The Crispin Colloquy

DW,

I disagree with respect mind you, OK? I will give you a good example of what I mean and I believe that the speed acquired in any skilled craft comes naturally and you don't even need to think about it. I play the guitar. I am not really so good at it but I know what it takes to be good. Practice and repetition. When I practice for a long period of time I get better.
And when I listen to Roy Clark or even Jose Feliciano I see that speed comes after accuracy and the brain is trained to take over the process without even thinking about the matter. The same thing applies to speed shooting which I have also done. One of our world champions can draw a 45 auto and mow down 5 bowling pin size targets at 10 yds in 2 1/2 seconds. The brain does it without thinking. It is programming the brain by repetition and a proven fact. Now when I can inseam a pair of boots in 2 1/2 seconds, I will let you know!

And I am doing a pair to take to WF this year. It is a pair for myself made from scrap alligator tails. I will leave the other details till I get to WF. However I am not sure I will compete this year in the contest. Without the pressure I can have more fun......TR

Tex,

I know what you mean and I'm content to believe that both views can co-exist side by side--they're not really contradictory. Sure, speed comes with repetition. That's what I mean when I talk of "getting up to speed." But from what you've said, I'm sure that accuracy is your first goal and you assume, hope, expect, speed (or at least **more* speed) will come. It has, even for me. I'm much much faster at every technique than I was 20 years ago and much faster than the average novice. But you have to concentrate on the accuracy..the "care"...and let the speed come. If you concentrate on the speed, the accuracy will never come.

It's kind of like another one of my infamous statements: " You've got to choose...whether to make boots or to make money." At bottom, the idea is simply what you consider "job 1." If you choose to make boots ( and you do so with care and deliberation) the money will come (just as speed comes). But if you choose to make money, boots (and the quality you put into them) will always be second to making the scratch. Trouble is...in this Trade, no matter how much moola you make, it's chump change. Because there's lots easier and lots better ways to make money (lots and lots of money) than making boots by hand.

As for WF...if I get a chance to come this year (by no means certain) I'll probably bring several pair. I'm not sure I'll compete, either--for the same reasons. Anything I bring will be something that pushes my envelope and excites me...not something that I've done so many times before that I'm almost perfect (relatively) at it.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

DW

I know what you mean about the muscle memory and repetition. We use the theory all the time in the schools we have here. In most cases you are right. The exception is when the wrong technique is used or the ergonomics are wrong. Then one will not get faster. I wish I could devote myself to your quote, I can’t so I’ll have to do some the way the branch says it has to be, and some (my own future customers) the way I like it. This is the reason I call the viking shoes a test, to see how they hold up and where production problems/my lack of skill show there ugly face.

By the way I am going to make my first insole the way ya’ll do it. They sew the welt to a type of tape over here. My teacher said he would help me. He does it the old way when he has time.

BTW, do you pound the heel leather with a hammer before building the heel up? it’s supposed to compact the fibers so they are stronger.

CW

Chris,

I have done...but not much anymore. I buy individual lifts that have been compressed with a roller and I also own a "tug roller" which allows me to take marginal quality leather and compress it so that it ends up rock hard.

I'm not sure compressing makes the leather any stronger...harder yes, thinner, yes, less water absorbing, maybe...probably.

It's good for building solid heels that have less penchant to walk over. Years ago soling leather was not nearly as solid as it is today. Probably more like what we would call "skirting," today. There were no huge machines to roll compress it, and hammer "jacking" the lifts and even the soling itself, made sense. I don't think it's necessary in this day and age.

But again, if you have chunks taken from the belly, for instance that seem too soft...sometimes jacking it can leave you with a piece of leather that is at least suitable for in-the-stack heel lifts. In the end, however, "you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear," and leather that is nearly worthless because it is so punky and open fibered, isn't going to benefit enough to make it trustworthy for any application.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

Ed,

I'm gonna move this demonstration to what I belive is a more appropriate area.

To make your dacron tapers for inseaming, I use 72" Ludlow's dacron tapers (12 cord), 20 lb fishing line, hand wax, modeling tool, and heavy sandpaper.

First take a 12" inch piece of fishing line. I like it long because if you bend the working end, you can cut it off and still have a long enough "leader" or "bristle" to work with. Take your heavy sandpaper and roughen 1/2 of the nylon bristle.

Then take that rough end and run it through your hand wax. I keep my hand wax in a scrap piece of lining leather. This will help in keeping the wax off your fingers as much as possible. It's gonna get messy, if your wax is right.

Then wax your dacron thread, taper and all.

Now comes the fun part. Take a thread taper and wrap it upon itself a short distance to help in locking down the point. Please notice the red arrow below the fishing line. Right above the fishing line you'll see the very end of one of your thread tapers. What I'm doing is rolling the thread over this end, hopefully, locking the tip down.

Continue winding the thread to the right down the nylon bristle.

When you get to about 1 1/2" from the right end of the nylon bristle, take a modeling tool and poke a hole right in the middle of your thread.

Then take your left end of your nylon bristle and run it through this hole. In essence, what you're doing is locking the right end of your nylon bristle into the thread. Do this 2 or 3 more times.

Wax and roll your taper to make it round. This is the completed dacron taper for inseaming. Now....I have to say, this is not the best one I've ever done, but my wife was holding things while I shot the pictures. By the time we handed the taper back and forth several times (and a few words from my big mouth), it didn't quite turn out as I had hoped. Basically, there's the procedure. Hope it helps with your next inseaming job. Don't forget to pre-hole!

Ed,

I almost forgot....you need to tip the end of the nylon bristle. Just take a sharp knife, and cut at an angle the very tip of the bristle. It helps in sliding through the awl holes.

Thank you Jake's wife, I know about a big mouth.
Jake I really thank you I will restudy this than write it in my language so as not to forget.
Thanks
Ed

Ed,

I told her. She said she was glad to be of help...but I may be sleeping on the couch tonight. Guess I'll start looking for a blanket.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

Dee-Dubb,

Is this what you're using now-a-days?

Jake,

Yes, that's 12 foot of unwaxed Teklon, spooled off, tapered, waxed, and "braided" (wrapped and counterwrapped) onto a 12 inch split nylon bristle--dk. brown Maxima 40 lb.

[BTW, the pic is cropped from a much larger photo, and double sharpened, then resampled down to 96dpi]

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

That reminds me of another point....

Not all fishing line is the same diameter within the same lb test line, if that makes any sense.

That's a great taper D.W. I know you've been spending a lot of time working with the Teklon (dacron), can you describe your technique of creating a taper from the 12 cord? Is the Maxima hard to split?

[BTW, nice pic created by tweaking the features of a photo editor]

Jake,

Well, thanks for asking. I'll try to make this short and painless.

I do spend more time with this than maybe you do...probably more than most people do. It's so dern elegant though, and so much closer to the original techniques using line/hemp yarn and hog's bristles, that I have never felt a need to speed things up. You know what they say--we're all headed for the same destination in the end, silly to hurry.

I strip 12 feet of unwaxed Teklon off the roll. cut it to length and unravel each end about 12 inches back. I cut each strand successively shorter with the second strand about 1 1/2 inches shorter than the first and all the rest 1/2 inch shorter than the preceding one. Then I cut a taper into the end of each strand. I do this by scraping the end to flatten and flair it out to make cutting the taper easy. Tapering like this I can get a taw that is literally finer than anything you can buy ready made...and if you're using those Ludlow tapers, you know how fine they can be. When all are tapered I wax the taw and the whole string with a wax made from...let's see, right now I'm using rosin, cod oil, beeswax, and hot wax, in various proportions. I'm still experimenting with this formula and have not yet found the perfect mix. But I want it to be very "grabby" when warmed and firm but not flakey when cold.

Maxima is not hard to split. But it takes a sharp eye and a sharp knife. the only thing you have to watch out for is exposure to sunlight...every monofiliment I've ever had got old when not kept in a dark place and there comes a day when suddenly not one out of ten will split right even though they all split like a charm the week before.

Anyway, you simply start a small nick about 1/8 inch from one end with the object of cutting into the thickness of the nylon about halfway. Then you grab the little peeling with a fingernail and pull the bristle apart. I leave about 4 inches unsplit. Then I trap about 1/2 to 3/4 inch between the "legs" and take some extremely close wraps--around one leg then around both, then around the first leg again, then around both again ...etc., till I have about 3/16 to 1/4' wrapped--you can see it in the photo. Then, keeping tension on the thread, I start wrapping that first leg around the thread spacing the wraps progressively further apart till I'm within 2 inches of the end. Poke a hole in the thread and feed the leg into the hole Then I go back and progressively counter-wrap the other leg around the thread until I reach the last two inches again. At that point, I push the tip of the bristle into the same hole as the leg went and pull the whole shooting match through. then I burnish the wraps with my fingers and apply a little paraffin or beeswax to the wraps as a lubricant. Only three more to go!

I seldom if ever lose a bristle--can't remember the last time. and I reuse them over and over.

Probably not for everybody but it does make a pretty waxed end...and there's a certain selfish satisfaction to be derived even in the niggling parts of this process that nobody but the maker ever sees.

Jessica? You remember Roger Rabbit? A film noir cartoon from some years back? Wasn't the femme fatale love interest named Jessica?

Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

Jake,

Here's a couple of drawing to go with the explanation above... there's tricks and finger manipulations that make it all easier, but you get the idea




Tight Stitches
DWFII--Member HCC

D.W.,

Wish I could explain a procedure as eloquently as you. Well done, and I can see in my mind what you're doing. Thanks!

Well....I never did see Roger Rabbit, but I can't imagine them putting a fat, ugly girl in it as a main character. I finally received Open Range on DVD.....Great Movie! The shootout is actually realistic! The scenery is spectacular! Reminds me where I used to live in Montana.

I would like to mention a point that might have been overlooked, but I feel is very important. That point would be splitting your bristles (fishing line).

I feel it's important, because as we venture into a new technique, our tendancy is to lay it aside if we run into problems along the way.

Problems you say? If you try to split "old" fishing line, your success will definitely be limited!

I used to split my bristles like D.W.. Well, one day I went to split some and......I couldn't! It would break along the split EVERY time. I called D.W. and told him I was "loosing my touch". He had a good laugh, but advised me of my problem. The fishing line had "polymerized", or something. It was old. Sunlight will definitely do it!

I had tried the "wrap" technique, and had fairly good results with it. But your taper and hand wax must be extremely good. And I found you need to go down in size with your bristles (fishing line).

Since looking at D.W.'s above bristle, which I must say inspired me, I decided to go back to splitting my bristles. I knew from experience I needed fresh nylon. So I ordered some Maxima 40# "Chameleon" fishing line from Cabela's. The "Chameleon" is brown and makes it much easier for us "old" folks to see. This is the stuff:


Sure enough, it split like a charm. To tell ya the truth, I never lost (broke) a bristle since I started the roll.


If you want to try this technique, this is what I recommend:

1. Buy fresh nylon....I'm telling you right now, Wal-Mart's won't be fresh!

2. Split the whole roll when you get it. I've started putting all my bristles in a cigar box for later use. Then you won't have to worry about the splitting.

3. If you're careful with your bristle, you can reuse them.

Hope this helps!

Photo lesson 101-----when shooting against a white background, over-exposed about two clicks!

When editing these on a bright LCD monitor, they didn't look so dark. I apologize for the quality!

Jake

Ya'll may get me to try the idea of splitting the bristle. I've never done it or seen anybody here use that method.

You got me thinkin
CW