The Crispin Colloquy

lancepryor wrote:This is a pair I am just finishing up -- a pair of 'austerity' brogues in a navy blue calfskin from Crack. I put a spit shine on the toe, and also on the sole just for the heck of it. All Baker bottoming leather. Hand stitched outsoles at 10 spi. Beveled waist, but no fiddleback sole.

I messed up the pattern by moving the toe cap too far forward (by 1/4"), but I think it looks okay with this style. Also need to revisit the inside vs outside dimensions of the patterns, as the center of the counters skews to the outside of the shoe, particularly the right one -- don't know if the lasting did it, or the patterns were at fault, or perhaps a bit of both.


Lance

This may be a dumb question but what makes them "austerity"? And I thought brogueing was decorative punched holes?

Awesome shoes though. Wish I know how to do that beveled waist!

Lance

The backseams are crooked and that has thrown everything out for you. You must have the backseams exactly right so the seams across the front of the vamp is at right angles.

Tim

Some nice cowboy boots.
Unremarkable in design but fairly cleanly executed, I think.
GH French calf tops.
Hand stitched outsoles.

They ARE cleanly executed Rick. Nice job.
Is this a bespoke order on a GFS 0225? Sometimes the beauty of that last is lost on a thick instep.
I'm very jealous of your outsole stitch. Very impressive.
Paul

May I presume to share a "thing", Rick?
A #2 French Edger on the flesh side of that calf vamp, at the quarter curve, will clean that edge up for you.
I've even used a diluted acrylic paint in the color of my vamp on that scant skive.
I love your versatility!
Paul

This is the first pair of lasts I've made. The insights of a last maker here in Virginia were most helpful. The lasts are hornbeam.


-Ian

They look pretty darn good! Remember........The LAST comes FIRST!

Ian,

Pretty nice work. Where are you located? Do you have a Gilman or are you carving these by hand? For personal use?

Why did you decide to use the spring hinge?

I'm in Clifton, VA, about 25 miles west of DC. I carved them using several rasps. I experimented with 2 Berg rasps, 2 Barnsley rasps, and a Stanley half round. I found the Berg rasps to have the smoothest cutting action. These lasts are partly for personal use and partly for commercial use: personal use in that they're based on my measurements and I'm making shoes for myself using them; commercial use in that I want to make shoes full time and want to get good at the various parts of shoe making.

Why spring hinge? I originally wanted scooped lasts and the company I was ordering from said that there would be a several week delay to get those to me, whereas the spring hinged lasts could be shipped immediately. I wanted to start practicing as soon as possible so I ordered what could be sent to me immediately.

Well the lasts look terrific and if they fit you the way you want, you're on your way.

The reason I asked about the hinge is that I've used spring hinges for 40+ years. When I started making men's shoes, I found that the back seam was always in danger of splitting out particularly if you have a tight topline. I split at least one pair despite a dogtail and endangered a few more.

What's more getting a spring hinge last back into the shoe is not pretty.

Looking at old catalogs and books on shoemaking and talking to the people who make my lasts I discovered that this problem had already been recognized...it wasn't my patterns or ineptitude...and that a better hinge for shoes was available.
With a spring last the widest part of the heel swings up and outward.

With the last hinge pictured above...can't remember the hinge name at the moment...the whole backpart of the last moves forward and towards the toe. And putting the last back in the shoe is a snap. No stress, no strain.

Just a thought. If you're interested I can look dig up the hinge name.

Ian:

They look nice; however, to my eye (and perhaps due to the camera angle, etc) the foreparts look really long. It is typical for the front of the last to be about 2 sizes (i.e. 2/3 inch) in front of the longest toe, except for very narrow toed shoes. If you go too much beyond this, you risk having the shoe crease in an undesirable location and/or cut into your toe as you walk.

Also, (again based on the picture), the inside of the last where the big toe will be looks pretty low. I'm guessing that the shoes may impinge on the top of your big toes. I think you may want the convexity of the top of the last across the toes to peak further to the inside of the last (i.e. the curve of the top of the last in this area is not symmetrical but should be higher medially than laterally). Finally, and related to the previous point, you may want to try a bit more of a inside cone, where the high line down the cone of the last lines up more to the medial part of the last (look at your foot -- the highest part is down the ligament that goes from the instep to the inside joint).

Good luck, and look forward to seeing future results!

Lance

I agree the forepart does look a little out of proportion. I was always taught two full sizes beyond the longest toe for wide round...or in this case wide square...toes. And Sabbage says one "section"--roughly 3 full sizes--for medium round toes. I guess you can interpret that a number of ways depending on what you consider a med. rnd toe. But one section is what I use for medium round toe boots & it seems about right. I use four full sizes for narrower toes.

For my shoes, if I'm making the default chisel toe that I designed my lasts to have, I use Sabbage again. A somewhat extended toe is what most people, who are interested and have the resources to seek bespoke sheos, are looking for. I suspect that's the reason some makers (myself included) move the vamp point 1cm toward the heel, as well.

Personally, I think that the H-B length is far more important than the length beyond the longest toe...within reason of course. But I've never seen four full sizes (or even a tidge more) create ugly or uncomfortable creases. Beyond that you're in uncharted water, IMO.

Im a bit confused. Did you buy rough lasts and then rasp them to your size? Becasue first you said that you made them but then mentioned buying them. IF you bought roughs, where did you get them?

Two pairs I've meant to post that I slacked on. Never too late I guess.

These were made for a young designer - Maya of Spaghetti Western - to her specifications.

She supplied the recycled leather, found in a Buick Park Avenue at a junkyard.

Features inlay and overlay from the same recycled leather (inlay is the rough side) with 2 rows of stitching. The braiding lace was new, from a local supplier.

With a very short time to deliver, we went with cemented construction. Later I made a welted half-pair with the same design but different leather for the tops... junk yard car seats don't produce enough leather for more than a pair.

Made on a beautiful JV Hellen last with around a 2" heel. Huge thanks to Jim B for the lasts loan - sorry it took me so long to get them back to you.

2nd pair right here.

A friend was looking for a simple design with the Norwegian mythology infinity snake - the Ouroboros. We used 4 different colors of water-snake for the designs - different for each panel, upper is light-brown cow, bottom is very dark-chocolate embossed cow. Everything from a local place called Global Leather.

His feet are a size different from one to the other. He told me that once, while shoe shopping, he considered stealing an 11 from one box and putting it in a 12 from another and not telling the guy at the store. He didn't. I sculpted the lasts quite a bit and was relieved that he loves the fit. The toe is almost square on these, and the heel is right around 1 5/8".

These took over a year to make. Since compensation consisted of a few trips to a local bar for some bourbon and buffalo wings, I had to put the project down whenever a paying job came my way. But I brought them whenever I traveled. Therefore, a big thanks to Lee Miller and his gang, Luis Jovel and his pops, and David Ulan for the help with various stages of this extended undertaking.

That's a couple of meaningful jobs you've done for those folks Edie. Wonderful.

Thank you Paul.

At my level it sometimes takes forever getting through some of my weaker processes. That's when I look at your website for inspiration


Glad the clients are happy though... and I do enjoy making boots very much.

I'm still out here, somewhere. Here is a bone Ostrich with red kip. I did a "star" inlay side seam.

Still looking good! Good job!

[attachment=]
Here are my most legit shoe/boots yet I think. The leather is GH fc, and the suede is the backside which was really grey so I dyed it with suede dye that made it kind of purple, so I used regular black dye and it worked fine!

[attachment=]
and here is something very sad that happened! any suggestions on how to fix the lasts? bondo?

Correct me if I'm wrong...it looks as if you were using the beader (?) to break the hinge of the last and because you didn't have a thimble in the last, both the tool and the last were forfeit.

Bondo won't repair the last...or not well, at any rate. It is too hard, for one thing. The plastic too distorted, for another.

Again, I could be wrong about that.

You need some sort of lap jack with a spindle...or, in a pinch, a long metal rod with a tapered end...that will fit down inside a metal tube (which lasts ordinarily come with) called a "thimble."

If you have other lasts like this one you need to get the lap jack and at least some steel pipe with an internal diameter the same as the spindle, and then you can use the Bondo to mount it in a hole drilled in the comb of the last (although a friction fit is to be preferred).

I hope that helps.

D.W., I did not use the beader to break the last, I have a lap jack. I just happened to be unlucky and break the beader after the last. I'm probably going to get new lasts but it seems like I should be able to repair these somehow.
I have that cool hinge like yours but have an option to get that screw together angled cut last which seems like a downgrade? What do you think?

It's actually what I thought to be a stitch prick? I used it for making the lines between stitches on the sole

Courtney,

It could be a stitch prick...I'd have to examine more closely.

Was the last a regular spring hinge last? Why didn't it have a thimble in it?

For shoes I think the last like I have...can't remember the name of that type of hinge for the life of me...is absolutely the best. For boots, not so much. And if you're planning taller lace-up boots on a regular basis, a spring hinge might work even better. I think you'll regret the day you buy the screw together last simply because it's a bother.

I don't think the Bondo will stick to the plastic of the last well enough to withstand hammering, breaking the hinge, etc.. They do use Bondo to modify lasts for turning prototypes but the plastic just isn't gonna be porous enough or even rough enough to allow the Bondo to stick for any length of time. And there's still the problem of brittleness.

Just my