Tools of the Trade

[artzend]

Sorry Jenny,

I am not even sure what a Linden tree is anyway. You may be able to google it, I don't think I have ever seen in in a grindery merchant. George was trained in the 1920s so it was in use a long time back.

Tim

[dw]

Tim,

I've also seen rawhide rolled up into a rough tube and used. I'm not as sanguine about that as metal or soling leather though.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[artzend]

DW,

It may be good in a pinch but for convenience, forget it, I hadnt heard of rawhide but it makes sense.

Jenny if you can find a good grindery shop you should be able to get different lengths of shank.

Just use the edge of the grinding paper Jenny, and work from the side, this will save the majority of the paper for using on shoes. You should only need to score it for it to break easily in a vice or with two pairs of pliers, one each side of the score, and then lever down on both sides of the score at the same time.

Tim

[jesselee]

Jenny,

A sure bet for making shanks is Red Oak. you want to cut strips about 1 inch by 1/4 inch thick (along the grain. Cut to length and then boil the shanks. You will need to make a mold from your last, This means that you are cutting out a piece which is exactly the contours of the arch of the kast. Use a wood like maple about 2 x 4. Sand the cut.Take the shanks out of the water when they are getting soft and place them in the mold and clamp for 24 hours. When they are dry, use the sanding wheel and take down the front of the shank on the under side which is the up side when the shank is glued to the inner sole. Also grind the 'up' side as a 'skive' so the sole fits on with no gaps.
This is a really old school technique and was used before and during the Civil War. You can also laminate for 2 inch plus heels and it's reallt strong.
JesseLee

[jenny_fleishman]

The shoe finder I go to has some wooden shanks I saw awhile back, although I didn't pay much attention to them at the time. Are they likely boilable and moldable?

re the metal shanks I posted photos of--that little curve upwards towards the front--doesn't that cause an air pocket between the shank and the insole? Is the purpose of the curve to keep the shank from wearing through the outsole?

Jenny

[jenny_fleishman]

Shank question--my inquiring mind still wants to know the answer to my questions in the post just above, second paragraph. Thanks!

Jenny

[artzend]

Jenny,

You need to hammer the shank to fit the curve of the waist of the last and that includes the curved bit you are referring to. It just fits to the curve where the last changes to the tread area.

The shank should never leave a space between the shank and the insole, the ones you buy are made for specific lasts for use in a factory situation. This means that they are not a universal shape, there is probably no such thing. This means that any shank is going to need reshaping. With your low heeled last, the amount of curve in the bottom of the last is not very great, and the shank in question is probably for a higher heeled last with a more pronounced shape in the waist.

Tim

[dw]

Jenny,

Tim's right. And what's more if you cut the curved section of the shank off, you will have a tendency to place the shank too far to the rear. The curved section...although it often needs to be flattened some and made compatible with your particular last...is there partially because the shank should encroach a very little bit into the tread area. This is so that the foot will be supported all the way through the stride.


Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[jenny_fleishman]

Wouldn't the end of the shank actually at one point of the stride be sandwiched between the ball of the foot and the ground? I can't believe I wouldn't be able to feel the shank through the insole if that is the case! [img]http://www.thehcc.org/forum/images/old_smilies/sad.gif"%20ALT="sad[/img]

I have been positioning my shanks so that with the shoe sitting on the proper heel height, the shank is just far enough back so that the front end of it does not touch the floor.

Is the beginning of the tread area considered exactly the point where the shoe (with the heel already on) contacts the ground at the ball of the foot area? Thanks.

Jenny

[dw]

The "tread line" is the point where the foot...or last...or shoe...touches the ground. The "tread area" extends roughly one inch on either side of that line.

Look carefully at a last (you may need to consider a commercial last to see what I'm talking about). Put the last up on a shelf so that it is sitting at heel height. You will notice that the last contacts the shelf at the treadline but the last itself curves away on both sides of the treadline. that's the tread area.

If the last is curving away from the "high" spot of the treadline, the shank can and should just barely impinge upon that curved area. In doing so it is simply following the contours of the last.

The shank should never be put so far forward that it interferes with the foot/last/shoe making contact with ground-zero at the treadline.


Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[artzend]

Jenny,

The front of the shank should be no closer to the tread line (a line drawn across the insole from the inside joint mark to the outside joint).

The shank in postion:

5097.jpg

It really just holds the shape of the insole in the waist area, where there is no flexing anyway. If the front of the shank is placed too far forward you will feel it through the insole and it will cause the sole to wear badly at that point too.

The shank in place to check the curve:

5098.jpg

The shank inverted for curve correction:

5099.jpg

Hammering in the area of most curve to be corrected:

5100.jpg

Shank flattened to fit correctly, no air pockets:

5101.jpg

Tim

[jenny_fleishman]

Thanks. I guess I'll have to pound out some of the curve at the front end. I've been putting the shanks on a 2 x 4 piece of wood and pounding them with a 3lb mallet to reduce the curve in the waist area. I expect the wood may be too soft for hammering the smaller curve out of the end. Maybe I'll have to get an iron frying pan or something like that.

Sort of related...Margaret, the 80-something year old lady who lives in the apartment below me, and is VERY tolerant of all the noise I make, will probably be moving to a senior housing facility soon. I am really worried that the next tenant who moves in below me won't be so understanding, and then I'll really be in trouble! I don't know if even I, myself, would want me living above me! I'd probably be complaining to ME about the noise I'm making!

Jenny

[artzend]

Jenny,

You can do that banging with the shoe on your lap, this cuts down the noise. As you can see, my french pattern hammer is not big, so you don't need to rupture yourself with a big hammer. If you need to you can put some eva across your knees if the jarring is too much, but the last is solid enough to absorb the shock and it doesn't take much effort really.

If you knock out the larger curve first, you may find that the little curve is not so great anyway, so do it last. If you hammer too much and the curve is too flat, you can recreate it by turning the shank over and hitting it in the middle again.

Use the edge of the hammer face and not necessarily the larger surface. One reason is that if you damage the face you will have to smooth it again before hammering leather or the indentations will show on the leather.

Tim

[jenny_fleishman]

Tim, I've been putting the shank directly on the board, not on the last, and then I check it against the last frequently. But may try it your way!

Jenny

[artzend]

Jenny,

If nothing else it will cut down on noise. I originally learnt to work standing up and was quite happy with it until I was introduced to the sitting down method. I then started to use a mixture of the two. I found that sitting to do the intitial setting up of the upper works really well and then going to standing later in the process if you like that method better.

Tim

[dw]

Kaspar,

Are you familiar with the old style sit-down shoemakers bench? The one with the seat to the side and then a work space and (usually) drawers to the other side? sometimes yoiu can see them on Ebay...some are contemporary "coffee table" reproductions and some are real old time working benches. Most of the authentic ones have a series of low-walled "squares" built onto the working space. Sometime shoemakers kept nails or pegs in these little "boxes."

I have seen at least one of this type of bench set up "authentically" with beeswax pounded into one of the little squares and awls stuck into the wax in a similar fashion to the way I stick my awls in the beeswax filled urn. If it really was an "authentic" set up, it indicates that the idea goes back at least several hundred years.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[kaspar]

DW,
thanks for the interesting information. I maybe have seen such bench. I did not noticed, as I remember, such "boxes" and so on. But have seen some benches in Victorian era reenactment sites and some on e-bay too. But if anyone have a photo of such bench, like DW described, please do post it. Thank you.
K.

[dw]

Kaspar,

Here's a shot of master Al Saguto's bench...if you look closely you can see a small awl stuck in the wax in the closest box to the front.

5106.jpg

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[kaspar]

Neat.
DW thank You for the picture! This bench don`t seem to be very old. Self made?

K.

[dw]

Kaspar,

I moved this discussion over here...more appropriate, I think.

Here's a couple of shots of another shoemaker's bench. This one was for sale on Ebay about a year ago. I wanted it very badly...it was just what I was looking for but either they would not ship or the final bid was too rich for me. I can't remember. I kept photos though...just in case I ever got off my duff and wanted to make one like it. I have no idea how old it is/was. It looks old if only because of the use and the key.

Yes, as far as I know, Al made his.

5110.jpg

5111.jpg

You can see the "boxes" in the second photo quite well. I don't see any wax in any of them however.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[kaspar]

DW,
Very nice. I like old stuff with "spirit". Suddenly I want it too. Have to keep my eyes open in antique fairs and ask around.
K.

[dw]

Since I bought a wood lathe some time ago, I have been impressed with the wood turning tools that I have also acquired. They are made of high speed steel. The thing I like about them is that they can be shaped and sharpened on ceramic grinding wheels and even if you "blue" (or "brown" ) the edge, you never loose the temper.

And they hold an edge quite well--longer than common carbon steel by a long ways.

I have been in contact with a company that distributes high speed steel--flat stock, round stock, etc.. I can purchase a piece eighteen inches long, one-sixteenth of an inch thick (this dimension is really quite out of the ordinary) and one inch wide--roughly the same size as a Tina knife but twice as long. That's the minimum order.

If anyone is interested in "going in" on an order please contact me by private email.

I would have to either have the piece cut in half or more likely I would cut it in half and ship it to you. At that time, you would have to grind a point shape and put on an edge.

But, I believe the result would be a very good, if not exceptional, skiving knife...at a reasonable price--comparable to purchasing a Tina knife from overseas.


Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

[jenny_fleishman]

Pics of last puller I just finished making...

It's made of stiff wire and a "thing" from the plumbing department of the hardware store.

5131.jpg

I covered the "thing" with veg tan for comfort and appearance, and bend the hooks past each other before using it to get some tension on the hooks.

5132.jpg

Here it is in the last. Not sure if they are visible, but there are also holes in the front piece of the last, so that can also be pulled out with the last puller. The trickiest thing was trying to drill all the holes in the lasts at the same angle (slightly upwards) so that they would match the angle of the hooks on the last puller.

5133.jpg

The gadget works great with my duct tape fitter shoes. Haven't tried it on a real shoe yet, but I have high expectations of success!

Jenny

[firefly]

Anyone know of any reason why a woodworking rasp would not work in the place of a shoemaker's rasp. The look like the same thing.

I can go to Home Depot or the local woodworking store and pick up woodworking tools but I need to order a shoemaker's rasp and pay about ten times more and wait for weeks to get it.

I only ask because I have not used or held a shoemaker's rasp and I was wodering if there was a significant difference.

Maybe some of you crossover guys might have been exposed to both.

Thanks,

Mark

[dw]

Mark,

the rasp part of a woodworking rasp is indeed very similar if not identical. but a shoemakers rasp...sometime known as a four-in-hand...also has a file section (I think it's technically a "mill" file). And that area is used a lot more than the rasp section.

Beyond that, if you need to remove leather (or wood) fast, a micro plane is probably better than a rasp both for material removal and control.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC