Shoemaking Techniques and Traditions--"...these foolish things..."

[DWFII]

The shells I have gotten from Horween are large enough for at least a 12" boot...so that's not the problem.

I can't speak for other makers but, personally, I just don't like working with it. There's no grain to speak of, it's always been 'iffy" for me when I tried to block it and every component has to be aligned in exactly the same direct or the boots look like they were made from different dye lots.

That said, I've seen cowboy boots made from shell...although not often and not recently.

 

[shoesforever]

Just thought I'd post Kirby's interview with Patrick Frei, the winner of the shoemaking competition.



And with Daniel Wegan

 

[Nick V.]

Just thought I'd post Kirby's interview with Patrick Frei, the winner of the shoemaking competition.



And with Daniel Wegan

Excellent! Two incredibly unusual minds and talents.
Thanks so much for sharing....

 

[bamboo]

@DWFII Any rhyme or reason you don’t see many cordovan cowboy boots? I have seen all manners of boots, born and raised in Texas, made from caiman, crocodile, alligator, ostrich, snake, calf, lizard, etc. but don’t recall an single pair of cordovan.

It may be just me but horsehide boots to ride a horse does not sound too right.
Horse is a friend of cowboy isn't it?

 

[bengal-stripe]

Just found this video on youtube:

Yeruult Gombosed (Brandname EuGo) from Mongolia, one of the entrants to the World Champianship in Shoemaking, has just published a very informative and beautifully filmed video 'The Mongolian Art of Shoemaking' showing the production of his competition entry in great detail. - Enjoy!

 

[j ingevaldsson]

Just found this video on youtube:

Yeruult Gombosed (Brandname EuGo) from Mongolia, one of the entrants to the World Champianship in Shoemaking, has just published a very informative and beautifully filmed video 'The Mongolian Art of Shoemaking' showing the production of his competition entry in great detail. - Enjoy!

Yeah it's really cool!

 

[Oshare]

Just found this video on youtube:

Yeruult Gombosed (Brandname EuGo) from Mongolia, one of the entrants to the World Champianship in Shoemaking, has just published a very informative and beautifully filmed video 'The Mongolian Art of Shoemaking' showing the production of his competition entry in great detail. - Enjoy!

Wow. That's a beautifully done video.
I can't find any information on his brand of shoes, but would definitely be interested to learn more!

 

[Luigi_M]

RE: seamless wholecuts.
... I'm an ostinate guy and put my question ("how in the earth one can manage to convince a flat sheet of leather into a lot of nice curves") on the Antonio Meccariello thread.
I got some kind answers, among them this link:

https://www.meccarielloshoes.it/seamlessboot1/ : it's a series of pictures of a seamless laced boot in its making.

Of course I love the craftmanship that oozes from the pics, but I lack the intelligence to understand the transition from an all-piped vamp being laid on the last to the final result of a nice and tight finished upper, only awaiting to be sewn to the welt and then to the sole ...

Maybe it's time for me to learn to simply enjoy the beauty of the finished shoe, without the pretense to understand the 'ununderstandable' ...

 

[DWFII]

Think of leather like felt--there are similarities. They are both fundamentally fiber mats, if nothing else.

With felt, you can tease the fibers apart simply by pulling on it--stretching. You can also compact the fibers--pushing them closer together.

Naturally, there are also differences between felt and leather. The bonds that hold the fibers of the leather together are much stronger than the bonds of wool fibers, for instance.

With a whole cut, the pipes are stretched such that the fibers are a little further apart and then compressed (chased and hammered) so that the fibers re-compact. Thus eliminating (mostly) the pipes. Depending on the leather--thickness and tannage--the pipes may not ever entirely disappear. But visually "close enough for government work."

 

[Luigi_M]

Many thanks DWFII for your answer, ready and competent as usual. I now realize, though, that keeping asking questions without enough knowledge to fully understand the answers, finally comes to a point, beyond which any further asking becomes pointless.
Anyway I really appreciated your comparison between leather and felt : it's really "visual" and useful for me to understand your explanation!
Now I'll restrain from asking more, but will keep mumbling about your hint on "government work" and its implications ...
Best wishes! Luigi.

 

[ntempleman]

You basically pull, pull as if there were a man on your mother

 

[Luigi_M]

@DWFII and @ntempleman , thank you very much! Both of you take a good amount of your time to try and explain the secrets of your work to the layman as I am.
That's useful for those who aren't (nor ever will be) in your Trade too, because knowing how a good shoe is made makes the average consumer (even if only of RTW) more aware of the quality of the shoes he's purchasing.
It's less painful for me to bid farewell to my hard earned €€€ if I know where they are going ...
Best. Luigi.

 

[wurger]

Hi @DWFII and @ntempleman, I noticed that on some brands' leather soles, is that on top of the bevelled waist, the front part of the sole is also convexed, is there any functional benefit for that?

Would it put extra wear on the middle part of the sole, as only the middle of the sole is getting the pressure and most of the wear instead of the whole sole?

 

[ntempleman]

You don’t really want a completely flat sole, a little convex means you can roll your foot around. Should protect the stitches too, as the edges aren’t in direct contact with the ground

 

[DWFII]

If nothing else, it facilitates the motion of the foot during walking.

In general, a healthy foot strikes first at the back of the heel--usually slightly to the lateral side. The weight of the body is then transferred along the lateral side (there is an arch on the lateral side of the foot, as well) to the lateral ball of the foot. At which point the weight transfers in a smooth rolling motion across the foot (via the transverse or metatarsal arch) to the medial ball joint.

Finally, the foot pushes off the big toe and weight shifts to the other foot.

If the last (and shoe) were flat on the plantar surface, the foot would still try to make this very fluid rolling motion but the shoe would tend to hamper and work against the motion of the foot. The shoe would be striking the ground on the medial side at the same time as the lateral side and...well, how can the the foot roll from the lateral ball to the medial ball when the shoe is already planted on the medial side? You follow?

FWIW, a very respected last model maker once told me that the convexity of the plantar surface of the last also allows the shoe to look narrower...

...I dunno.