Custom White's Boots ... Thoughts?

[iamntbatman]

Bounty Hunters stomping around on leaves:

 

[PACostag]

those still look great to me. Freshly oiled the caps?

 

[iamntbatman]

Not even! I literally haven't put anything on these since I slathered them in that Bick fake Obenauf's HDLP. I'm not ultra abusive to them or anything, but I probably wear them more heavily than the average office worker as they get out on lots of walks/shorter hikes with walks through a few inches of water, scrambling around on rocks, etc. Put Obenauf's on roughout and it's basically indestructable. Except to axes.

 

[Legal Eagles]

Put Obenauf's on roughout and it's basically indestructable. Except to axes.

Too soon!

 

[iamntbatman]

Guess I really like to toe the line on comedy. ?‍♂️

 

[Woodtroll]

********** Caution - Graphic Images. ************

Well, I'm pissed off! I was chopping firewood today and managed to put the axe in my toe. A trip to the emergency room, and six tiny stitches later, and all is well with the toe. My boots however are a different story.

It was a glancing blow, but the axe cut through the vamp leather, the lining leather, a Darn Tough extra-cushion sock, and into the top of my 4th toe.

The thing I'm most upset about is the boots. That said, I think the two thick layers of leather and the padded socks probably saved my toe.

The boots aren't that old and are nowhere near ready for a resole. I think the only thing White's could do to fix it would be a complete rebuild. I might experiment with some leather cement and some careful stitching on my own first.

Oh, no! Very sorry about that accident. Obviously, it would have been much worse if you had not been wearing good boots. Worst case and you have to have them rebuilt, is it worth the cost of a rebuild to save a toe (or more)? But it still stinks!

As was already mentioned, I don't think steel toes would have helped, considering where the axe struck.

I hope you heal well, and soon! Good luck.

 

[TH3515]

I'm not going to lie, I have been waiting for the tan oiled latigo to come up as well as a sale so that I can pretty much rip off this exact boot. Maybe I'll change the liner to be "different" but I can't find anything else that I would change.

Come at me. View attachment 1498848 View attachment 1498852

That boot is pure, simple, straightforward perfection. Very interesting new (to White's) leather. What last is it built on?
EDIT just read it's not your build (yet). But maybe the image source has some more info.

 

[Rymanocerous]

Guess I really like to toe the line on comedy. ?‍♂️

That was a real nail bitter.

 

[ThreeLions]

Put Obenauf's on roughout and it's basically indestructible. Except to axes.

Can Confirm!

 

[ThreeLions]

Oh, no! Very sorry about that accident. Obviously, it would have been much worse if you had not been wearing good boots. Worst case and you have to have them rebuilt, is it worth the cost of a rebuild to save a toe (or more)? But it still stinks!

As was already mentioned, I don't think steel toes would have helped, considering where the axe struck.

I hope you heal well, and soon! Good luck.

Thanks Woodtroll.

Yeah, I think the two layers of fairly thick leather and the thick Darn Tough socks probably saved me from a much worse injury.

I think I'm going to attempt a repair to the boot before trying a rebuild. Stiching on the side of the boot won't look good, but they are my rough work boots after all. They're the pair I use for everyday abuse. Yard work, crawling under the car, chopping firewood, etc.

 

[Alaskaking]

Hi guys. I’m hoping that someone can assist me in arresting the apparent heel stack separation in these SJs.

The boots themselves are only about 2 months old, and have been walking through snow for the past month. Not working in it, but walking through it to the office as well as some walking with the dogs.
I am making sure they are getting dried with a towel, and then counting to wear them inside through the day.

I noticed the gapping happening earlier this week.

I live in interior Alaska, so there is a large temperature change from outside to inside, it is also very dry (besides the snow)?.

thanks for any advice.

 

[Chrikelnel]

Looks like the sale starts at 6pm PST.

 

[Woodtroll]

Hi guys. I’m hoping that someone can assist me in arresting the apparent heel stack separation in these SJs.

The boots themselves are only about 2 months old, and have been walking through snow for the past month. Not working in it, but walking through it to the office as well as some walking with the dogs.
I am making sure they are getting dried with a towel, and then counting to wear them inside through the day.

I noticed the gapping happening earlier this week.

I live in interior Alaska, so there is a large temperature change from outside to inside, it is also very dry (besides the snow)?.

thanks for any advice. View attachment 1500500 View attachment 1500501 View attachment 1500502 View attachment 1500503

This looks bad cosmetically, but is not a structural issue. Even though it looks like the heel stack is separating, it is simply the edge of the midsole separating from the rubber of the sole itself. It is self-limiting and will not continue much past what you're seeing now, because there are multiple sets of stitches and nails that hold that part of the boot together.

Several pairs of my boots do this, although some don't. It seems to depend on whether that part of the midsole gets battered into the juncture first, or gets lifted up first. Being wet a lot increases the chance of this happening, as does any activity that causes the heel to slide on anything along the back and lift that midsole leather up. I'm not sure how to describe this well, but picture this:

You're working in the woods in deep soft soil with lots of limb debris on the ground, and your heel is constantly sinking in and scrubbing down through material that will scuff along until it hits that top leather layer of the midsole. Especially if the leather is wet and soft, it will lift away from the rubber along that edge if it gets scuffed upward often enough. The same thing happens in plain mud, loose sand, and yes even deep snow, especially if you tend to strike heels first as you walk.

One pair of my boots has the same "issue" but has never even been worked real hard, although they are wet often, and I'm not sure in this particular pair that it's not due more to the wet/dry cycles that the leather goes through. I would think that due to the unique differences in each piece of leather, some batches or pieces are more susceptible to this than others "just because".

I just grease this area real good with Obenauf's or Sno-Seal when I dress my boots to insure the gap is sealed and to fill it in a little bit. As I've said, it can look bad on a "good" set of boots but I do not consider it a structural failure or a cause for concern about the integrity of the boot.

I hope this helps, take care!

 

[ThreeLions]

Question for the group. Is anyone interested in going in on some W&C with me? I'm looking at these four harness hides. I'd like a pair in each color, so that would leave enough leather for one more pair from each hide. This would cut the upcharge down from $300 to $150 for the leather. If anyone is interested let me know as I plan to order soon, PM me.

View attachment 1495852

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you on this.

The short response is that I would avoid using their harness leather for boots.

The longer answer:

First, I love Wicket and Craig, they make great leather and you can get some really good deals if you shop their monthly over-run flyer. I do a fair bit of leather working as a hobby. I'm mainly a woodworker, but I needed some leather for a chair I was making and it led to a whole new interest in leather-working.

Here's the chair I made:

The leather that I used was Wicket and Craig English Bridle in chestnut color. I initially wanted to use their harness leather but when I contacted them and explained my intended use, they advised me NOT to use the harness leather. It has a glazed surface that shows scratches very easily. It is for this reason that I said above that I would not use their harness leather for boots. Some of the other leathers would make for amazing boots, but you'd have to allow for significant darkening with conditioning / boot care, and pick your leather color accordingly.

They sent me a swatch sample before I finalized my order (looks like you already have one of these):

Knowing that you are also a leather worker, you probably already know this but here's my understanding of their leathers:

English Bridle - Drum dyed, and hot stuffed with wax-oil
Harness - Drum dyed, and hot stuffed with wax-oil-tallow, jack glazed surface
Skirting - Drum dyed, leather is dry - no oil or wax added
Latigo - Drum dyed, and hot stuffed with wax-oil-tallow, pull up leather - will change color when stretched.


These are the sides that I bought:

It measured 4.22 MM thick, or about 11oz leather.

This is probably too thick for boots, but Wicket & Craig will split a side down to any thickness that you want.

I've also used the same side of leather to make holsters:

I made the belt out of veg-tan leather that I dyed tan with Fiebings Saddle Tan Pro Dye. I've found that it comes out a pretty close color to W&C Chestnut.

If using English Bridle for boot-making, the obvious question that is going to come up is polishing / leather care. TO show you an example, I put some Obenauaf's oil on a scrap of the leather and as expected it darkened significantly. I would expect it to lighten up again somewhat over time, but not to its original color.

If you do end up ordering some leather to have custom boots made, I'd love to hear about your experience doing so.

Sorry for being so long-winded. Hope this helps.

 

[PACostag]

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you on this.

The short response is that I would avoid using their harness leather for boots.

The longer answer:

First, I love Wicket and Craig, they make great leather and you can get some really good deals if you shop their monthly over-run flyer. I do a fair bit of leather working as a hobby. I'm mainly a woodworker, but I needed some leather for a chair I was making and it led to a whole new interest in leather-working.

Here's the chair I made:

The leather that I used was Wicket and Craig English Bridle in chestnut color. I initially wanted to use their harness leather but when I contacted them and explained my intended use, they advised me NOT to use the harness leather. It has a glazed surface that shows scratches very easily. It is for this reason that I said above that I would not use their harness leather for boots. Some of the other leathers would make for amazing boots, but you'd have to allow for significant darkening with conditioning / boot care, and pick your leather color accordingly.

They sent me a swatch sample before I finalized my order (looks like you already have one of these):

Knowing that you are also a leather worker, you probably already know this but here's my understanding of their leathers:

English Bridle - Drum dyed, and hot stuffed with wax-oil
Harness - Drum dyed, and hot stuffed with wax-oil-tallow, jack glazed surface
Skirting - Drum dyed, leather is dry - no oil or wax added
Latigo - Drum dyed, and hot stuffed with wax-oil-tallow, pull up leather - will change color when stretched.


These are the sides that I bought:

It measured 4.22 MM thick, or about 11oz leather.

This is probably too thick for boots, but Wicket & Craig will split a side down to any thickness that you want.

I've also used the same side of leather to make holsters:

I made the belt out of veg-tan leather that I dyed tan with Fiebings Saddle Tan Pro Dye. I've found that it comes out a pretty close color to W&C Chestnut.

If using English Bridle for boot-making, the obvious question that is going to come up is polishing / leather care. TO show you an example, I put some Obenauaf's oil on a scrap of the leather and as expected it darkened significantly. I would expect it to lighten up again somewhat over time, but not to its original color.

If you do end up ordering some leather to have custom boots made, I'd love to hear about your experience doing so.

Sorry for being so long-winded. Hope this helps.

This is amazing, thank you for sharing! I definitely did not receive that same caution after explaining my intended purposes for the leather, but it is very good to hear anothers experience. As a happy coincidence, primarily because I just blew all my boot money on a new set of camera lenses, I have pivoted away from the four harness hides and am looking more into two skirting hides (Oak & Mahogany - one for it's "blank slate" appeal, and the other for its reddish brown appeal). I was also helped along by thinking long and hard about the glazing on the harness - I don't generally like shiny leather, especially for footwear. Boot care problems have certainly crossed my mind, however I'm quite gentle in how I wear mine and I only use Obenauaf's on my hiking boots (nothing quite like wet feet when you're 20 miles from your car/civilization), so darkening due to conditioning isn't really expected. But I'm definitely prepared for the color changing that'll come from use, getting wet, spilled BBQ sauce, etc...

I'm impressed with the your leather and woodworking here - makes my stuff look AMATUER! That chair is absolute dynamite!