Deconstructing a Peal Algonquin Blucher

[--Jonas--]

Before I start let me say that the following is not for the squeamish. I neither possess the necessary skill nor the equipment for this, making the result quite messy.

A few months ago I happened to receive a pair of left Algonquin Bluchers by Peal for Brooks Brothers, made by Crockett and Jones I believe. They were black and a size 9.5D. Since I did not foresee a use for them, I decided to take one of them apart and have a look at the construction.
The following is a photo diary of the process.









But enough of the shoe. Let's take it apart.





The tongue outer has to go.









Now the back...



and the sides.





What would you call this (running along the top)?



On to the toe.





More to come in the next post.

 

[rebel222]

I like where this is going.

 

[--Jonas--]

This is what the shoe looked like now:



Pressed leather (?) around the heel:



Revealing the nails:



And the seam inside the channel.





Taking the heel off was a major pain.



Only the sole left now.



Laying bare the rest of the seam.



The sole cut in half.



Revealing the wooden shank while separating insole and outsole.





Completely separated here:



A last shot of the heel:



Voilá, a fully deconstructed shoe in its parts.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Were these a gift? If so, I hope the gifter is a member here and sees this.

Btw, you should sell the other one on B&S.

 

[Xenon]

That's great, excellent contribution and good work.

To be expected: synthetic toe stiffenner and leather board (leather scrap and glue mix) heel stiffenner. Lining appears to be glued to canvas and upper as well.

Appears that inner sole is not of the consistency of veg tan leather (?) but doesn't appear to be as cheap as leathe board either. There is fiber board under heel area = not so good. Can't really tell what the heel stack is made of but from 1st photo of whole shoe i would suspect solid leather.

typical canvas gemming as well. Wood shank is nice to see

If you ever do this again (I suspect you will since I know its fun) start by removing heel stack first and then slide an exacto blade in between welt and outsole (basically almost halfway up sole edge) and cut the outsole stitching all around upto heel area (and around if 360* welting). This will allow you to remove outsole cleanly and visualize cork filling, shank and welt . You can then cut through welt stitches (with exacto) and cleanly remove upper from inner sole.

 

[Henry Boogers]

 

[Patek]

That looked fun!

Moar!

 

[mordecai]

Have you deconstructed the box yet?

 

[NORE]



Have you deconstructed the box yet?

 

[fritzl]



Have you deconstructed the box yet?

it's on the way to big bris/nore...

 

[--Jonas--]



Were these a gift? If so, I hope the gifter is a member here and sees this.
Btw, you should sell the other one on B&S.

Nope, not a gift - they were donated. Must have been a return by the guy with the two right feet.

If you ever do this again (I suspect you will since I know its fun) start by removing heel stack first and then slide an exacto blade in between welt and outsole (basically almost halfway up sole edge) and cut the outsole stitching all around upto heel area (and around if 360* welting). This will allow you to remove outsole cleanly and visualize cork filling, shank and welt . You can then cut through welt stitches (with exacto) and cleanly remove upper from inner sole.

Thanks for the tip. Probably won't be doing it again too soon. It's not everyday that I have a disposable shoe on my hands. Might do it with a worn out one eventually.

Have you deconstructed the box yet?

I was not aware of this box fetish...

And, unfortunately, I did not have a box to begin with.

 

[MyOtherLife]

My gut-reaction to seeing this was a flurry of various responses all at once:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

'BodyWorlds' for shoes...interesting concept.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Do you carve the Christmas turkey at your home?

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Alllriiiight....now put it back together before your father gets home or there will be hell to pay!

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

We encourage you to repeat the experiment on other brands and items asap...well done! and thank you.

 

[dorolf07]

I feel really bad for the shoes, what a shame..

 

[laufer]

and this is why I still visit style forum, amazing jonas, thank you for sharing this with us.

 

[bubba04]