The Crispin Colloquy

I don't know why you have to go to belly although with a little care in selection it should work fine but you can get 4/5 ounce shoulders, I am sure.

Again, I am not sure what the alternative to dry splitting is although I don't think it is anything as simple as wetting the leather and splitting it.

But I also feel fairly certain that in the absence of a splitter you will have a lot less frustration and a lot more control if you start with something closer to the correct thickness that you want.

And yet again...I start with 13 ounce insole shoulder and split to 6 iron, more or less, for heel stiffeners for men's shoes (what's that in ounces?).

Of course that's predicated on the idea that heel and toe stiffeners don't need tensile strength.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--HCC Member

Holly,

Give Keystone a try too. They have several sizes.shapes of pre-cut heel stiffeners, all in firm veg-tan, and already skived: http://www.keystoneleather.com/

Holly,

Try Panhandle leather. I was remarkably impressed with them on the phone. They have a clicker and do make parts like counters and other "standard" invisible parts available. They are a stark contrast to some of the other suppliers who go out of their ways to be royal PIAs.

http://www.panhandleleather.com/

Art

Cool, thanks everybody. Will give all these ideas a shot.

Holly

are you soaking the stiffeners before skiving? If you don't it is much harder.

Tim
www.shoemakingbook.com

Wondering what to use to make a pair of sandals but not make them from leather. I know I can use nylon webbing for the straps, but what about the top layer of the sole? What kind of material is strong enough to run a continuous strap and not break easily? And also not be too squishy (like flip-flops) and have some kind of surface that feels okay on bare feet. Any suggestions?

Diane

You can use EVA sheet covered with hemp cloth for the insole, and alongside the slots on the under side you can glue strips of that blue packing tape that comes on large packages, this distributes the load and helps stop the holes tearing.

You can probably use hemp cord for the long straps.

Tim
www.shoemakingbook.com

Interesting. I wonder if I could use some kind of synthetic cloth instead of hemp, such as the kind of cloth they make beach chairs out of? I'm hoping to make something good for walking in wet places like creeks. What kind of glue do you use to adhere the cloth to the EVA?

Diane

If you are going to be walking in creeks, why put fabric on at all? Just use EVA for the insole and nylon webbing for straps and a rubber sole.

Use contact adhesive to bond the two layers together. Sand the surfaces to be stuck and then put a thin coat of adhesive on both insole and sole, allow to dry and then repeat. Don't put the glue on thickly.

Heat the glued surface on the sole and when tacky, put the two glued layers together, and hammer or press. The warm layer will re-activate the other and they should bond ok and even withstand the water treatment.

There are adventure sandals on the market like this.

Tim

Yeah I know. I want to try and make some. I just like making things. The EVA might be too slippery by itself when wet. Most of the adventure sandals out there have some kind of pattern on the upper surface so your feet don't slip around when wet.

I think we used to use microcellular rubber for the insole on reflection. The same sort of stuff you can use for soling. It has a pattern.

Don't forget to lay down strips of plastic tape on the inside of the slots though or you will get tearing when you put pressure on the straps.

Tim

Thank you. I will give this a try. I like to wear Chaco sandals so I just want to see if I can make a pair somewhat similar that's not so heavy. Just for the fun of it. I made some leather sandals and really like them, so now I want to try non-leather.

Diane

Try using a 10mm thick micro rubber for the insole and 5mm EVA or micro for the soling. That will give you a bit of extra strength on the insole.

Tim

I'm on the look out for a heel nailer. The manual type where you insert a nail into one end of a tube and hit the other end to drive it into the leather. Any ideas?

Does anyone have experience with the type of tubular nailer Warkov sells, maybe someone knows if this is a quality product that will do what I need it to do.

http://www.warkov.com/catalog/popup_image.php?pID=1158&osCsid=008c063ab9ffe7b831 4d7e34fa3431f9

Hey Jon,
The only one I've ever seen had a tube that ran down the outside of the hammer, It droped the nail into the main body right by the end that was placed over the heel. You didn't need to remove the hammer to insert a nail. The knob on the top of the hammer was about as big as a small egg. I think it was quite old.
T.

Jon

I have used a similar one, I think it came from Barnsley, and they are ok, you need to secure the heel before hitting the nail in though, any movement and the nail will bend.

Tim
www.shoemakingbook.com

I'm looking buckles for a Norwegian dance shoes, do anyone know where to find..

Lonnie..

What do the buckles on Norwegian dance shoes look like?
Georgene

Georgene
I'll fine you a picture OK..

I'm looking for a source for the necessary components to put spikes on a shoe; specifically, I want to put spikes with post/base on the soles of a pair of shoes I'm making to use for golfing.

Thanks,

Glenn

I hunted high and low for them but they seem to be a thing of the past as all new ones seem to be soft spikes. I did find some golf shoes in a thrift store and high graded the screw insets and reused them. You can buy soft spikes to fit the old inserts.

I have a pair of soles and heels for golf shoes on my shelf. Maybe two pair. They were with some stuff I bought from an out of business repair shop 15 years ago. They were old when I got them so I don't know if they would hold up or not. They are for the old metal spikes. I'm a golfer also and have considered making my own shoes but have never gotten further than fitting the lasts. There always seems to be something more important to do with my free time(play golf for instance).

Jon Gray, perhaps ths illustrates a heel nailer. It is what I used it for.

David, it's been a long time!

David, excellent to see you on here again!