This is just a small note to blow my own horn. In the latest issue, which is also online, of the Journal of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation there is an article about my shop. It is at www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/Spring04/saddler.cfm

I know who three of the pdople in the picture at the top of the article are, but who is that bald guy with the white hair.

Jim Kladder

Jim,

Nice article!

BTW, when did you guys move back into the Elkanah Dean Shop? I thought you were in the Tallifero-Cole Shop. [ just an inside dig]

BTW, HCC board president Dan Freeman's work is showcased in the current issue of 'Vermont Magazine' as promised. Another good article [thanks for sending it Dan]. Too bad it's not up on their website yet. Maybe when it is a "back-issue"? Here's the link:

http://www.vermontmagazine.com/current.html

Hey Jim,

Thanks for the link! I really enjoyed the article. If I ever get to that part of the world again, I'm definitely making plans to visit Colonial Williamsburg.

Now....we also have a face to place on a name. By the way, the lack of hair just means all those brains pushed the hair follicles out.

One puzzling thing I noticed.....you're using the wrong hand! Guess we can call ya "Old Lefty".

Al,

Thanks for the link! I know Dan can't send us all a copy, so I'm calling tomorrow to order mine.

Congratulations once again Dan!

Jake
One of the interesting things about being left handed and the trade is that in useing spun or twisted shoe thread when you untwist to break it that can only be done one way, right handed. If you try to untwist left handed you just twist it tighter. So you can only make up a waxed end right handed. I am very lucky that I found a left handed round knife [I also have a bridge for you to buy].

jimk

Hi Jim! I tried to view your link but haven't had any success so far. I'm working a 12 hour shift today, so I'll keep trying. Will try to email you also. Your (younger) Bro

Jim... Very cool article ! I learned a lot and it brought back memories of our family reunion video when you did your Williamsburg speach,,, Oh yeah!
dick

Lads and Lassies,

Brush up on your French and then have a lookie here at some nice shoes:

http://www.souliers.net/

Link kindly sent by HCCer Dennis Houel in Quebec.

Al,

Of course there are some nice shoes on this website but I'm guessing that the "Chaud ou froid" section is the most popular. That, at least, doesn't need *any* translation.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC
http://www.bootmaker.com

"Little Jack Dandiprat, in a white petticoat,
The longer he lives the shorter he grows."

DW,

Ah, I see you *can* read at least a little French

Can some one tell me how much is 187,15 Euros in US dollars an cents.I am considering on buying some tools but not sure of the dollars they are talking about.
Thanks

Hey Ed,
8.00pm Friday evening here - 187.15 Euros = US $223.02
Most of the online stores have currency converters somewhere on the page, often after you click 'Add to Basket' etc. Once you've added the goods to your basket you can still pull the plug if you don't want to proceed.
More power to y'awl.
T.

Jim ,Tom thanks you both were a great help.


Ed

For those across the pond or them as have the urge to go a-roving,

The 7th Independent Shoemakers' Annual Conference will be held on 18/19 February 2005 at
Ascot House Hotel, Harrogate, HG1 5HU. Tel: 01423 531005 Website: www.ascothouse.com

The attachment below is a a virus scanned Word document that has all the pertinent information as well as a registration forme.




Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

I have been informed this A.M. that Westfield Tanning is closing and will be shut down by the end of march. They were the last tanner of sole leather in the U.S.
Tom Mattimore

For those of you who like the Westfield tannage--for insoles or for heel stiffeners or even for toe boxes--there is an alternative. After spending all morning calling around, I finally came across Keystone Leather.

Keystone Leather was founded by two Westfield Tanning executives a year or two ago when this crisis was still in the offing. Dave Murdock and Dave Shaw are the head guys. As I understand it Dave Murdock is the "office" guy and Dave Shaw is the "plant" guy. They are both intimately familiar with the tannage and the temper of Westfield's product and think they can offer something very very close.

Dave Murdock offered me a bend in 11-12 iron that he feels is suitable for cutting insole--a little softer than the best of the Westfield soling but probably on a par with the insole belklies that I've been getting from Westfield for 20+years. And he offered me an 11-12 soling bend that is the same temper as the best of the Westfield--this may be perfect ofr cutting heel stiffeners and even for outsoles for those who like the domestic tannage.

They also may be interested in offering "heeling remnants" (from the cutting room floor) suitable for rolling or hammer jacking for heel lifts for building your own heels. Talk to Dave about that if you are interested. Interest is what will encourage them to offer.

In any case, if you are feeling a bit bereft because of the Westfield closure, please do call Keystone and Dave Murdock. Tell them DW sent you so that they can know that we all talk to one another and even if one of us doesn't buy a lot, altogether we can represent a respectable chunk of business.

The essentials are:

Keystone Leather
2100 Reach Rd.
Williamsport, PA ( zip ?)
1.814.326.0852
fax: 1.814.326.0853
plant: 1.570.329.3780
dcmurdock@keystoneleather.com


Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

All,

Just got a small shipment from Keystone Leather. I got an insole bend and a harder soling bend. Both 10-11 iron tannery run.

I've not had a chance to cut any of it but it looks really, really good. It's hard to tell the difference between the Westfield leather and this stuff--which comes from Argentina--both temper wise and colour-wise. But the bends are super clean with a very "firm" fleshside.

I can live with it. Even if there are technical differences; even if there are temper differences (they have to be minor); even if there are tannage differences, I think it's the best I've seen outside of the Westan stuff. It might even be better! Only time will tell.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

An Alaskan friend with a bunion would like a pair of custom hiking boots, around a size 13. If you know of anyone (maybe you?) capable of constructing a pair, please let me know. Travel too far from Alaska is cost-prohibitive, but you could send a stomp box, and I would be happy to help with measurments. He has already successfully ordered a pair of custom figure skates in this manner. They were a perfect fit.
Thanks for your help.
Jill Holmgren
jholmgren ( at ) mosquitonet ( dot ) com
or
1150 Molly Road
Fairbanks, AK 99709-6301

The Spring 2005 issue of Military Collector & Historian (Journal of the Company of Military Historians) has an informative article by fellow HCC member David Jarnagin. Titled Hemlock Leather:.... the article describes the differences between oak bark and hemlock tanned leather. You won't find this Journal at your local bookshop, but perhaps you may be able to buy the issue directly from the CMH, PO Box 910, Rutland MA 01543.

June Swann sends this gloomy report:

============
The 320,000 jobs ref. is 'World Footwear' March/April 2005 p.7 in article on
'ANCI (National Association of Italian Footwear Manufacturers): 600%
increase in footwear imports from China in 40 days': 3rd section:
An unimaginable cost.
"The picture that lurks on the horizon" continued the president of ANCI "is
the rapid dismantling of the European & Italian footwear industry, with the
loss of over 12,500 companies and 320,000 employees in Europe and 103,500
jobs and 7,300 companies in Italy. We cannot even imagine the economic cost
to our country in terms of growth, but even higher will be the social cost,
with hundreds of companies closing their doors, and thousands of workers
left at home.
"We expect the Italian government to bring urgent pressure to bear on
Brussels, to initiate the anti-dumping or safeguarding procedures
contemplated within the WTO... It is a fact that the European Commission has
not defended its footwear industry until now... No further time can be lost
waiting for the folks in Brussels to realise the gravity of the situation."
[the next issue May/June. just received, appears to say no more on this]
=================

Al,

Wonder what our "guvvies" are doing about chinese dumping? ( "guvvies?" did I say that?! been hanging out on the Australian woodturning forums too long...mutter, mutter)

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

DW,

I believe our "guvvies" will be doing the following to correct this problem:

1)
2)
3)
4)

This is the strategy that was so successful (he said sarcastically) when our own footwear industry faced the same threat in the 80s & 90s. That war is over for us and we lost. As of 2003, on 2% of the 2 BILLION pairs of shoes purchased in the US were manufactured here (AAFA figures in a Footwear News, April 25, 2005 article). I believe I read somewhere that the current estimate is something like 1.6% domestically produced.

I work with an Italian last maker and they say that the industry is indeed in chaos. This is happening (I believe) after years of denial in Italy. The old "it could never happen to us" attitude. They didn't think the Chinese would ever be able to make quality fashion shoes and now they've found out they were wrong. That same article talks about how many of the very finest names in Italian footwear design are having some or all of their lines made in China.

There is hope however. First, there are the talented artists like the ones who frequent this forum who keep the hand made tradition going and you are all owed a HUGE debt of gratitude by everyone. Then there is the possibility that technology and business smarts can beat the importers at their own game, which has been quality, price, and extremely fast turnaround. There is a factory in Florida that would absolutely amaze you if you visited it. The company is Otabo. This is the most technologically advanced shoe factory I have ever been in and I've been in some real doozies in Brazil and China. They just won the prestigious Progressive Manufacturer of the Year Award, competing against companies like Ford, HP, and many others outside the footwear industry whose names escape me right now. Visit the Otabo website (www.otabo.com) to learn more and there is a link at the bottom of the home page to an article about the award competition.

Attitudes and spirit like this will help our industry survive and possibly even thrive again someday. Like everything else, if we wait for the beltway gang in DC to help us, we'll be waiting a long time because at the end of the day, if it's not going to benefit oil, pharmaceutical, banks, insurance, (and I'm talking companies, not workers), or their own pockets, those ****** (substitute your favorite vulgar adjective here) boys and girls aren't going to do a thing for us. We signed on to the WTO and though, there can be an argument made for the benefits as well as one for the hardships it causes, sometimes the benefits are hard to swallow.

That sound you just heard was my blood pressure dropping back to normal.

Bill
www.globalfootwearsolutions.com

Bill, thanks for that great article about Otabo. That seems a much better strategy than just waiting for the Chinese to get to expensive to mass produce shoes, at 30 cents an hour it may be some time….

I’m reading this article with mixed emotions. It is great to see technology used in a way that allows shoes to be made domestically but is it really a high quality shoe if the craftsmanship is replaced by silicone chips.
It makes me wonder what the value is of this skill I spend so much time on perfecting so I can make a living. Or maybe this is the way to make this near extinct skill available to many more customers? I guess we just have to see how things develop. I just know that unless I win Megabucks or find oil in the back yard I will have little to no influence on the process. It takes big bucks to be a player in this game.
How does one invest 15 million dollars in domestic shoe production and expect to recoup this money with a healthy margin on the investment?

I’m glad to read that a large part of their infrastructure is “off the shelf” and with people willing to invest in the technology it secures future development and make it more affordable for the rest of us. Forms of technology will be incorporated in shoemaking and it will be up to the individual shoemaker and the market how far this automation will go.
Without claiming to be any kind of an expert in the field I find that the technology that I’ve been exposed to is fairly immature and needs much more development to be useful for more than just some uncomplicated cases. Maybe it’s just that I’ve not been exposed to the right systems but technology in footwear production still has a long way to go.

I’ll try no to loose too much sleep over the changes that are unavoidable but would like to keep a close eye on the developments taking place.

For those still reading, thanks for allowing me to blow off some steam. It does make me feel better to get it out in the open.

Rob

Dear Bill,
Thank you for your appreciation of the art behind the craft and technology of shoemaking.

Someday, if the chinese ever want to stick-it-to the Americans, they only need to invent a 'factory fire' such as the ones that are rumored to drive the price of computer memory up to $1,000 per chip back in the 1990s.

Otabo, a totally Macromedia Flash driven design of a web site. That front page 'animation' is actually a 'movie clip' with a script in the frame-based timeline that keeps it looping. And that menu is also a 'Flash' product.

Regards,
Lisa