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Images Tagged with “A Tale Of Two Shoes”

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All the glue has to be applied in thin layers, otherwise it just cakes together and you get lumps that you feel as you walk down the street.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
REALLY sensitive part. The glue that's used is really strong. You'd need some powerful pliers to rip it apart even if it touches slightly. It also rips off that chunk of glue that it touches, so mistakes are costly.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
After the sole is put on, it's pounded down with a smooth-headed hammer to make sure all the fibres intertwine with the glue sufficiently to ensure maximum durability. Ok, I'm completely making this up. I have no idea what the fibres are doing, but basically you pound it down to squish the glue and stuff.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
The edges are pressed down. Very vital part, so there's an entire machine that basically does just that.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
A closeup. An extra piece of leather or rubber is placed underneath the sole so as not to damage it.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Afterwards, the excess is cut off.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
This is done roughly because the next step is to shave it down very close. At this point we encounter a problem.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
The thing is that if a shoe is not properly balanced, it wears away at the heels in the wrong way, puts pressure on the wrong part of the spine, and just plain does bad things to your feet, and, more importantly, to the shoes. Here's where we first caught it:
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
A closer inspection...
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
...confirmed it. To fix this, part of the heel has to be shaved off. The problem is that the heel height has to be properly observed in order to not counterbalance the shoe even more when the heel cap is put on. The heel height is usually measured in 1/8 of inches, across the heel breast... Ok, one more definition. The heel breast is the semicircular part of the heel that faces forward. These Maglis, specifically, were at about 3/4 when we got them, and probably between 7/8 and 8/8 when new, so that's the height we were aiming for, but now the heel had to be shaved down while keeping the heel height uniform across the entire breadth. The perils of a shoemaker's life.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
After doing some very scientific measurements, the nail-biting begins.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Success. The half-millimeter gap at the fore of the heel is on purpose, you'll see the reason for this later.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Part 3 - Et voilà Here is the end result of the work. I didn't picture any of the regular polishing or antiquing because there have been some great threads about this already and I figured I've wasted enough of everyone's time as it is.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Glamour shot. The leather is for a bespoke belt for a customer, but it just happened to match the new color of the shoes.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
No flash, and natural light.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Another one.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Another one.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
With belt and hornback bag.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Natural light.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
A closeup of the medallion, all tidied up.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
I hope you all enjoyed seeing this photoessay as much as I enjoyed making it. For further information, you can contact me at dimitri@gmail.com
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
The soles.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Here are a few shots of the work before the precision cutting and shaving begins.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Here are a few shots of the work before the precision cutting and shaving begins.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Here are a few shots of the work before the precision cutting and shaving begins.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
First, the heels are shaved down with a rotary blade wheel on an old Landis machine.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Some sanding is done to make sure that the curve is even around the entire heel. This attachment is very useful because the head is curved so you've got more control over how much is taken off and at what angle.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
This rotary finisher is then used to give the heel a smoother finish.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Edge smoothing.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Yes, we do recycle.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
This is how the heel breast is very patiently smoothed out.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Taking off a very thin layer of the finish.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
This is done for several reasons. (1) Logos of some tannery on a brand new sole are ugly. (2) The soles or heels that are used can be old, and a bit dry, especially if they're kept in an arid closet in the back of the shop. A cream/moisturizer is applied liberally to the leather, and seeps in, conditioning the leather and thereby making it more durable, more flexible, especially in cold weather. (3)It allows a new finish to be put on, polished and shaded to blend in well with the rest of the sole. Yes, we actually are that anal.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
The transition between the old and new sole is cleaned up.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
A very fine-grit sandpaper is used to clean the sole some more.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
The shoes before anything else is done to the soles.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
The tidied heels with markings for the nails.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
A small sigil representing our shop.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
The sides are painted to match the color of the upper leather.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
Usually the rubber part of the hybrid heel is left untouched, but in this case it didn't seem to fit for some reason, so the entire heel was painted.
By Demeter
Jul 13, 2011
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Styleforum › Tag: A-Tale-of-Two-Shoes › Images Tagged with "A Tale Of Two Shoes"