Tools of the Trade

[jesselee]

DA

I so enjoy your historical posts. We need to preserve the old terms. Yet those older than theUSA are for interest sake, I still use the old American 1800's terms in my shop.
Way back in the day when we were a Guild re. Templar preservation, the old terms meant that you were an initiate into the Crafte of Bootmaking, and those who did not know the terms were not true apprentices.
I would love to see a historical book with you talking about the old terms and history and Dave Jarnigan talking 'bout the old school leathers and whomever is a Master (I laugh at the word 'expert' as i never met one, so don't use it unless being derogatory). All of us here could use a good all around deffinitive book... Will you consider it at least?
Cheers,
JesseLee

[jesselee]

DA

Well spoken words. I learned that the hard way and will only use ferrous metal for lasting. I do use the square iron nails for the heels as per Civil Was period.
The US Army went from pegging and stitching to brass screw nails in 1872. They were introduced into the sole by machine, that same machine is still in operation but uses a iron screw nail.
Many old cowboy boots (I will soon post examples) used the brass clinching nail. I still use those, and wil show examples on my Mexican and Tex/mex boots.
Jesse

[headelf]

To Jesse and others who debate how to "un-rust" shoemaking stuff:

Try Evapo-rust. You just submerge your item for several hours up to 24 hours (for the really encrusted rusties) and your item emerges rust free. Does not etch the metal or remove paint.

Just dry the item off and put to use.

Can get this in quantities up to 55 gallon drum.
Non-toxic and UPS able

Evaporust.com
No affiliation on my end but I've used gallons of this stuff and it really works. Widely used by our own military and the antique car buffs.

[jesselee]

Georgene

Thanks for that information. My hand forger lasting nails and old equipment that has been stored for 7 years will thank you as I do,
Cheers,
JesseLee

[frank_jones]

Al and DW

You were discussing technical terminology and specifically terms used in the footwear trade. I was interested to hear that June Swann is working on a comprehensive dictionary of shoe fashions, and terms.

There are quite a few published glossaries and dictionaries of footwear terms. Many are more than twenty years old. Although it moves slowly, even the footwear trade moves on. Also, as with the June Swann example, many of them seem more interested in fashion and design rather than the technology of actually making boots and shoes.

A recent contribution is the second edition of the “Concise Shoemaking Dictionary”. This little book with almost 100 pages has become very popular at Universities and Colleges, where shoemaking is part of the curriculum. The great feature is that the book is full of black and white drawings to illustrate many of the definitions. It was produced and published by a friend of mine and I confess to encouraging him to include American terminology as well as what Bill Gates would probably call “International English”. As a result it includes Mary Jane, Stitchdown, as well as Box Toe, to mention just a few.

For anybody who would like more information, see www.shoe-patter.com

Frank Jones
frank.jones@noblefootwear.com

[dw]

Frank, Al, all,

I've always thought that a reasonable "dictionary" (reasonable both in terms of specificity and in terms of accessibility) was Salaman's own Dictionary of Leather-Working Tools which interestingly enough does not include "coad" or "coade" but does include "lingel" and "cashal" and "whang" and "yickie-yeckie" and "snab" and of course, the ever obscure "bespoke"...but not "taw." Go figure.

Jeez, with this kind of consensus I might have to go back to "oil tanned."

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[relferink]

Frank,

Thanks for that info. Seems like a useful dictionary, specifically for me as my native tongue won't be understood by to many here.
My copy is just ordered. Now I can't wait for it to come in, just like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for the morning.

Rob

[das]

DW,

You skipped the first part of Rees, where he gives excruciating details on wax-making. Check yours against Marc's on-live version to be sure you've
got all the chapters.

Maybe I was being too matter-of-fact about terms. A newcomer to the trade, or to the Forum, would find what they need readily looking in books, or
asking after "shoemaker's wax" a lot easier than asking for "coad" was my point--you'll not find that term since the Medieval ref. Marc had found,
until you see it popping up in the 2000s amongst Forumites

Thread is another matter. Sure, it's fair game to say "flax", or "hemp" thread.

I'm not saying not to use terms we have, just trying to keep their usage straight in light of the history/traditions is all. I'm guessing nobody is as uninitiated as the tourists who troop through my shop. They always ask what the thread's made from, and if in use at the moment, the ball of wax I'm rubbing it with ("not wax at all, but a mixture of pine pitch, pine rosin, and a little fat or oil...." ), call it what you want, but it's still known as "wax" in our literary sources over the past 400+ years.

Thanks. I'm embarrassed to admit it in public, but I began work on this book in 1979, as a mere translation of Garsault, and with no immediate
opportunities to publish, it just grew, and grew, and grew, until Colonial Williamsburg finally encumbered it in 1996. So, it's been more like 11(!) years in the making, in this iteration anyhoo. Shamefully long, but there it is. Maybe if it was a bodice-ripper, it would have gotten published sooner.

[dw]

Al,

Considering the context...shoemaking...if it was a "bodice-ripper" it could get pretty strange.

The possiblities are intriguing, however...well, on second thought maybe we don't really want to go there!

Or do we?!

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[das]

DW,

Okay, okay.... maybe not a "bodice ripper"--so then how 'bout a "pot boiler", rather than a collection of hoary shoemaking technical texts?

"Or do we?!". Hummmm, maybe a work of fiction to do with shoemaking would have more appeal than a work of non-fiction. Seems the whole world prefers
BS to straight-poop, but I digress

[dw]

Jesse,

Missed your question about lasting tacks the first time around. No, I can't tell you where to get even one much less than a hundred. These were, as Al mentioned, hand forged at Colonial williamsburg. They were given to me by a dear friend as a peep into the history of the Trade.

Seems to me that you (or almost anyone) could hand forge a handfull of these pretty easy ...although come to think about it hammering hardend the steel unless it is handled and heated just right. But they're not all that complicated.

Al,

I stand corrected,I went and dug out my old...old...reprint of Rees and there it is--a recipe (of sorts) for hand-wax, right there in chapter one. My only excuse is that I have not looked at the reprint for years and years and I am getting old and forgetful and drool on my shirt occasionally.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[artzend]

DW,

I used lasting tacks (tingles, same thing just an older word) for years. You don't use your fingers to put them in, you hold them in your mouth and take them out one by one with your pincers. The pincers pick up the head only and you then poke the point into the surface of the lasted material which you are holding in place with your other hand.

Your tongue lifts them into place from just inside the bottom lip where you kept a few of them. With a metal plate on the last it is a very fast way of lasting. With a bottom plate you just left them in and crimped over, they are quite hard to remove. With a last with no plate you can pull them out relatively easily with a tack knife.

There are two main sorts, hand and machine tacks/tingles. Machine tacks have a fine layer of oil on them for lubrication in a machine and they are not pleasant if you put them in your mouth. They tend to be square shanked and not the offset sort with the really sharp point pictured above.

Tim

[jesselee]

All

Just a historical note here. The Knights of St. Crispin was a guild formed about 1867 in response to the untrained boot and shoe makers.It was kinda the Masonry of bootmakers. it's now long gone.
IMHO, that Guild should come back. If formed it would provide teaching, information, resources etc, like on here, but hands on in a Lodge type fashion. I plan on giving it a try anyway. may just be an old schooler's dream to revitalize the Crafte and Trade. After all, inside 20-30 years we gonna be the 'dead guys', so why not pass all the information on!
Opinions please!
Jesse

[das]

Jessie,

Sorry, I'm not not chattin' with you, I'm just away from my regular computer for a while, and having to proxy-post, so I'm being a bit sparse. I have enjoyed reading yours on the recent discussions. Weren't you hitting the road this spring-summer--maybe rolling down this way? Anyhoo, LMK, PM me, or call me at work.

I'm afraid I don't know as much about The Knights of St. Crispin, and other 19thc trade associations and proto-labor unions of shoemakers, as I probably ought to. In the fledgling days of the HCC, before we incorporated as a 501-C3 educational organization, we had several members who had advocated we structure ourselves along the lines of the ancient guilds--or as we might like to envision the ancient guilds--with various grades/skill-levels/offices, like "apprentice", "journeyman", and "master". Then what happened, sadly, was that a tiny handful of those advocates made it pretty clear that they merely wanted to do this so they could be declared "Grand High Shaabazz", or "Uber Meisters", etc. I'm not suggesting this is a motive now, but what happened (then) was that the majority--learners and up-and-comings--were really put off, and wanted no part of it. Even some of our best hands and charter members balked at being vetted, judged, then pigeon-holed.

I was never involved with the "C.B.S.G." (Custom Boot and Shoemaker's Guild), which was formed after the HCC, and which self-destructed within a
few years. Maybe current HCC members who knew that group could relate more details? I'm told one thing that contributed to their un-doing was this sort of assigned skill/grade level for membership, and the stratified, status-based nature of the membership.

What the HCC used to do, when we had several members who were willing and able to administer it, was we held formal "Prize Work" competitions at the annual meetings, with member's work judged, and certificates and prizes issued, etc. Nobody had to submit work samples, but those who enjoyed that sort of thing did, and some very amazing craftsmanship indeed was shown. But then what happened was that the beginners, mid-level folks, and just those who were a wee bit shy, stopped bringing samples of their work to share for input--not even daring to wear their own work to the meetings for fear of being critiqued. The cadre who were running the HCC Prize Work committee lost interest--and in one case died (Peterkin)--and it just sort of went away. We tried several avenues to revive an interest in members bringing, showing, or at least wearing their own footwear: 1) we removed the competitive aspect, and 2) we waved AGM registration fees for several years for those who would wear their own footwear. This seemed to do the trick, as today members show their work, others proudly wear theirs, and still others bring footwear to get helpful input or show us their experiments. Like water seeking its own level, this approach has seemed the most productive within this group, and has gotten guild members of all skill-levels to bring and show their work together as colleagues at the AGM. Prize Work is seen, as well as beginners' trials, and even botched efforts
are shared so that all may learn and improve their shoemaking.

Getting back to our incorporation, I think the ol' IRS would take a pretty dim view of us restructuring ourselves along the lines of a secret fraternal society, when our espoused purpose is public education and promoting an interest in the traditional trade, to draw in new artisans, and thereby "preserve our history and skill". That said, there's no reason we can't re-start formal (voluntary) Prize Work competitions at the AGMs...so do I hear any volunteers stepping up to look into jump-starting that? Feel free to contact any HCC board member, and propose away

I hear you on us being the next crop of "dead guys"...., but I think if the HCC Forum, and the two archives CDs of the early Forum, survive, future generations will have a lot more evidence of our efforts, than even what dear old John Rees, James Devlin, et al, left behind them. We're trying, I think, to pass on all the information we can here in cyber-space, albeit in rough prose, and without the convoluted wordiness of the early authors (and with a lot more pictures and diagrams than they could have afforded to have
copper-plates made to show in their day).

[das]

Tim,

From the description you gave, the "tingles" you used to last, sound like little tiny clinching tacks, that in fact do clinch on the plates and are (often) left in the boot or shoe to secure the lasting margin to the insole, no? These are used to last the quarters in the heel-seat of Goodyear welted work, and some machines do feed them..

The older type of "lasting tacks", with the cube heads, were 1" to 2" long, as in DW's photo, never clinched (in fact they can't be used with plated
lasts), and were carefully pulled with nippers one at a time as the hand welt-sewing progressed, and re-used, like pulling straight pins out of a
garment as you sewed.

Your mention of the "tack knife" further hints that what you are describing as "tingles", is exactly what I was calling "tingles".

And yes, the tacks that feed through machine, are the same form more or less, just oily.

[dw]

Tim,

I was taught never to put lasting tacks in my mouth. The main reason is that when they are used with a bottom plate they are clinched and left in the shoe (that right there is reason enough not to use lasting tacks as I have seen many, many shoes and boots that were rotted out around iron tacks). But when you "soak" iron tacks in the acid environment of your mouth and then drive them into the insole, it seems to me that you accelerate the processes of rust and the subsequent galling of the leather.

It may be a good way to get your daily iron, however. But beyond that I have never heard a good reason to put them in your mouth. Is it supposed to lubricate the tack in some way? What happens to the tacks that you don't need...that are still in your mouth? Do you put them back in the box? Wet?

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[jesselee]

DW

Aside from the age old 'secret' of getting your iron through the tacks (lol) It was simply a tradition, like a way to hold them so when you grabbed a tack it was ready, better than fumbling through a box of tacks. It don't work with pegs as they get soft.
jesseLee

[jesselee]

DA

ACKKKK! My response didn't post! It would be hard to do the Guilds today as we are so diverse. I do like the idea of everyone getting together for showing off their work with a real get together atmosphere. The contest idea is really neat, but I don't think we have a category, it's mostly decorative cowboy boots as I gave seen. But a big camp out and some talks and lectures and displays for the public would be great. I wonder how many are left out there in the world who don't have a computer to connect here or have websites that we have never met!
I still use the old Guild apprenticeship system, though it's been years since I have had an apprentice <sigh> that was a lot of fun, I love teaching the Trade. I'll give you a call soon. Almost all packed and ready to leave. Have to get a pickup truck to carry all my equipment so I can work for me, the farmers and ranchers as I like to do. John Henry is ready to go too.
JesseLee

[artzend]

DA & DW,

Yes you are right about the tacks I was referring to, they are the ones in the photo that Jenny has up here. I should have been a bit more specific.

Once you get used to it, holding the tacks in your mouth is no problem at all, you can talk and even drink (carefully) with them there. They just sit between the gum and inner lip just to one side of the front of your mouth.

Your tongue can sort them out and you can be getting a new one in place while hammering the other one.

Between use of your tongue and teeth you eventually hold the shank of the tack in your teeth, presenting the head of the tack to your pincers. You then grip the head and push the tack into the material which holds it in place and then you hit it.

You cannot easily do this without using this method, I have seen people trying to stand the tacks up in eva or trying to pick them up from a scatter on a bench top but nothing works as well as putting them in your mouth. It is a painful learning curve if you have a beard as I do.

Yes you do put them back in the box or nail cup wet, they do rust lightly but if you are using them regularly it isn't a problem. You really only use a few at a time. The rust never tasted any different.

Tim

[das]

Jesse,

Sounds like you've never been to an HCC annual meeting--it's pretty much exactly what you described (with some cavorting at night)

Western boots are in evidence, but not the whole show. There's even been repro 19thc boots.

[paul]

A couple of years ago when I attended, there was even leather bottles on display.

PK

[jesselee]

DA

Never been to an event, sure sounds like a great time. When are they bein held this year?
Jesse

[das]

Jesse,

The exact dates and location are announced in July, but it's always (usually) the Fri-Sun closest to Oct 25th, Saint Crispin's Day. Stay tuned to the Forum for the details, and see you there.

[dw]

Jesse,

It's the dancing girls that are the highlight of the whole event...but that's always true, especially if you have one to dance with.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[dw]

Here is are some photos of a 19th C. pegging machine (photos used by permission):

I believe it was originally mounted on a stand as per the lithograph in the last image.

5036.jpg

5037.jpg

5038.jpg

5039.jpg

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC