Nat,

Welcome aboard! It sounds as if you've been bitten by the bug.

Posts like your own remind all of us that this Forum...this enterprise...really is worthwhile and noble and something we can all be proud of. Enjoy and don't be a "ghost."

Emmett

For those that haven't delved into Anton aan de Stegge home page (via his profile) you are missing out.
Anton what a remarkable man you are!

How long did you stay in New Zealand Anton, this is where I live.
Not far from my home is the world famous Southward's car museum. They have a car like yours on display and the chassis and running gear look like they should belong to a truck. The engineering and craftmanship are amazing when you consider that cars had only been made for such a short time, it was all new ground to them.

It would be good to see more english on your site, I don't speak Dutch but I could still find my way around.

Anton, I hope the rest of your adventure is full of love laughter and light.

More power to y'awl
Tomo

Hi,
I've spent the past 10 years trying to perfect my Neapolitan Pizza technique and now need to satisfy my shoe fetish !
From as far back as I can recall ,shoe shops were candy stores for me and my many visits to the Crockett & Jones factory store allowed me a little more indulgence than any one man deserves.
Champagne tastes on a beer budget.I've got a head full of ideas - now I need to learn the craft.
Between this and the blogs of Marcel , Craig et al i've got a lot of fun learning ahead.I envision the day when I have a last between my knees and the confidence to put that first nail in.
Thank you all,
David

The smell of brown leather
It blended in with the weather
It filled my eyes, ears, nose and mouth
It blocked all my senses
Couldn't see, hear, speak any longer

Down in the Tube Station at Midnight -The Jam ( Paul Weller ) 1978

The smell of pubs and wormwood scrubs.

Well, I hope to be seeing some winklepickers from you in the future then!

Courtney.

Hello Everybody!
My name is Marlene, I am 40 years old, living in germany. I am a medical technician and in my spare time i am trying to get a hand on shoes. Bying and wearing them but I just started to try to make them on my on. I am mainly interested in making court shoes (Pumps) and ballerinas. I am using an Adler 30-1 sewing machine and I am an total amateur in making shoes but I am happy to study a lot!

Marlene

Welcome to the Crispin Colloquy, Marlene. There are more than a few folks here that are in a similar position as you are or, for certain, started there.

Hope you will be a regular and not be shy.

Emmett

Hey all,

I'm Isaac Forman and I live in Keedysville, Md and work at Antietam NB. I've been looking for a site JUST LIKE THIS for a while now. I'm interested in learning to build civil war military shoes and possibly boots. I've gotten a good start with a number of good friends like Dean Nelson, Mike Burkey, Denis Reen and a few others and this site will fill the gap nicely. Looking forward to reading and asking questions!

New Member,

Hello to all. My name is Miguel I'm Portuguese and I've learn to make boots with two brothers with the beatifull ages of 85 and 81 (respectivelly Manuel and Capitulino of their names). The booth of them are shoemakers as was their father before them.
I really enjoy this art and I'll hope to learn a lot from the members of this colloquy.
I've allready made a pair of boots to my 7 year old son (I'll put some pictures later) and my masters said their were ok for a first timer.
The boots I've learn to make are a tippical kind of Portuguese boots made from vegetable tanned leather without being died (natural color) wich is waxed as a finishing action. Some models are very similar to a derby boot, allthough they do have a wider heel (they are used to horse ride) so you welt it all around and the heel part is wider then rest of the sole.
For now that's all.

Have a nice day.

Miguel Guerreiro

Miguel,

Hello and welcome,I had a shoe shop in the Portuguese neighborhood of Toronto once and the Portuguese kids used to call me Sapaterio, sapaterio?(not sure about spelling) whenever i pass them on the street riding my bike,I was curious what they were calling me until i asked another Portuguese who told me the kids were calling you, shoemaker,shoemaker in Portuguese, I was happy with that. welcome again.

Nasser

Hi. I am Scott Rhodes. I live just out side of Emmett Idaho. I have spent most of my life in the ranch and feedlot industry. I bought a boot repair shop in 2006 and just finished a boot making coarse back in May over in Oregon with MR. Frommer and I am looking forward to the info and conversations available here. I have a couple of hand tools to locate and will be ready to go. Thanks for reading. Scott

Scott,

Welcome. With close to 10,000 previous posts here there's lots of information to dig out even when things are slow. But ask questions, ask questions, ask questions.

Emmett

Welcome Scott. Nice Red Boots on your profile. You should post them in the gallery.
Geri

Scott,
Off to a good start, Amigo. DW is a contant source of instruction.
Good looking red boots.
Right now, shoes are all the rage in the gallery, and it's about time.
But we boot makers still love seeing our brothers work.
So get back to the bench and keep 'em coming.
Paul

Hello all,

I'm Shane Rose, originally from Southwest Colorado where I grew up on the back of a horse. Currently, I am transplanted into the midwest, just because it is so much easier to be a doctor here. (That's not true, I came here for training and was recruited into a job that, at least for now, is just too good to leave.)

However, my roots have always been more akin to road apples than the Big Apple, and therefore, when looking into purchasing a pair of bespoke boots a year or two ago, I recognized that I enjoyed learning about what I wanted, which naturally led me to believe that this could be something which I would like to do. I make not compunction that this will be my foray into a new career... I just love my boots and enjoy the thought that the ones on my feet could have been made by me as well.

I'm reading everything I can get my hands on, online and hard copy. (First was DWs book) I am in the process of acquiring equipment/tools to begin, and think I have about everything I really DON'T need... and little of what I do. heh... I'm hoping to make the bigger purchases soon, but want to gleen more information before I jump into a sewing machine, crimp boards, and leather.

And who knows... after watching Marcel on YouTube... I have even caught a bug to make some shoes as well. I just need him to sell me the last he used in his Stingray shoes. I think those are great.

Thanks for having me, and I promise I will have TRIED to look through the archives before I ask a question. It just seems that I have to actually ask it THEN LOOK A 5th time, in order to find it in them.

Shane

Hello Members,

I'm BD Adams currently fixing helicopters for the US Army. Formerly I was a machinist with experience in making/modifying tools to get the job done.

I spent a while in 2009 unemployed and took up leathercraft as a hobby. The more I did with leather the more different types of things I wanted to make. Boots and shoes took my greatest interest but that had to wait while I went through basic training and my occupational training with the Army through the first 8 months of 2010. After that training I got shipped over to Germany where I spent the first few months settling in and getting pesky things dealt with from being unemployed.

Through the winter months here I did as much online research as I could. Unfortunately that's when things got busy and I had to set everything aside for a while. Recently I had surgery and am laid up for a while and my girlfriend gave me the little push I needed to start looking for and buying the things I needed to get into boot and shoemaking.

I've picked up a few things, Euro ebay has been very helpful for hand tools. I'll be in search of a sewing machine at some point but until then I'll just have to continue hand stitching, at least it won't be as bad as hand sewing two pieces of 10oz veg at 8-12 to the inch.

I'm on the lookout for anything that would be good to get a hold of while I'm in Europe, I may never get this chance again. I will have a few odds and ends to trade or sell here that were too good a deal to pass up, though German pattern pincers will be hard to let go of. If any of you know anything for me to really watch for let me know.

BD

Hi BD, welcome to the colloquy.

If I was in your shoes, I would buy as many tools as I could afford.

That said a few things are very hard to come by in North America, edge and heel irons, and an alcohol burner. Also a couple of decent pairs of lasting pliers, and a couple of good hammers. Of course this list just goes on and on... awls, knives, thread...

Jon thanks for the info.

I've already kinda seen that I can probably make more money off of what comes up on ebay here than what I will spend on it. That being said I watch German ebay like a hawk and have picked up a couple of good buys, also a pretty good buy from France.

I'll get some pictures up when I get them from the friend I had them delivered to. Needless to say there is a heavy load at his place. I'm fortunate that I'm over here for getting the tools, but I still have a US address so there is a slight shipping issue.

If there is anything you're after let me know I may be able to help.

BD

Hi all,

My name is Idris, I'm from sunny Wales in the UK. I've been interested in learning to make shoes and, particularly, boots, for a couple of years now and I've recently taken the plunge and started my first pair, derbies for my girlfriend. I've been reading Tim Skyrme's book and following Frank Jones' for patterns. I've been lurking on the forum for some time, hoping that at least something has percolated in, time will tell I guess.

Idris

Idris,

welcome to the colloquy, the home of boot and shoemakers,feel free to ask any questions regarding boot and shoe making and we will try to answer if we can. welcome again and all the best for your new taking.

Nasser

Idris,
S'mai boi, dach chi'n iawn? Gobeithio!
Nice to have a new 'local' entrant to the field, and serendipitous, I very recently had a young lady from South Wales contact me via the UK Shoemakers site wanting to learn aspects of the trade.. a sudden flurry of positive Welsh interest is great!
I'm in Cricieth, Gwynedd and although a Clogmaker not a Shoemaker, if I can help at all, let me know...
Trefor Owen
treforowenclogmaker.co.uk

Bore da, Trefor. Mae'n ddrwg gyda fi achos dydw i ddim yn siarad Cymraeg da. Rwyn iawn diolch, a chi?

I've been trying to find someone to teach me but to no avail so far and unfortunately all the courses I've found have been beyond my reach financially.

I have a picture on my profile of my first attempt, the embroidered derbies for my girlfriend, she's a podiatrist so I'd better get them right!

Idris

Nice shoe Idris!

Welcome aboard Idris, And I concur with Courtney, Nice shoe. Looking forward to seeing the finished article. I like the branch and leaf motifs and the different cut of the quarters. Keep going.
Cheers
Duncan

Thanks for the kind words. I suspect I've jumped in at the deep end a bit trying to do a welted pair first time but hopefully it'll only get easier from here. A picture of my current progress is now on my profile.

Idris

I am looking for Derby, Semi-Brogue, Cap Toe, and Wing Tip cut out patterns for mens 9 - 9 1/2 shoe. Could someone kindly give me the patterns. I would like to use the patterns to make a stencil so I can begin making my shoes.

I have assembled most of the tools, sewing machine, etc.

(Message edited by ruben gallegos on October 06, 2011)