shoe construction...behind the veil

[DWFII]



Explain to me, how did insoles of my leather shoes got soaking wet then, via your simple material science. 

Or are you talking about how good rubber outsoles kept my feet dry in inclement weathers?

What part of...

Nevermind that in order to breath...did I mention that this was one of leather's most salubrious characteristics?...moisture has to be able to go both ways.

...don't you understand?

If it's raining that hard you're not just walking on wet pavement, you're in puddles continuously.

In such situations not even a hand welted shoe will be waterproof. Moisture seeks dryness, that's the basis of leather's ability to breathe. It will get in all along the top surface of the welt, along the interface between the welt and the upper, through the upper itself, it will wick in everywhere it can.

But it can't pass through rubber. Period.

If I coat an outsole with neoprene cement on both sides but leave the edges uncoated and then drop it in a bucket of water the whole outsole will get wet eventually. From the edge inward. Bubbles of air will come streaming out so fast and furiously that you can actually hear a thin scream coming from the leather.

But if I coat those same edges as well as all other surfaces, it will never get wet.

And again, no one said that a good rubber outsole wouldn't keep your feet dry ...a pair of Tingleys will do the same thing. Nor is anyone saying that rubber won't last longer than leather esp in wet weather and on concrete.

But if you follow the logic to its obvious and inescapable conclusion, you've just made a brilliant case for corrected grain or vinyl shoes with a heat molded rubber outsole and a rubber insole. Take the label off one of your St. Crispins and glue it to your Crocs and your every wish will have come true.

Other than that I can't speak to your shoes or the makers' techniques.

 

[chogall]

What part of...
...don't you understand?

If it's raining that hard you're not just walking on wet pavement, you're in puddles continuously.

In such situations not even a hand welted shoe will be waterproof. Moisture seeks dryness, that's the basis of leather's ability to breathe. It will get in all along the top surface of the welt, along the interface between the welt and the upper, through the upper itself, it will wick in everywhere it can.

But it can't pass through rubber. Period.

If I coat an outsole with neoprene cement on both sides but leave the edges uncoated and then drop it in a bucket of water the whole outsole will get wet eventually. From the edge inward. Bubbles of air will come streaming out so fast and furiously that you can actually hear a thin scream coming from the leather.

But if I coat those same edges as well as all other surfaces, it will never get wet.

And again, no one said that a good rubber outsole wouldn't keep your feet dry ...a pair of Tingleys will do the same thing. Nor is anyone saying that rubber won't last longer than leather esp in wet weather and on concrete.

But if you follow the logic to its obvious and inescapable conclusion, you've just made a brilliant case for corrected grain or vinyl shoes with a heat molded rubber outsole and a rubber insole. Take the label off one of your St. Crispins and glue it to your Crocs and your every wish will have come true.

Other than that I can't speak to your shoes or the makers' techniques.

That's similar to what I was saying. I dislike marketers for perpetuating the myth that GY welted or hand welted shoes being waterproof or 'relatively' waterproof, when leather itself as a material is NOT waterproof unless treated.

And yes, logic would prevail and lead to the conclusion that for inclement weathers, people should own rubber overshoes to cover their leather outsoles and/or beater shoes with rubber outsoles. The former I do own but isn't really a good traveling option; the latter I unfortunately only own a pair that is not traveling friendly.

p.s., I have perfectly functioning and perspiring feet that will sweat when covered with leather, more sweat when covered with cordovan, soaking sweat when covered with latex or rubber.

 

[yanagi]



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

Does anyone have a link to this video? I saw it in a thread the other day, but apparently my sticky note didn't save the link.

 

[DWFII]

Here

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Does anybody have Lousie's phone numba'

 

[DWFII]



Does anybody have Lousie's phone numba'

Hey, I though you were married!

At the end of the video there was a bit that said she works under a pseudonym of Luis Lane (I may have that misspelled or misremembered). I tried to Bing her but no results.

??

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Nope, I am not married, but in a long-term relationship. FWIW, my girlfriend saw the video too and said she was cute!

 

[DWFII]



Nope, I am not married, but in a long-term relationship. FWIW, my girlfriend saw the video too and said she was cute!

Well, she is cute. A good shoemaker too.

She called me "crazy banana." ?? Must be a Danish thing. I outrank her by about 40 years but whenever I'd whine about being old, she'd always say "But younger looking!" I liked her and I liked teaching her.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I can make some really good inseam jokes right now, but I will just leave it at that.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

When my girlfriend saw that video (who is currently overseas) she sent back to me "When are you going to go make shoes with DW?" My response, "When I don't have to spend all of my time and money traveling to see you!"

 

[bdavro23]

When my girlfriend saw that video (who is currently overseas) she sent back to me "When are you going to go make shoes with DW?" My response, "When I don't have to spend all of my time and money traveling to see you!"

I just sent my name in to DW to get on the wait list. No jumping in line pB!

 

[DWFII]



I can make some really good inseam jokes right now, but I will just leave it at that.

Oh, cordwainers have been snickering behind their hands about "holing," and "long sticks," and "lingels" and lingams, for centuries.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Don't forget the most obvious: Boning.

 

[DWFII]

Obvious, yes. Maybe too obvious? For centuries cordwainers made all their tools from bones...often called "St Hugh's bones."

See the last paragraph on this page.

In The Romance of the Shoe,Thomas Wright references Thomas Deloney's 1648 Gentle Craft and the poem that was written in the wake of Hugh's martyrdom:

"My friends, I pray thee list to me
And mark what St. Hugh's bones shall be"​

there follows a listing of tools including awls, hand leathers, stirrups, bristles, stropping sticks, tacks, pincers, needles, etc., and ends:

"Our apron is the shrine to wrap these bones in;
thus shroud we Saint Hugh in gentle lamb's skin."​

Sacred.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I love the St. Hugh's bones story.