Old Noober Report post Posted June 30, 2016 I was just wondering. Would it be at all feasible for someone like me who lives in an apartment and moves around because of rent affordability. Who cannot buy machines because of room restrictions. Only kind of powertools I can buy would have to be very portable. Every boot making videos I've watched the maker has huge machines, for grinding, sanding, buffing, etc. I'd love to try to make my own boots, but it doesn't look like I'd have the space for it. Also I live in NYC, the apartments here are very small, from what everyone tells me that comes from other state's. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grey Drakkon Report post Posted June 30, 2016 Depends on what kind of boots you're talking about. Are you going for medieval/SCA kind of stuff? Then you should just be using hand tools anyway, although you may want to restrict when you're pounding leather since I'm sure the other apartment dwellers wouldn't be too thrilled with a maul whacking tools in the middle of the night. Check out the area on reenactment in the forums here and you'll see links to tutorials, or do a search in that thread for them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chrstn53 Report post Posted June 30, 2016 If your just making a pair of boots for yourself, you only need a handful of tools, a good pair of lasts, a pattern and a lot of time. A sewing machine would be helpful, but I know a few people who still completely hand-stitch the footwear they make. You could probably choose a simple design like a chukka boot for your first pair and move up from there. The machines just cut down your work time by 80% allowing you to sell your product at a reasonable price. Be prepared to put in 50 hours of tedious work if you are going to make them by hand.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Old Noober Report post Posted July 6, 2016 I'm looking to make SCA and SteamPunk boots. The concern I have is how much do I really need a motorized sander? My cuts are not perfect all the time, so I know I'll need to do some trimming, is this something that can be done by hand? And some of my pounding, I might have to do it outside as, yeah, my neighbors would not be happy. When I worked with Copper rivets, they were not happy at all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dougster Report post Posted July 6, 2016 Do they have any maker spaces near you? I don't know Brooklyn, but a quick search pulled up Gowanus Studio. Is that anywhere close? http://gowanusstudio.org/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Old Noober Report post Posted July 7, 2016 One thing about NYC is we have a very good public transit system that can reach all 5 boroughs, the down side to the studio is $160 a month. Thanks though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dougster Report post Posted July 8, 2016 Ouch. Didn't know it was going to be so pricey. A month at our local space is fifty bucks... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
