Church's Appreciation Thread

[Schweino]

Does anyone know if the crepe sole on a Sahara desert boot is cemented to a leather midsole or is the crepe sole directly stitched to the welt?

 

[Mercurio]

Does anyone know if the crepe sole on a Sahara desert boot is cemented to a leather midsole or is the crepe sole directly stitched to the welt?

I own different chukka boots with crepe soles - Church's, Heschung, Clark's, Sanders - and none of them have their soles directly stitched to the welt, even though their varied type of construction: GYW, Norwegian stitch or stitch down.

You can see the bottom of my Church's Ryder just after their arrival a few years ago: no visible stitch in their sole. I believe that the Sahara would be similar.

 

[Schweino]

I own different chukka boots with crepe soles - Church's, Heschung, Clark's, Sanders - and none of them have them directly stitched to the welt, even though their varied type of construction: GYW, Norwegian stitch or stitch down.

You can see the bottom of my Church's Ryder just after their arrival a few years ago: no visible stitch in their sole. I believe that the Sahara would be similar.

Thank you for your reply. I want to convert some of my Sahara boots from crêpe to Vibram Eton and wondered if the outer (cemented) crêpe sole can be removed to whatever (GY welted) midsole it is glued onto, and have the Eton sole glued to that midsole.

My question is, what material is the midsole made of? If I look at my Sahara boots I cannot find any proof of a leather midsole, so I suspect the midsole might be crêpe too?

Maybe @Nick V. has some experience with this?

 

[Mercurio]

Thank you for your reply. I want to convert some of my Sahara boots from crêpe to Vibram Eton and wondered if the outer (cemented) crêpe sole can be removed to whatever (GY welted) midsole it is glued onto, and have the Eton sole glued to that midsole.

My question is, what material is the midsole made of? If I look at my Sahara boots I cannot find any proof of a leather midsole, so I suspect the midsole might be crêpe too?

Maybe @Nick V. has some experience with this?

I would think that you will not know for sure until a good cobbler removes the crepe sole and see what it's inside.

I found a video that can give you an idea of what to expect if they are GYW, even though they are using a Dainite sole for the recrafting: