Insole shoulder is less dense and longer fibered than bend...as a consequence it makes a better footbed. It's also more flexible and breathes better than outsole leather.Herr_Leeb » Sat Sep 05, 2015 7:23 am wrote:To my horror I have to read that real shoemakers use "insole leather"
Until now I have made all my shoes with precut sole leather from the only source I have, my local cobbler supply store.
My shoes feel very comfortable to me, I don't suffer from excessive footsweat, have no customers to please and
since I have not had the opportunity to get some good quality JR or Baker outsoles, I don't mind a little extra rigidity. The toughest environment my shoes are exposed to is the Costco parking lot.
Is there something fundamentaly wrong with using precut outsole leather for insoles (other than pissing off St. Crispin) or can I continue using it without creating problems I am not aware of?
But more importantly it is easier to channel and feather and will hold the inseaming stitches better even when they are tightened prodigiously. That means you can stitch closer and tighter (spi) without risking blown holdfasts and fit more stitches into the inseam around tight corners such as the toe.
The closer you get to the prime areas of a hide the more the leather is short fibered...so while denser and perhaps longer wearing on pavement, etc., outsole is not as tensile-ly strong.
Additionally, outsole leather is "rolled"--sometimes two and three times--each rolling compressing and stiffening (hardening) the leather more. The results are akin to what early shoemakers would have done by "hammer-jacking on a lap iron...before rolling was invented.
I used insoles cut from outsoling for a number of years. My own experience was that they cracked and remained stiff throughout their lives. But they were at least minimally functional.
Bottom line, not "best practices", however.