The Crispin Colloquy

nori,

There is a lasting press that I saw in Tim Skryme's book that might do exactly what you are looking to do.
The press is ment for pressing soles against a shoe after glueing the sole on. I don't know his official name for it, but he has an illustration of it in his book. Whether you are trying to achieve an upper to sole connection or a heated cork connection I dont think it matters. I belive the result will be the same. what ever you put on the bottom of the last, will be pressed into it.

Another option would be to use cermamists rubber bands. They are incredibly strong come in different sizes and will hold your cork firm while it dries. You can get them at any pottery supply. attatch your heated cork ad place these rubber bands around the last to hold the cork in place while dries.


The mould I made of your feet in october, if you cast plaster into those moulds (swish the mould with mould soap first), the resulting postive foot copy should make healthy orthotic for your feet. It was done in the subtalor nutrual position.

If you plan to press these, for orthotics, make sure you use pottery plaster #1. After casting your positive, wait to demould for at least a day if not a week to make sure the plaster has dried and hardened. then demould. If the plaster is still damp and soft you can drive the water off, by setting the poster feet out in the sun to dry. I wouldn't make orthotics on them until the plaster is completly dry. The steaming action of the heated medium such as heat sensitive cork might get distorted if the plaster isnt fully dry. Just a thought.


Another option would be to heat the cork, place it on your feet models, rubber band to hold, then, place the foot model with the cork afixed, into a ziplock vacume bag ( you can get these at the grocery store relitively cheep). attatch your vacume and suck the air out. It will help conform the bottom to the top and you do not have to buy any thing or invent any thing to achive your goal.

-Marlietta

Courtesy of Sri, I have bottom papers for the Munson last in sizes 7.5, 8.0, and 8.5 in a couple of different widths.

I have scanned them into a PDF format. If anyone is interested in receiving copies, shoot me an e-mail and I will send you the file of PDF's. At least on my HP printer, if I set the print to have no border, it prints out in the exact size as the original. The scans have a scale drawn on to allow comparison of the print to the originals.

Here is a jpeg of what the scans look like:


Lance

Nori
Tim Has great plans on his website for a sole press to do just the thing you want. here is the link,
http://www.shoemakingbook.com it's well thought out and can be built from the plans.
Larry

Not sure about the placement, or proper location of this post, here is a router withe 3D movement and a 4th axis to rotate the party, it was in tended for duck decoys and such It looks like it would be very good for duplicating a shoe-last.
http://www.radarcarve.net/index.php?p=home

Interesting stuff Mitchel. I think the true last lathes can also "grade" the size up or down from the model, though I'm not sure how this works exactly. Still, I can see a use for duplicating the original as is. Would be nice to carve a copy of a heavily modified last for instance. Then there wouldn't be any concern about the fittings shifting around etc. Not to mention replacing a last that's worn out. Besides; you can carve gun stocks in your spare time!

-Nat

"true last lathes can also "grade" the size up or down from the model"

What you'd want then is a CNC. Once you get the digital image of the last into the computer, you can scale it up and down or make modifications. Not just numeric scaling, but style or fit changes.

No doubt; CNC's are cool!
It's great to see a lower cost alternative though, even if it's limited function.

Would be nice to keep my lasts in pristine condition. This is possible if they're only used as a build-up model for the fitter, then copies are made unique to each client, build-ups are removed and the stock last is returned to the shelf unharmed. No more keeping leather build-ups and fitting them back to the last when a 2nd order is placed by the same person.

-Nat

We almost wore this subject out about a year ago. Came to the conclusion that an old fashioned last duplicator or a very expensive CNC were about the only things that would do an acceptable job.
John L

I've been studying up on making molds so I can pour lasts that will give me good fitting (better fitting?) shoes. Strangely enough, the comicon costume makers are one of the best resources for DIY how-to for making molds.

Today I'm mixing pure silicone caulk with corn starch and xylene to make a "paintable" silicone mold liner. All I'd been able to find was a fairly complicated two part mold system with a complicated keyed system holding the liner to the plaster shell. That's a lot more time and commitment for a simple test last than I'm willing to invest.

A couple days ago on Make I found a reference to a guy in the UK who is making an iron man costume. He does lots of vids on the stuff he's doing which encompasses much more than costume making. Interesting stuff. His is the "I am SO guy" version of my norisstuff site.

So, I'm off to make a clamshell mold using silicone caulk with a bolt-together two-piece plaster cover. It should be a really interesting learning curve. I'll make sure to take pics.

Nori,

Mould making can be complicated or made very simple by the concept of a run block. Block refering to something that stops a liquid from flowing.

All you have to do is use some cheep potters clay that you can get at a pottery store for under $10.00 for 25 pds of it.

Place the potters clay around the area that you don't want the plaster or silicone to run and put dents into it to make those "complicated registration marks int he mould" which aren't that complicated, they simply are dents in the clay.

Place a dam around your mould making and a plastic sheeting under. Use Mold soap on your plaster piece, let dry repeat for three times. then pour plaster onto your form even if it is plaster, it will not stick to the form because of the mold soap is a separator. Once mold soap is dry, pour plaster as your mould. If you must have a silicone layer ( I don't know why you'd need this) you can thin the silicone calk with silicone thinner. However, for the same price as the silicone calk and better quality mould you could use urethane rubber as your rubber instead of calk and it is easier to work with because it is ment for mould making. On the other hand an very neat product that you might like is "Vinamold" It is a re-usable rubber vinal so if you make a mistake in your mould making you can just remelt it and try again.

When the plaster has solidify or rubber has, than remove the clay for a pour to the other side. and repeat your first process.

Plaster is the most inexpensive but it fractures easy. So that is something to concider.

Mould making can be scary at first but indeed it is very simple. Use a dam such as a solo tube to prevent your mould making material from running all over a table and use potters clay to separtate the two halves. Make dents in the first side so when you pour the second side, you can put the mould together where it is supposed to go. Finally, do not forget to incorporate a pour hole or you will have to dig one into it as an after thought which is a pain in the a......

To hold the plaster together, you can just use mould making rubber bands or cut up an old intertube AND USE IT'S RINGS TO HOLD THE MOULD TOGETHER.. It holds well enough to stop anything from running out unil it solidifies. Bolts arn't necessary.

Lastmaking clay is also nice to use for experiementation in your moulds. you can cast and remelt your work till you get the shape you want.

Marlietta
Lastmakingschool.com

Marlietta, you always step up to the mark! I've already go the stop installed. I don't have a pic of it yet, but it's there! I'm working tomorrow so I probably won't get to work on it until Saturday.

Hi there,
I've recently found a last made by "united last company" of Montreal. However when looking at preparing insoles on it I've noticed that the heel doesn't look like lasts I've seen photos of. Especially when trying to block/trim an insole. It seems like the seat of the insole doesnt sit down flat. Hopefully these photos will help clarify what I mean. Keep in mind that these photos are with the last all on one level, not with the last set at the correct heel height.

(Message edited by Delormea on November 28, 2012)

Here are those images

They look like moccasin lasts to me.

Nasser

Aaron

It would help to have photos of the last too.

Tim

Heres a few more photos of the last. If you need any more let me know.
If it is a moccasin last as Nasser suggested, or some other type of last, am I able to build up the lasts as per usual, except around the seat area?

A moccasin last wouldn't have any heel height to speak of...at least I've never seen one like that.

As far as the lack of a feather around the heel, many of the best old shoe lasts were purposely build without an edge.

Of more concern to me is the shape of the back of the heel. It seems better suited to a pull-on boot than a shoe.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--HCC Member

[center]Little Jack Dandiprat in a white petticoat,
The longer he lives, the shorter he grows.[/center]

DW- If they were built without an edge, how do you go about trimming the insole to the last without ending up with a very small heel, or a line showing on the upper from the insole?
I've found that the heel is quite narrow. Is this a characteristic of a pull on boot last?

Also, I would think (guess) that a boot or moccasin last would have more fullness around the toe/heel than this one. It looks to me like it would make for quite a sleek shoe. Not sure.
Wondering how I can utilize this last? Keeping in mind that I'm a beginner...

Aaron,

DW is correct,the last has a very high toe spring indicative of higher heel and not for moccasins, is there a spring to break on the last?I see a break line on the last and a hole on the island of the last.

There certainly is a hinge to break it, and there is a hole on the island.
More info, on the bottom of the last it says "United Last Co. LTD. Feb. 1958, Montreal." and 9191M 8D

It would be interesting to see what can be made of this.

The shape and the toe spring are very similar, if not identical, to shoes made for serious cyclists. They don't have a heel of any significance and the toe spring is built in to increase the comfort when pedaling.

[link{http://www.selectism.com/2009/05/27/quoc-pham-cycling-shoes/, Quoc Pham Cycling shoes}

Here's another example.

\link {http://images.madeinchina.com/AF90386CD75440DEE040007F01002839/072/7411072_1/Tie bao-cycling-shoes-road-shoes-bicycle-shoes_7411072_1.jpg,cycling shoe}

That's an interesting thought. They do look pretty similar. How long have those shoes been around though? Since 1958?
It may be interesting to note that the last is of a very very hard wood (which is common), but also has no nail marks on the bottom of it. Or anywhere one it for that matter.

I don't want to spend very long on this as I have other things I must get done, but here's a 1950 Tour de France picture and the shoes, though the image is small, look remarkably like shoes made on your lasts.

/link{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tour_de_France_1906_%2802%29.jpg,Tour de France image - 1950}