Nicks Handmade Boots Official Affiliate Thread

[TyrLI]

It’s what Wesco is known for in our little world. Of course we will do a nice job.

I did really like my boss boots until I messed up and stripped the finish off one of the toes. It's been a nightmare trying to fix it ?

 

[ll00ll00ll00ll]

I did really like my boss boots until I messed up and stripped the finish off one of the toes. It's been a nightmare trying to fix it ?

How’d you strip the toe?

 

[TyrLI]

I conditioned with bick 4, probably didn't wait long enough, and then tried touching up the color with Lincoln wax and it stripped the whole finish off. I assume it was coated with resolene because when I called seidel they asked me why I would condition it at all.

 

[Buellrider]

Black tie domain?

 

[ll00ll00ll00ll]

I conditioned with bick 4, probably didn't wait long enough, and then tried touching up the color with Lincoln wax and it stripped the whole finish off. I assume it was coated with resolene because when I called seidel they asked me why I would condition it at all.

Wow, I always thought of Bick 4 as the lightest touch possible when it came to conditioning…

when I first got my current job 26 years ago, I bought some timberland boots (not the blonde ones, they were a dark reddish brown) at that time it was the most I had ever spent on shoes at the time. In the first week, I was a screen printers assistant. I had to strip the old stencils off of the previous week’s work, and we used to use this stuff called Haze Paste… I got a glob of it on my right boot, and didn’t realize it for an hour… by the time I rinsed it off, it had already eaten into the leather. For the next 2 years, it continued to slowly eat its way through my boot, and my ring finger toe poked through it, literally as I was swinging my foot over the top of the walk deck of a 50’ billboard that I had to paint that day. We had an old 50’ Boom Truck that had a ladder on the back of it, it was a situation where we’d back the truck up, extend the boom fully vertical, and it just barely touched the walk deck, and it would swing around a little until the first person (me on this day) tied it off to the walkdeck. My toe poking through distracted me just a little bit and I felt myself slip ever so much, and it really freaked me out… this was before OSHA made us wear harnesses, so, there was no safety net (our safety training was the boss telling us “don’t step back and admire your work)… fun times.
Here’s a fun video of the building with the billboard being demolished a few years ago.

 

[TyrLI]

Black tie domain?

British tan domain

 

[Nicks Boots Shuyler]

Wow, I always thought of Bick 4 as the lightest touch possible when it came to conditioning…

when I first got my current job 26 years ago, I bought some timberland boots (not the blonde ones, they were a dark reddish brown) at that time it was the most I had ever spent on shoes at the time. In the first week, I was a screen printers assistant. I had to strip the old stencils off of the previous week’s work, and we used to use this stuff called Haze Paste… I got a glob of it on my right boot, and didn’t realize it for an hour… by the time I rinsed it off, it had already eaten into the leather. For the next 2 years, it continued to slowly eat its way through my boot, and my ring finger toe poked through it, literally as I was swinging my foot over the top of the walk deck of a 50’ billboard that I had to paint that day. We had an old 50’ Boom Truck that had a ladder on the back of it, it was a situation where we’d back the truck up, extend the boom fully vertical, and it just barely touched the walk deck, and it would swing around a little until the first person (me on this day) tied it off to the walkdeck. My toe poking through distracted me just a little bit and I felt myself slip ever so much, and it really freaked me out… this was before OSHA made us wear harnesses, so, there was no safety net (our safety training was the boss telling us “don’t step back and admire your work)… fun times.
Here’s a fun video of the building with the billboard being demolished a few years ago.

Thanks for sharing. It’s amazing what bad things didn’t happen when we were younger.

 

[hoppy_IPA]

I guess the only question I have at this point is will sanding the soles before applying be necessary? If not then Im not to worried about it.

Sanding the edges is very easy. Sanding sponges are best tool. 80-120 grit works great. It's amazing how good you can make the heel stack look with a few minutes of work. My Roberts are due for maintenance. Maybe Ill post some before/after pics if anyone is interested




Acrylic Resolene is a great sealant after sanding. It's kind of like clear nail polish. You can get brown or black but I only use Neutral. In my experience it's vastly superior to edge dressing.

 

[montanamike]

Sanding the edges is very easy. Sanding sponges are best tool. 80-120 grit works great. It's amazing how good you can make the heel stack look with a few minutes of work. My Roberts are due for maintenance. Maybe Ill post some before/after pics if anyone is interested


View attachment 1742464

Acrylic Resolene is a great sealant after sanding. It's kind of like clear nail polish. You can get brown or black but I only use Neutral. In my experience it's vastly superior to edge dressing.
View attachment 1742467

Exactly my experience... You can get a pair of boots looking great in an hour this way

 

[TyrLI]

Thanks for sharing. It’s amazing what bad things didn’t happen when we were younger.

I would probably go to jail if I let my kids do some of the stuff I did as a kid. I don't look at that as a societal advancement... :/

 

[ll00ll00ll00ll]

I would probably go to jail if I let my kids do some of the stuff I did as a kid. I don't look at that as a societal advancement... :/

One thing is for sure… when both of my kids have their first jobs as adults… I’m gonna encourage them to get actual decent boots. My old man never saw the value, still doesn’t… and I paid the price, in many terrible pairs of work footwear over the years. I bet if I had bought some Nick’s back then, I’d still have them now. Of course the internet was still pretty new back then, not sure how I would have even heard of Nick’s back then… but you get the point.

 

[Notgoodwithnames]

@ll00ll00ll00ll Were those boots you posted earlier 1964 leather? Im going to get some work boots and I cant decide what leather to get. I dont like the look of roughout even though its good for work boots so Im down to 1964 or maybe predator orange. Cant decide.

 

[ll00ll00ll00ll]

@ll00ll00ll00ll Were those boots you posted earlier 1964 leather? Im going to get some work boots and I cant decide what leather to get. I dont like the look of roughout even though its good for work boots so Im down to 1964 or maybe predator orange. Cant decide.

Yes they are… at first the rough out was much lighter, and a little “yellower”… I threw some mink oil on them a couple weeks ago, and they’ve darkened nicely, and are very similar in color to the smooth upper. The photos on the site / internet don’t do it much justice, there’s a lot more character in both the rough and smooth than it looks in photos. Do yourself a favor and order some kilties in both colors, that’ll be a cheap way to see both. Added bonus is you can test different conditioners, oils, etc on them before you do it to your actual boots.

 

[Notgoodwithnames]

Yes they are… at first the rough out was much lighter, and a little “yellower”… I threw some mink oil on them a couple weeks ago, and they’ve darkened nicely, and are very similar in color to the smooth upper. The photos on the site / internet don’t do it much justice, there’s a lot more character in both the rough and smooth than it looks in photos. Do yourself a favor and order some kilties in both colors, that’ll be a cheap way to see both. Added bonus is you can test different conditioners, oils, etc on them before you do it to your actual boots.

Oh ya, good call on that. I think 1964 will be good but Orange predator seems to get a cooler patina I guess. But like you said its so hard to tell with pictures online vs real life.

 

[ll00ll00ll00ll]

Hey @Nicks Boots Shuyler, in a previous post you mentioned you were looking for ways to use scrap leather pieces… what if you made swatches that you could add to boot purchases, something that the customers could use to test different leather treatments on. And also for people to order to see different leather colors in person… just a thought…