Toe boxes

[cmw]

Ed

I was reading ya’lls post on toe-boxes. I was always told to remove the top layer of the leather from the grain side as DW explains. The reason was that when dries it will draw in more than the other side. It is more dense as DW said. I’ve tried it it is very true.

If I made a shoe with out doing this it would create a sharp edge that is turned inward towards the foot. Most makers use glass or an old stanley knife blade to scrape the top off. At my new apprenticeship we just cut a Verrrrry thin layer off with the shiving knife before we go on to shiving and shaping the rest of stiffener.

As you can see we do it a little differently than DW but the idea is the same. a little note, if you shiv the stiffener and can not see a verry thin dark layer at the edge then you have taken too much off when you scraped or cut.

Sorry that I don't have a pict. in the computer.

From one beginner to another

[cmw]

:

[dw]

When we have the toe box skived to its final form, we are ready to mount the toe box. We need to work a little quickly here. It's not frantic, but you can't begin, answer the telephone half way through, and pick up where you left off. That's why I have an answering machine.

The toe boxes should still be moist (all the way through). We need them in that state to work them.

At this point I like to lay the toe box on the toe of the last, butted up against and centered on the positioning tack, and mark the center of the toe box--or where it is actually touching the tack--and I like to wrap the corners of the toe box around, and mark, on the liner, where the back edge of the toe box will be when the toe box is mounted correctly. We want the back edge of toe box to run straight across the toe of the last, maybe angling rearward somewhat (on both sides) as it nears the featherline.

That done, apply a liberal amount of all purpose cement on the grain side of the toe box. This will refresh the all purpose cement already there. Apply a liberal amount of all purpose to the lining where the toe box will be covering it.

Lay the toe box, grainside down, on the top of the toe of the last. Butt it up against the positioning tack, lining everything up, and fully drive a 3 lasting tack ounce through the skived portion of the toe box about an inch in front of the positioning tack.

2788.jpg

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"Little Jack Dandiprat, in a white petticoat,
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[dw]

Turn the boot over and mount it on your lapjack.

Take a draft at one of the corners of your toe box. Don't think you can pull this as hard as vamp leather but pull it snug. Help yourself out by hammering (tapping is more like it) the toe box material into place, if need be, with a smooth-faced hammer. Line up the back edge of the toe box with the mark you made on the lining. Secure this draft with a three to five ounce lasting tack driven into the holdfast. Repeat this process on the other side. Now pull the center of the toe box over the toe of the last. Secure the draft with a tack...again all tack in the holdfast, not the feather.

The rabbet, or notch you made while fine-tune skiving, should line up with, and lay over, the feather of the insole. If it seems too long...but not excessively too long...there generally is no problem. If it is too short, however, you may need to move the whole toe box forward a little. Ideally it will line up pretty close. This rabbett will be the foundation for an outside channel in the toe box.

2789.jpg

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

[dw]

I might make a further comment here before moving on: thinking about it, I can't stress too much how important that final skiving procedure is. I am convinced that it is critical for using leather for a toe box. And the stiffer, or thicker, the leather, the more critical it is (although there is a point of diminishing returns where the leather can be too stiff). But my theory is that the leather will bend and conform to the top surfaces of the last with only a little difficulty...easily overcome. It's getting the leather to bend over the edge of the insole, without the ensuing pipes and wrinkle forcing the toe box away from the last...that's the hard part. Cutting that rabbett and skiving the lasting margin may be the key to success or frustration.


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"Little Jack Dandiprat, in a white petticoat,
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[dw]

I'd be remiss if I didn't post a photo of some of the tools I'm talking about....

On the left, a "00" Hammond shoemaker's hammer; center, a pair of narrow nose "Berg" style lasting pincers; and on the right, a London pattern hammer.

2791.jpg

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

[dw]

I find, in the absence of innumerable intermediate photos, I need to describe, in a little more depth, this next set of procedures. The photo below is a repeat of the previous photo with the already established drafts numbered for clarity. I've designated the corner drafts 1 and 2 and the central draft number 3. The second photo shows the toe box nearly full drafted...but not completed. In between the first and second photos are some critical steps I've never documented, simply because I only have two hands and I must, as mentioned, work fairly quickly here.

2792.jpg

Once we have the corners and the center of the toe box secured, the first thing we will do is tap the toe box firmly into the last all around. Pay particular attention to the area at the front of the toe, on either side of the central (#3) draft. . Now, with a narrow jawed pincer, take a draft about three-eighths of an inch, along the edge of the toe box, to either the left or right of #3. Gently, but firmly, pull the lasting margin over the end of the last and tap the leather flush to the upper surface of the last with a smooth-faced hammer. The hammer aids the pincers in forming the toe box to the shape of the last...especially around the feather. Now, turn the lasting pincer on it's side with the bottom jaw closest to the #3 tack. Move the whole pipe that has been formed as close to the #3 tack as possible. Use the pane of your shoemaker's hammer to drive the side of the pipe towards #3. This is draft #4. Secure this draft with a tack as close to the #3 tack as possible. Again tap the leather flush around the front of the toe especially under drafts # 3 and #4.

Now, take a draft about three-eighths of an inch along the edge of toe box, on the other side of daft #3. Gently but firmly pull, tap and twist the pincer, again bottom jaw closest to the adjacent tack. Turning the pincer like this forms the pipe, lays the leather down on the insole, and allows us to move the pipe. This is draft #5. Crowd this draft and this pipe as close to #3 as possible and secure it with a tack. Tap the toe box flush with last.

Now, alternating sides, repeat this process, working your way around the end of the toe, until the toe box has been completely drafted. Tap each draft flush to the last and, again, using the pane of your hammer, drive each pipe in tight to the previous one.

2793.jpg

I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to be able to pinch no more than 3/16 of an inch when I was done thinning and customizing the lasting margin of the toe box. This is what allows us to crowd these pipes together and pull the toe box flush to the last. If the pipes cannot be compressed, they cannot be moved off the edge of the insole and will affect how closely the toe box can be drawn to the last. Think of the difference between lasting a six ounce vamp and lasting a three ounce vamp.

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

[dw]

In the photo above, all the major drafts have been taken and toe box is securely mounted on the toe of the last. But if you look closely you can see that the base of some of the pipes extend below the feather line on the last. Where there is a pipe there is a "hollow" and that means the toe box is not fully flush to the last.

In the photo below, the toe box is fully drafted. The pipes have been completely moved to the dorsal surface of the insole and the feather has been cleared.All tacks are in the holdfast and not in the feather. There are some "tricks" to get from the stage depicted in the previous photo and this one, however.

First and foremost is just understanding that shoemaker's hammers are shaped the way they are for good reason. Whether you use the shoemakers hammer or the London pattern, you can use the pane of the hammer to chase the base of the pipes inward towards the center of the insole. I use both hammers...I have smoothed and slightly rounded the pane of my shoemakers hammer so that it will not cut leather when I'm hammering away with it. But I have left the London pattern the pretty much the way it came--with a square edge on the pane---and I'll describe why further on.

So, at this point we need to clear the pipes from the feather and finish drafting the toe box. To do this, I take a bite, with the narrow jawed pincer, in the very center of each pipe (again, working from #3 outward, alternating sides) and gently tug it. Simultaneously, I tap the base of the pipe with the pane of my shoemaker's hammer to drive it towards the center of the insole. In some sense you are lasting with the hammer (and this technique can be applied in a number of other situations, as well) . At that point you should be able to drive a tack into the center of this pipe, effectively flattening it to the surface of the insole. Sometimes, with a really stubborn pipe, I will hammer right down the center of the pipe to create two pipes, and drive the tack into the wrinkle just created.

2794.jpg

When all the pipes have been cleared from the feather and flattened, I will drive the toebox leather that is lying over the feather, into the feather using the square edged pane of my London pattern hammer. Look closely at the photo and you can see the shadow of where I have driven the toebox into the feather.

We still have some work ahead of us but while the leather is still wet, turn the boot over and with the pane of your shoemaker's hammer, chase the excess contact cement out from under the edge of the toe box. This also lays the toe box flush against the last and onto the lining, ensuring good adhesion.

2795.jpg

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

[dw]

Getting closer....

The toe box is mounted and ready to be shaped. But although we have a feather (outside channel) in the insole, it is unlikely that the toe box leather is thin enough over the feather to allow us to inseam with any grace.

To remedy that, we will cut a feather into the toe box. I like to take a Sutton groover that has had the guide removed and cut the feather into the toe box while it is still wet, although in a pinch you could very well wait until the toe box was dry. But since I am more and more inclined to shape the toe box while still wet, I also favour cutting the feather in the toe box at the same time.The photo below shows the groover.

2796.jpg

Simply follow the line of the feather in the insole. Cut in with the groover (some experience required), hammer the feather into the feather of the insole, and then use a shoemaker's file to level the feather out to a duplicate of the insloe feather. Be careful...while not the end of the world, we don't want to cut the toe box feather so deeply that we expose the lining leather underneath.

2797.jpg

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

[shane]

TO ALL,
SATURDAY I HAD MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH CELLASTIC. MY IMPRESSION SO FAR IS, "YUCK". I DIDN'T LIKE ANY PART OF IT. I NORMALLY PUT TOE BOXES IN JUST AS D.W. HAS DESCRIBED. I THOUGHT CELLASTIC WOULD SPEED ME UP. I DON'T THINK IT IS ANY FASTER. IT TOOK ALOT LONGER TO DRY THAN I EXPECTED. IT MELTED WHEN I SHAPED IT WITH MY FINISHER. IT IS THINNER THAN THE 8OZ TOOLING LEATHER I NORMALLY USE, THEREFORE YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO SAND THROUGH IT. BESIDES ACETONE STINKS. SO I THINK I AM GOING BACK TO LEATHER, BUT WITH MORE EXPERIENCE THAN I HAD A WEEK AGO.
SHANE

[dw]

After the feather is cut, I hammer the toebox all over to drive it flush to the last. No matter how I proceed from here I will continue to tap the toe box as it dries. There comes a point where the toe box is just dry enough and every blow with the hammer compresses the leather and makes it firmer.

As I mentioned before, I have become very fond of these stainless steel microplanes I get from my woodworking catalogues. I like to start shaping the toe box while it is still wet. I don't try to do this all at once but over the space of several hours.

2798.jpg

When I begin, my objective is to remove the obvious bulges and excess that clearly defy the lines of the last. And that's the key...you must look at the last...you must *study* it...you must hold it up to the light and squint at it to focus in on the essentials--"the lines." Even with the toe of the vamp peeled back you can see the lines of the last. Turn the last while holding it to the light and note every curve and where it is, or should be, going. The toe box must fit into those lines. It must be an extension of those lines. Now there's no one and no words that can help anyone here. It takes time to develop an "eye." It is a skill. But it is **the** single most valuable skill you can develop. It will serve you in every aspect of bootmaking from last modification to designing and stitching patterns.

You can remove leather fast and very accurately with a microplane. So when I've got the toe box roughly shaped and the obvious eyesores removed, I set the boot up to dry for a while. Not all day...removing the excess accelerates the drying. So maybe only for an hour or two. Then I tap the toe box all over, once again, and hoping some of the leather has compressed a little bit, I pick up the microplane and continue refining the shape. I also use a piece of glass for this refining especially at the back edge. I might repeat this process three or four times during the day--it only takes 20-30 minutes of my time each time. And at the end, I will have the final shape of the toebox to within a hair's breadth. And the leather will have dried enough that when I tap it the leather will compress and stay compressed--getting harder than the original piece of insole belly showed any sign of being. I can take it to the finisher and touch it up, but in most cases I don't have to...I can reach the final shape...painlessly and relatively quickly...without ever needing to go to the finisher.

When the toe box is completely dry, I pull all the drafting tacks and then that's when I take it to the finisher...to grind off the pipes and wrinkles and surplus army goods that lie on top of the holdfast. Be careful here...remember that the last has a radius to the bottom. Don't grind the lining off the holdfast.

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

[dw]

During the shaping and refining of the toe box, it is critically important, in my opinion, to pay close attention to the back edge. this is where the toe box and the lining/vamp merge and ultimately it should be invisible. Here the piece of glass becomes our best tool. I glass the edge and a tiny bit of the lining. Since there is surely excess all-purpose cement that has been squeezed out on to the lining, there is little chance of thinning or cutting the lining if due care is used. I glass that edge until I can no longer feel it--you have to close your eyes and run you finger over the back edge of the toe box so that you're touch toe box and lining simultaneously. Again, I don't want to feel any edge at all.

Once the toe box has been shaped and allowed to dry, there are several ways to go. I was taught to moisten (I use a spritz bottle) the exposed flesh surface of the vamp, slather all-purpose on the toe box, re-last, and "wipe" the toe. And if you use firm leather for your toe box, there is no fault in doing it that way. As mentioned, other glues...such as cereal glues, hide glue, or dextrine have been used in the same way at one time or the other.

I don't know where I picked it up...undoubtedly from talking to other bootmakers...where ever, I've come to favour using press cement at this stage. I use it somewhat thin and I probably put on anywhere from four to eight coats. The first coat soaks into the toe box and, just as importantly, as it dries it "freezes" all the tiny fibers of the flesh of toebox leather. As each coat of press cement comes dry, I glass it to remove the roughness and any offending bulge. Again, I pay particular attention to that "merging" edge--I may scrape it all the way back down to leather, over and over again, to refine that shape and blend the toe box into the lining.

The photo below shows the toe box after a number of coats of press cement and looking closely, the areas where I've been scraping it are apparent. I can, and will, also sand the surface of the toe box where and if it's needed. Keep the feather clear of press cement.

2799.jpg

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

[dw]

The next photo shows the toe box fully coated. I will scrape/glass the back edge one more time, feeling for roughness or an edge and I will use a shoemaker's file to clean the feather in the toe box.

2800.jpg

Then, I will moisten the vamp. Next I slather fresh press cement all over the toe box in a fairly heavy coat...and quick as I possibly can, I pull the vamp over the toe and drive a tack intot he insole at the center of the toe. [Moistening the vamp creates a barrier that prevents the press cement from seeping through to the grain side. On the other hand, if we are not careful a water stain can occur on the toe of the boot, especially with light coloured leathers.]

Still working quickly, I tack a narrow "wiping strip" into the feather back at about the treadline. I pull it forward and keeping both downward and lengthwise tension on the strip, I take a draft in the vamp at the corner of the toe box. I hold that draft down into the feather with pressure from the wiping strip and drive a tack through the wiping strip, the vamp and into the feather.I pull the strip across the front of the toe box and tack in the center of the toe box...again through the strip, through the vamp and into the feather. Then I proceed to the other corner of the toe box and repeat. [BTW, I say "corner" and corner it is...even on a round toe box.] Then I tack the strip into the feather, again back at the treadline on the other side of the boot.

Now I go back to the corners of the vamp and working first one side then the other, I draft and tack the vamp driving the tack through the wiping strip, through the vamp and into the feather.

The photo below shows the toe fully wiped.

2801.jpg

Finally, I take a bone smoother and carefully push the excess press cement out from under the vamp where ever it is built up excessively. Here is my final shaping process. The fresh coat of press cement will soften the previous layers. I can chase out any deviation from the lines of the last and eliminate any lumpiness...if I do this before it dries.

If necessary wet down the whole vamp, to the point where it changes colour. Then coat the vamp with a heavy application of Lexol or some other light conditioner. The wetting of the vamp evens out the moisturer to prevent water stains and the conditioner hold that moisture in longer so that it dries slower and the moisture content evens out. Again, that helps to prevent water stains.

Voila! Let the vamp dry and the press cement set up...maybe four hours...and you're ready to inseam.

2802.jpg

Tight Stitches
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frommer@bootmaker.com
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"Little Jack Dandiprat, in a white petticoat,
The longer he lives the shorter he grows."

[dw]

BTW, as you can see above, wiping the toe can, and if done properly, chase every vestige of wrinkle or pipe up and off of and away from the feather of the boot. Even on a narrow round toe, there should never be a wrinlkle embedded in the inseam that is visible above the welt line.

And here is the final result:

2803.jpg

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

[dw]

Shane,

This (my reply) almost belongs over in "Rants..." But since "Rants..." is taking a vacation until after the upgrade and since you brought it up, I thought I respond with a excerpt from an email I sent to a dear friend recently.

Remember!!! This is one man's opinion, only!

If we truly want to evaluate celastic, someone needs to present a list of pros and cons viz leather or celastic toe boxes. I personally don't think anyone can make a case *against* leather and * for* celastic. Sure, celastic is faster but go beyond that and what do you have that leather doesn't have? Easy? OK, but I thought *skill* was the name of the game? Durability? Bah! Leather is as durable...maybe more so...than celastic.

And what is a toe box anyway? A stiffener at the forward end of a boot. Well sir, every reason that can be given for using celastic in the toe stiffener applies with equal force to using celastic or plastic in the heel stiffener (a stiffener at the *other* end of the boot). And it's being done. I can remember back 15 years ago seeing plastic counters in cowboy boots, and something very like, if not identical to, celastic in shoe counters. Accept that and what kind of argument can realistically be made against plastic heel bases? Or plastic welt? How is it any different? Replace enough of the boot with these "quick and easys" and suddenly what you end up with...what you are calling a boot...is no longer the same sort of thing that comes to mind when we think of hand-made quality boots....and certainly not what our fathers and grandfathers thought of when they thought of hand-made boots. Even the skill and the techniques are affected. They wither and are lost...and soon , inseaming with a "jerk needle" is all we know.

Honestly, I don't care if you or anyone else uses celastic. But if someone's gonna tell me it's *better*, they gotta be ready to defend that position. Tell me why its better...and better than what? Celastic may be great. It may make a great toe box, and every young bootmaker should try it at least once. But I don't believe anyone can make the case that it's *better* than leather **or** that the end result is *as* indicative of care and quality.

As for me...personally...I didn't sign on to see the Trade diminished like that. Not on my watch, at any rate.

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

[paul]

DW,

Wow! What a great lesson. Thank you for giving it to us in such great detail, and photographed too! I've been using the technique you outlined in your first edition of your American Tradition tutorial and this series is going to add alot to the quality of my job. Thank you for the time and effort it took to record this. I'm sure you have a few jobs that have been waiting, as you put this up for us.

Thank you's to Jake as well, who seemed to know there was alot for us to glean from such a detailed and complete lesson.

PK

[jake]

Paul,

You ought to see him in person! He's truly a talented bootmaker. I also think it was mighty generous of him for the lesson. By the way, anything D.W. does is spectacular! He's always striving for perfection.

Dee-Dubb,

You done good! Real good! The only thing that beats your presentation.....seeing it first hand. Great job! Makes me want to go buy a microplane and build a toe box.....from leather!

[dw]

Thanks Jake. Thanks Paul. I hope it helps.


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

[shoestring]

DW
You did a fantastic job or should I say lesson in the "Art of Toe Boxes" now in your opinon do you think the same technique can be applied for building shoes.Especially the wiping strip.
Ed

[dw]

Ed,

Of course! Bootmaking and shoemaking are allied trades. Once upon a time (and still, in some places), it was a single trade. I don't have much call for shoes but I wish I did...I might be more skilled all the way around.

And thank you.

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

[shoestring]

Question;
this may have been answered before but here goes,which makes a toe box stiffer cement or dextrine,which is better and longer lasting.
Ed

[dw]

Ed,

If you are using leather for a toe box, I like celluloid cement. Dries fast, Dries hard and can be sanded and blended into the lining leather.

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[shoestring]

DW,
where can celluloid be gotten and how is it sold pint,quart,gallon.Thanks




Ed

[dw]

Ed,

Try:

Mid-West Industrial
1509 Sublette Ave.
St. Louis MO 63110
1.314.781.5831

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[jenny_fleishman]

Is it possible to stiffen the toebox of an unlined shoe? If so, how? Thanks.

Jenny