shoe construction...behind the veil

[DWFII]



Hey @DWFII I think this might put a smile on your face. For your profession is indeed very old one. Here is example from early shoemaker's last from ninth or tenth century. This is from book The Early Slavs by Paul Barford. The picture depicts some wooden artifacts from Slavic culture found in southern Poland. The # 17 is a last, pretty crude last nevertheless.

I think I've seen that illustration or those lasts before...or something nearly identical. Historians and archeologists tell us that purpose-made, maker made shoes date back 10,000 years.

 

[striker]

Is there such a thing as machine bentivegna welt? Are all braided norwegian welt handwelted or can these be done on a machine?

 

[DWFII]

@MoneyWellSpent asked in another thread to see an insole that had a footbed imprinted in it. I thought this might go down good--deconstructed, bespoke, handwelted, boot worn every day for about fifteen years, never had a full sole replacement, only half soles....

As always click on photo for closer view.

Boots when new--full wellingtons....

Heel being taken off. No nails.

Outsole removed...

Shank cover removed...

Shank removed...

Insole filler/liner removed ...

Welt removed and upper detached from insole ...

Bare insole showing footbed and impression of toes,ball joints, etc.....

Cross-section of boot showing heel stiffener and toe stiffener, liner etc....

edited for punctuation and clarity

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Worn every day for 15 years? Where the uppers in tact?

 

[DWFII]



Worn every day for 15 years? Where the uppers in tact?

Except when lounging around on Sunday. Yes, the uppers were intact...badly cracked--it was a dry veg retan from Horween called Beaumont and seldom attended to , as they were work boots...but they might have had another year or more in them before the cracks gave way.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

15 years is remarkable though. I wonder how long it took them to develop the cracks in the first place.

 

[DWFII]



15 years is remarkable though. I wonder how long it took them to develop the cracks in the first place.

I dunno. Ten? Twelve? They always had leather dust, French Chalk, grindstone grit and so forth on them. I'd occasionally wipe them on the back of my pant legs and wash them about once every four or five months...or when the notion took me...and condition them at the same time....mostly with Lexol.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Oh, so they were yours! Are they the same beaters it looks like you wore in that video with the cute Danish woman?

 

[DWFII]



Oh, so they were yours! Are they the same beaters it looks like you wore in that video with the cute Danish woman?

Might very well be, I can't think of what other pair I would have been wearing.

I think I might have cleaned them up when she first came in though...

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Was that one of the tallow dipped insoles?

 

[DWFII]



Was that one of the tallow dipped insoles?

No, I don't think so...in fact, it wasn't even a very good insole, relatively speaking. The shoemaker always gets the dregs, as who should say.

I don't think I ever used the Beaumont again, either.

It did block up nice though, despite being prone to tearing ...

 

[venividivicibj]

subbing because DWF threads are always fun and loads of knowledge. Also first page = holy wall of text batman!

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

@MoneyWellSpent asked in another thread to see an insole that had a footbed imprinted in it. I thought this might go down good--deconstructed, bespoke, handwelted, boot worn every day for about fifteen years, never had a full sole replacement, only half soles....

As always click on photo for closer view.

Boots when new--full wellingtons....



Heel being taken off. No nails.



Bare insole showing footbed and impression of toes,ball joints, etc.....

Thanks so much for posting DW!

That's exactly what I was hoping for... a very well worn hand-welted insole.

How many irons was this particular one?

Also, when you resoled these, did you just do a half sole, and leave the pegs in place, or have these been subject to pegging more than once?

Lastly, did you ever condition them, or is this what they look like after continuous wear with no other treatment?

Thanks again!

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

Is there such a thing as machine bentivegna welt? Are all braided norwegian welt handwelted or can these be done on a machine?

I'd be unfamiliar with a true bentivegna welt that wasn't hand done. Perhaps an outsole stitching machine could be used for the last stage, but the rest seems to require hand work.

 

[DWFII]



Thanks so much for posting DW!    That's exactly what I was hoping for... a very well worn hand-welted insole. 

How many irons was this particular one?

Also, when you resoled these, did you just do a half sole, and leave the pegs in place, or have these been subject to pegging more than once?

Lastly, did you ever condition them, or is this what they look like after continuous wear with no other treatment?

Thanks again!

No problem.

The insole was probably 10 irons. I generally try to shoot for 9-10 iron--that's what I order, as any rate.

Always did a half sole. I don't ride and these were worn primarily on concrete floors (my shop) and sidewalks, etc.. Seldom in heavy rain or mud. The waist, heelseat and the heel stacks were never re-pegged.

Oh, once in a while I'd shoot some Lexol down inside them but probably not more than three times in their life.