Tools of the Trade

[jesselee]

DW

You brought a tear to an old bootmaker's eye with them pictures. Any way to see that machine. It is so different from mine. Too bad it's missing the part that goes inside the shoe. Is it for sale???? (Old timer about to use up what he has left in his ole ticker)
JesseLee

[dw]

Jesse,

Go here: http://tinyurl.com/2eytb9

Tight Stitches
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[jesselee]

DW

That looks like a hand held machine. I asked the seller if it also sets the pegs. The one that John Taylor (gramps and son) had that I learned on was like a 2 needle machine. It made a hole, moved foreward and set a peg. It is treadle operated and looks similar to the McKay treadle sole stitcher. It's more ornate than the lithograph and if memory serves, was made in Atlanta or Richmond. I'll get that one back this fall, kinda heavy to pick up.
Thanks a million old son.
JesseLee

[jesselee]

All

As things wind down after a half century, and most of that making old style boots. I put in a request here, that it is my aim to create a working museum 1860-90, with teaching from hand work, last making etc. to period machines.
I have quite a few scattered around in storage, but certain ones I feel are necessary for such a museum.
I have no problem restoring old machines, and paying a fair price.
I am looking for a treadle McKay stitcher (my storage person died and the machine is long gone), Singer #3 iron drip, Blake stitcher and of course old crimping boards and irons. And if ther be among us some youngn' who wishes to have the Trade passed on to him/her, old school, thats a bonus. I would hate all this stuff to go to some stodgy historical society to only be forgotten after 43 years of my life lovin this old stuff.
Jesse

[relferink]

That last picture looks very similar to a pegging machine my grandfather had in his shop. From what I recall you had to feed the strips that were punched into pegs from the right. No idea what the make was, just fun memories as kids using the foot paddle and make it go as fast as we could making pegs from rolls and rolls of wood strips.
The head was definitely not removable into a handheld unit and it seemed bigger than the one in the picture, the paddle also extended out a lot farther and was attached to the wheel in the back, you could really get that thing going if you threw your weight into it.
Jesse, once you get yours back maybe I can come by and run it for old time's sake.

Rob

[jesselee]

Robert

I will be honored to have you to my shop once it's set up, and you can run the old machine as fast as ya can for old times sake. You can't get the peg strips anymore, so as i cut my own pegs, I also stick 'em to the paper strip. Sounds like that machine was a Davis, they had a bigger head. The mechanism on mine is really small, but the whole arrangement of elaborate cast iron is pretty heavy as I recollect.
JesseLee

[relferink]

Thanks Jesse, a very fitting tribute to my late grandfather on this memorial day weekend

[jenny_fleishman]

Pictures of my grinding contraption, which I can take apart and put in a closet. Now I just need another closet

Dust covers, mandrel and mounting box, belt:

5043.jpg

The pieces assembled together:

5044.jpg

The baseboard, which is approximately 22" x 22":

5045.jpg

All put together with a motor from Grizzly (which is mounted on a small board), and a hose leading to a Shop Vac:

5046.jpg

From the front:

5047.jpg

The wheels grind pretty well, so I'm happy with that. Dust collection systems leaves something to be desired.

Needed a break, but back to working on my wedge soles now!

Jenny

[relferink]

Jenny,

That looks very good, nice setup. Did you put a speed control on you motor? That's better than most commercial machines offer. Keep the templates, you can start selling these grinders.
Dust collection is always an issue, even on commercial machines. The dust gets statical charged an seems to cling to everything but the dust collection system. To improve the dust collection some you may consider adjusting the angle of the connector to your shop vac.

5049.jpg

This is just a very quick and dirty drawing, hope it makes any sense. The dust particles travel in the same direction the wheel turns, if they do not have to take a sharp turn at the bracket to get into the vac you may catch more dust. If you can change your connection so that the dust travels straight into the dust collection pipe, even if the vac is not on you'll catch more. Sorry for the bad picture, this is literally on the back of an envelope.
You may find that you have to little room to manoeuvre the shoe around on the grinding wheel but that can be fixed by cutting back the wheel guards some.

Overall very nice looking setup. Soon you will not only be a shoemaker but also machine builder.

Rob

[artzend]

Jenny,

It's a nice neat little setup. I'm impressed.

Tim

[dw]

Jenny,

Very impressive! Good on you!

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[jesselee]

Robert

thank you. You must share some boot making stories about your grandfather. have you any of his work or tools?
jesse

[jenny_fleishman]

Rob, the silver box has a dimmer switch on it to slow down the motor. However, if I slow it down too much the motor sort of sputters. The motor rpm is 3450. To slow the speed of the wheels down I put a larger pulley on the mandrel than is on the motor. It doesn't quite slow it down to 50%, but close, I think.

I agree about the angle of the connector. I tried to make it as low as possible, while still clearing everything. Could have probably moved it 1/2" lower, but too late now! Also, hard to avoid a sharp angle using pvc elbow as the connector on a curved piece of sonotube. I'm sure I could come up with something better if I had the time and inclination! For now I just unhook the Shop Vac hose from the dust cover and vacuum up the stray dust...I do wear a dust mask. Not sure if it's necessary to invest in a respirator.

Jenny

[luckyduck]

Wow,

That is a nice piece of equipment Jenny. It makes my old Delta belt sander look pretty sad. Keep up the good work and asking questions. I am about 6 months behind your learning curve so it is really helpful for me.

Paul

[jenny_fleishman]

Well, I'm a little more impressed with my dust collection system than I originally was. I ground down the first layer of my wedge heels today, and it was a MESS. Only after I finished, did I realize that although I turned the Shop Vac ON, I forgot to hook the hose up to the dust covers ! Made the little spillage that occurs when I DO hook the hose up seem very tolerable!

While I was working on grinding the Soleflex layer, I also ground off some excess skin on my hand and arm. Been trying to get rid of that for a long time (NOT!)

Have a Barge question. Moving to the Outsoles thread for that.

Jenny

[jenny_fleishman]

Need help finding small shanks. The ones I have are 4.5" long and 5/8" wide, and are for low-heeled shoes, although I do have to pound them to reduce the curve even further. However, they are too long for my size shoe, and I can feel them pushing up on the insole just behind the treadline on the finished shoes. I already have them positioned just about 1/2" from the back of the heel.

I know folks here have suggested shortening them myself, but I have to admit I am intimidated by the idea.

Does anyone know where I could purchase shorter ones, perhaps child-sized? Thanks!

Jenny

[jenny_fleishman]

Pictures of shanks--these are the two kinds that I have--similar except one has the ridge down the middle:

5086.jpg

The curve at the end near the treadline is causing a problem:

5087.jpg

I have the shank positioned as far back as I can, and it IS slightly back from the treadline. Because the shoes' heels are low, that little curve at the end comes very close to the floor. With the shoes I just made with the wedge soles, I can actually feel a rise in the insole where the shank ends.

Suggestions, anyone? Or a place to get shorter shanks? Even if they were shorter, would that front curved end of the shank still tend to push up on the insole?

Jenny

[jesselee]

Jenny

Have you considered using shanks made from sole leather? Very good for shoes and boots with a heel no higher than 1 inch. Also you can male shanls from big nails, heat them and hammer them into shape on an iron last.
JesseLee

[dw]

Jenny,

This is easy to deal with but you need an anvil of some sort and a grindstone or finisher.

The shank does not need to come back to the rear of the insole. As long as the back end of the shank is under, and "pinned" by the heel...maybe one inch covered by the heel base...it will be long enough. So, you can cut the rear end of the shank to whatever length you need. All you need to do to accomplish this is to "score" the shank across the width with the edge of your grindstone or finisher. Then give it a sharp rap over the edge of an anvil or simply put it in a vice and bend it back and forth until it breaks.

The front end of the shank should be positioned more than "slightly back from the treadline." More like three-quarters of an inch or so. It should be just barely overlapping the tread area which extends roughly one inch on either side of the treadline.

As for the tread area curve, again this can be flattened on the anvil. If you don't have an anvil, a piece of railroad will work or any fairly substantial block/slab/chunk of steel/iron. Or, as Jesse suggests, even an iron last.

If you are using these shoes for dancing, you might waqnt to consider Jesse's recommendation to use a hard leather shank. Or even a shank of thin wood. But especially the leather...many dance shoes at the lower heel heights deliberately avoid using metal shanks because a more flexible shoe affords a better leg-foot line.

Tight Stitches
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[jenny_fleishman]

I place the shanks so close to the back of the insole because they are too long, not because I want to!

re breaking the shank. Would I be better off breaking off the front end of the shank to get rid of the curve? Do you have to use a stone grinding wheel to score it?

I am intrigued by the idea of a leather shank. How do you make one? Do you stiffen it with press cement? Is it like putting a shank cover on the insole without the shank? Thanks.

Jenny

[artzend]

Jenny,

You don't need a shank with a wedge, the sole does it all.

Tim

[dw]

Jenny,

Tim's right about that...with a wedge sole no shank is necessary.

Beyond that, sure...you can cut the front end off. But that curve there is helpful when it is placed properly and not too deep for the last. Cutting it with the edge of your finisher wheel works too. But I think trying to cut or score it with a cold chisel might be a good way to ruin a cold chisel...especially with that spring steel. that said, I've never tried a cold chisel.

Finally, a leather shank is just a piece of hard soling leather--the harder the better. Stiffening it with press cement probably won't help much. Whites Boot Company (made loggers boots) used to use a leather shank. And this was on a heel of about inch and a quarter. Just a layered slab (two or three layers) of 12 iron soling. The trick is to create a dome-like shape and then when the sole is put on make sure that there are no air pockets or gaps between the insole and shank and the shank and the outsole. I'm told that, technically, this is known as "box beam construction."

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[artzend]

DW,

George Koleff told me that in Bulgaria (and the rest of Europe for all I know) they used the bark of a Linden tree (lime tree I think). This was soaked and then moulded to shape and held in place until it was dry and then covered to hold it in place.

When shoes were worn out, the shank was removed and soaked and re used.

Tim

[jenny_fleishman]

DW, what is a cold chisel? And is a finishing wheel with sandpaper on it OK to use to score a shank, or is a stone wheel (the type that usually comes on a bench grinder) better? Thanks.

P.S. Tim, do you know where I can get some of that bark?

Jenny

[dw]

A cold chisel tis the kind of chisel used for cutting metal--like nails etc.. They are usually all metal (no handle) and about a half inch square.

Yes, you can use the finish wheel to score the shank. That's usually what I use.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC