My Balmoral Boots - Page 36

I think that ladies remark referred to the picture of Xenon's last.

Cool.

Thanks.


The colour is not red. It is more like a cherry.
The fit is almost perfect, except that it is about 2mm large and my right heel tend to slip out a bit. I hope that Cliff will make adjustments for future orders. Otherwise, they are very comfortable.

Very nice...

^^^^^
yeah those wings rock, love to colour, maybe a weekend shoe though.

Xenon,
I really admire the skill that you have put into these lasts, good luck with your project with Cliff
How will you get the lasts out after making ?
Are they hinged or two seperate blocks.

All lasts have to be divided (one way or another) to get them out of the finished shoe.



You can see that Xenons's last is similar to the third method featured in the picture: two blocks joined with screws.

Once the shoes are ready, take out the screw, take out the back section, then the front, which will have a thumb hole inside.



I presume, Xenon has used a commercial (oversized) last which would have all the technicalities in place,
then shaped the last to his measurements and preferences.

I presume, Xenon has used a commercial (oversized) last which would have all the technicalities in place,
then shaped the last to his measurements and preferences.[/quote]


Where would one go to purchase a commercial oversized last and how difficult would it be to reshape the last according to the desired shape? Also is there some place to purchase templates which will give a good indication as to how the show will look if set lasts are chosen.

Thank you Sully

Bengal-stripe is correct, two seperate blocks held with screws. To be honest I think the hinged type last (klappshnitt - thanks for the terminolgy bengal-stripe) is probably the most convenient for shoemakers and probably the toughest to make. We can see in the photos in this thread that Springer uses the Klappshnitt type.

I live in Montreal, Canada and was not able to find any local suppliers of wood lasts. Only one company that makes HMW plastic lasts in one solid piece. Speaking to a local shoemaker who uses the one piece - told me they can get away with it if shoes has large lace openning and less structure (rubber sole ect) and obviously not suitable for dress shoes discussed here. Besides I hate all plastics and machining it is not much fun.

Since I didn't do any additional research and started making lasts (about 6 to 9 months ago) before I knew of Springer, I decided to use something I have plenty of access to -- FIREWOOD LOGS (usually a mix of rock maple, sugar maple, white & red oak, beach and poplar maybe). I sorted out several pieces of rock maple and simply started from there with a resaw and band saw.

BTW I did all of this before I knew the last could not be a single piece only. I only realized the last had to be divided when seeing the work of cliff here with the lasts shown - Holy!!!... what's that gap at the top of the last.(light bulb comes on) ...... . Cliff also confirmed he couldn't work with a solid last. So off to the band saw I went.....All the pairs of lasts now in two pieces............ Why didn't I just send off the solid lasts to Springer to duplicate and keep the solids as masters you ask ? .......

I think a will still ask cliff if he can have Springer make sme several copies at the 70 pound price if possible and also send me some oversized lasts for my other shoe ideas (including those for wife and family)

Is anyone here currently in touch with Mr Robers?
Any idea if he is swamped with orders or simply not willing to take new customers in?
I have tried emailing him twice with no reply.

Thanks,
M

I had some difficulties in contacting him, he seems to be very busy, I'd suggest wait some more time and then try again.

Very good.
Thanks for the info.

Gah, i keep comming back to this thread. its been a month since i commisioned the lasts, they should arrive soonish. Has anyone who has bespoke lasts made needed them adjusted.
God i'm impaitent.

the shoemaker has made some tweaks. that's quite usual.

I can't wait to see how this turns out! Do you know what kind of shoes/boots you will be ordering first?

Stuart