heel nailer  . but the juice is probably not worth the squeeze. my tool is 400 mm long , the hammer shaft is 7.86 mm the outer tube is 12.7 however the tip of the hammer tapers down to 3.6 mm. the external shaft is 2 parts . the top part is to accommodate the 7.86 mm main hammer shaft .the bottom part has a taper and by looking at it is 7.86 at the top half and 3.6 at the bottom 1/3rd. It is important that the nail head has a reasonably tight fit . If it is loose it will knock the nail sideways . Have a closer look at the previous photos and you can see the tip is narrower than the shaft , this corresponds to what is happening on the inside of the tube as well . You can use any length of bar to send the nail home but you need to get the tip in first . I have previously used an awl it punch a starter hole , pushed the tip of the nail in by hand and used a round bar to knock it it but it is tedious work 

 There is nothing wrong with using a screw to attach the heel block but a few things need to be considered  screw length , coarseness of thread .  type of head . what we call a particle board screw in Australia works just fine  It has a course thread , it has a self countersinking head and cones in sizes from 20 mm to 100 mm and is available at hardware stores . It is always best to pre drill  with a 2.8 - 3 mm bit . When screwing down i use an impact screw gun ( sometimes with an extension) because i can control the depth easier and the screw doesn't jump in the bit as it does when doing it with a drill . the screws are covered with a soft pad and an innersole so you don't feel it but it is important that it sits flush . The ideal heel screw would be a course thread pan head with a counter sunk head about 2/3rds the diameter of the head .

 If you want to use a heel nailer ,the nails are available from a shoe supply wholesaler .  My last order was years ago and i got 5kgs ii still have a life time supply left . They come in various lengths as well .

Below are links to the George Barnsley nailer that i have 

 https://www.georgebarnsleyandsons.co.uk/product-page/tubularnailer

 the one below is the modern generic type 

https://shucare.com.au/product/heel-nailer-tubular-20/

 I use 7 nails per heel in a horse shoe pattern  from the inside and into a stacked leather heel .

I just finished a full rebuild on a  pair ladies boots . I had to replace a  broken stilleto type heel . I had to do the pair because i did not have an exact match . Nails would not do the job because i had to come in on an angle because the heel tapered  and i couldn't hold the shoe down .  so I used screws  .  Pretty straight forward but because the boot was just below the knee and no zipper it was a pain to get access  I used a 500mm extension on the screw gun and prayed i was where i wanted to be because i could  not see inside the boot . i knew no one else could do it and they were good boots  and it helped that the client was not ugly  . LOL  

Edited July 7, 2024 by Tastech
grammer and spelling mistake

[TomE]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.  Great information and fun stories! I look forward to learning more.  Your description of nails reminds me of horse shoe nails.  There is a (dying?) fad of coating nails with copper that supposedly inhibits growth of bacteria in the nail hole.  Maybe they also keep the farrier's breath fresh? 

[Tastech]

@TomEI just did a google search and asked the question "is copper anti microbial ? " the answer is below  . Very interesting . I don't know much about horses ,but i have seen some you tube videos of some very nasty infected hooves . If anyone ever asks my advice is will recommend copper nails . A rusty nail can give you tetanus and septicemia and blood poisoning at the very least .

 I was talking to a customer just last week and she told me her father was a cobbler and died of mouth cancer about 30 years ago . she told me that he thought he got mouth cancer by putting nails in his mouth. At the time i didn't think to ask how he came to that conclusion . Did the doctor tell him that ? was it his own conclusion ? Any way i have never gotten into the habit of putting nails in my mouth sterile or not . 

Copper and its alloys (brasses, bronzes, cupronickel, copper-nickel-zinc, and others) are natural antimicrobial materials. Ancient civilizations exploited the antimicrobial properties of copper long before the concept of microbes became understood in the nineteenth century.

 

[Northmount]

6 hours ago, Tastech said:

Fun fact . You used to buy nails in a box by the weight not quantity . Certain nails were labeled "sterilized " This is because you would put a few in you mouth to have them handy .  Either way you could still taste the steel . Some tacks came as sterilized as well because reaching into the the nail bowl you would prick you finger tips and they would become infected .  Nails and tacks are 2 different things used for different purposes .

My wife's grandfather was a cobbler in Adelaide.  He held nails in his mouth while working.  He died of bacterial meningitis in 1947 that was supposedly transferred from rats to the nails.  There were many rats and they had the run of the shop like many old buildings.

I also know a man that was re-shingling a chicken coop (wood shingles late 1950s) and holding the shingle nails in his mouth.  He coughed or sneezed and swallowed at least 1 nail.  He didn't go see a doctor to check or do anything about it.  It tore his gut up, just about died.  Had a colostomy for months while his gut healed.

Let's be safe, keep stuff out of your mouth that doesn't belong there.

[TomE]

4 hours ago, Tastech said:

@TomEI just did a google search and asked the question "is copper anti microbial ? " the answer is below  . Very interesting . I don't know much about horses ,but i have seen some you tube videos of some very nasty infected hooves . If anyone ever asks my advice is will recommend copper nails . A rusty nail can give you tetanus and septicemia and blood poisoning at the very least .

 I was talking to a customer just last week and she told me her father was a cobbler and died of mouth cancer about 30 years ago . she told me that he thought he got mouth cancer by putting nails in his mouth. At the time i didn't think to ask how he came to that conclusion . Did the doctor tell him that ? was it his own conclusion ? Any way i have never gotten into the habit of putting nails in my mouth sterile or not . 

 

Silver also has antimicrobial activity.  Silver sulfadiazine is a wound treatment.  Perhaps the Lone Ranger chewed on his silver bullets.  The farriers I have asked about copper coated nails said they don't know if they work, but they look cool and they can charge more.  

[Tastech]

While on the subject of nails and heel nailers i will show some photos of my heel press .

Photo #1 is the machine . Nails are placed into the anvil. The shoe gets placed into the metal anvil heel facing up and lined up , the wheel at the top is wound down to hold the shoe in position and then the lever on the right is pulled forward which pushes the nails up through the inside of the shoe via a cam mechanism . 

Photo#2 shows the anvil with the 5 holes where the nails are placed.

Photo #3 shows the position of the shoe while the procedure is done .

The machine shown is for men's shoes . There is also another jig that i made and shaped that will secure a ladies sitlleto heel  it fits into the top part . There is another variation that has a long post on the bottom made for getting into cowboy boots but works on the exact same principle . Occasionally the pins that drive the nails gets bent or broken . I replace them with cut off 4.5 mm drill bits cut down to size because they have the hardness to cope with the nails and i can get them in the right diameter 

 There is another machine in existence that i have never seen in action and it nails the heel rubber from from the outside . Its what we do by hammer and nail today . The machine does not use nails as such but has a wire coil that punches into the heel and cuts the nail off when the procedure is done . If i ever find a vintage one going for cheap i will buy it and restore it but will probably never use it .Its a stand up machine which is fairly large . I don't think even those who have one actually use it . And i don't know if the wire coil it uses is still in production . Its not what you would call a cool looking machine either. Unlike my heel press which has some nice curves and is a bit of a looker even if it doesn't get used much .

I think that's about it for heel nailers ,presses and nails  and i will move on . Any question will be answered 

 Actually one more point about nails . The difference between nails and tacks are nails go into what you are trying to attach stopping short . They have a 4 sided pyramid point like a regular nail . A tack has a larger head and a shaft that tapers to a very fine point , they are very sharp and prick the fingers when reaching for one . Tacks are used with a metal last underneath so the tip curls around and back into the leather . When tacks are used the method is called riveting . A lot of old timey shoes were rivet construction  not a welt construction . 

 Related but not the same is pegging , where wooden pegs about the diameter of a match are used as a substitute for nails . It is an interesting method that has its own tools, procedure and  purpose .  Nails can rust and fall out when the leather gets wet and expands or loosens . Wooden pegs expand with the leather and tend to stay put . The method is still used in cowboy boots made in the US and mexico . I have done it a few times but i am no expert . Perhaps a US cowboy boot maker can give is some insights  on the how and whys .

[Mulesaw]

That is really a nice looking press. 

I think I know how you feel with that wire coil heel attaching machine. Those old machines that are purely mechanical are small engineering marvels in their own right. And it is cams and levers that do all the job. Absolutely fascinating to watch. 
I am looking for a mechanical heel press, and a boot shaft enlarger (probably not the correct name), but I also try to tell myself that I should build some more knowledge about the process before building a bigger tool collection :-)

 

[jcuk]

On 7/4/2024 at 11:52 AM, Tastech said:

Saddle makers pliers . Not exactly sure what they are specifically used for , but i think these too are referred to as bull dogs .

Yes they are called bull dogs, they used to block the seat on saddles.

 

19 hours ago, TomE said:

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.  Great information and fun stories! I look forward to learning more.  Your description of nails reminds me of horse shoe nails.  There is a (dying?) fad of coating nails with copper that supposedly inhibits growth of bacteria in the nail hole.  Maybe they also keep the farrier's breath fresh? 

They have been using these for a good few years over here in racing and guess what still get foot problems and your right just a gimmick in my opinion, so they can charge more even the farriers i know don't really know for sure. One thing for sure with horse owners they love the latest new thing and with some of them there's none so blind as those who do not want to see.

[Tastech]

 I found these for sale on Ebay . Quite cheap if you live in the US . I think the boxes are collectible  if you are inclined to .

 Left to right 

Copper or brass plated lasting nails . Note the word sterilized

Middle and right . Hold fast nails . These are the spiral shanked nails used to nail on a stacked leather heel from the inside of the shoe as i mentioned in a post previously   . Can also be used for the heel rubber but it depends on how big the head is. As a general rule . Big head = inside. Small head =  outside heel rubber