miscellaneous tips, advice, and cautions

[piper]

I'll try the stiffener and if that doesn't work out, I'll try redoing or cutting out the offending part. But I'll need to figure out what to use to pull the bottom sole off. I don't have any "nippers" (whatever the heck that is) so is there a solvent I can use and just wedge something in there to pry part of the sole off?

[tomo]

Diane another name for 'nippers' is pincers. you can get them from hardware shops. The old boys use them for pulling out nails. Most workshops have them. Farriers (horseshoers) use big suckers to remove the old shoe for refitting etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pincer_(tool)

Just grip the edge of the leather where you can and either pull straight apart or if it's tuffer, then push down on the handle so that you use the side of the jaw as a fulcrum to gain leaverage.

More power to y'awl
Tom

(Message edited by tomo on February 12, 2011)

[mac]

Diane,
Just Google "end nippers". Look under images and you'll see a whole bunch of examples of the tool used to remove soles from shoes.

[sorrell]

This is a new-to-me product that I like quite a bit. These are dye pens from Angelus Shoe Polish Company. They're empty markers and you can fill them with dye. They work great! I use them for dyeing the sole edges and welt. I also use them for the bottom of the sole on the line where the dye stops and the natural finish begins. When you apply the dye with these markers you don't have to worry about the dye bleeding into the undyed area.

12850.jpg

[romango]

Lisa,

Are you filling with burnishing ink or some other dye? If so, what type(s) of dye have you used?

- Rick

[sorrell]

I have them filled with Fiebings Professional Oil Dye. The pens come in wide and fine nib. I have two wide and two fine, one each filled with black dye and one each with brown.

Lisa

[dw]

Lisa,

That's brilliant! I used to fold a little strip of eighth inch of felt in half and capture it in a spring loaded cloths pin, but I still had to dip it in dye and still had that initial flow of excess dye to contend with. Better than a brush or a fuzzy dauber but not all that much. This is the way to go.

Do you have a link for these?

Tight Stitches
DWFII--HCC Member

[romango]

One thing that confuses me about this marker approach is that I use burnishing ink followed by a hard wax.

If you use an oil based dye with the pen, what type of wax do you put over it?

[sorrell]

DW,
Their web site is pretty basic and I don't see the pens on it, but it does have their contact information.
http://www.angelusshoepolish.com/

Lisa

[sorrell]

Rick,
Yankee wax, and I haven't experienced any issues.

Lisa

[lancepryor]

DW:

They call them dye liners.

Google for angelus dye liner and you will find some vendors.

Lance

[1947redhed]

Try dye pens here:

http://www.wardrobesupplies.com/store/

Manhattan Wardrobe Supply has all sorts of obscure items that appeal to the professional costuming trade. Do a search for dye pens in the search box on the site and you will find the Angelus fill your own models. Easy to click and order from this site.
Georgene

[tomo]

Twice in the last couple of weeks I've had customers bring in long riding boots with the same problem. The lining at the heel has worn through to the counter. The lining leather looks like that white orthotic cow, quite a soft glovey leather.

In the first case the lady had severe blistering on the top of her heel. The second couldn't remove her boots.

Both pair of boots were well made one pair being German the second pair from Budapest. Both ladies ride pretty hardcore ie not just on a Sunday arvo.

How viable is it to repair them or what is the easiest way?

I was looking at removing the heel/sole and innersole and going at it from the bottom, then resoling the boots.

The 'quicker' option would be to slap a piece of lining down there and try to sew around it with the patcher... which doesn't appeal to me for obvious reasons.

The boots are still in good condition overall.

What concerns me is having enough leather to relast them with. Could I sew a strip of leather round the lasting margin and work with this. How would that work/look.

I'm sure I'm not the first person on the planet to have encountered this 'repair'. Paul, Janne, Marcel, Jesse, et.al any suggestions?

More power to y'awl

Tom.

[paul]

Tom,
No, I'm sure you're not the first. Especially if there were two in the last week. Good Grief!

I would go with your first option. I can't even imagine doing it the other way now, not after boot making, maybe back when I was doing s/r but your obvious objections are good instincts.

I don't really think you'd have to worry about lasting margins. Just take the trouble to make register marks on the insole and welt line, and get everything back in the same holes. If anything, regarding the margin at the heel where you'll be adding a layer, you might want to skive it some there.

Good Luck,
Paul

[tomo]

Hey Paul,
thanks for that.

It could all come down to using lesser quality materials when the boots were made. Or at least not having an understanding of the stresses that the boots undergo when being used. So much work for a simple repair really.

If the fit isn't right when the boots are made ie too much heel slip they'll wear when being walked in (so will the heel itself, causing discomfort). If the rider is riding correctly then the heels should be down - again increasing the heel contact. And spurs are also doing their bit to increase wear and heel contact in a localised area, the spurs sit on stops usually about an inch up from the heel.

Today I'll sort a last to work with and spend some time getting my head 'round the job. I'ts funny I know but I find these challenges the ones that provide the most satisfaction.

So thanks again for your help Paul. It is good to know I'm on the right track.

TTFN
T.

[janne_melkersson]

I don't know if this is the right place for this but I have seen two old videos from an USA shoe factory making welted footwear. I don't remeber if I or someone else posted them here on the forum. Anyway, I got them on mycomputer but forget to save them when I changed laptop. I have done key word search with no succes.
Any help would be appreciated.
Janne

[fishball]

Tom,

I think you can sew a strip of leather round the lasting margin and work with it. I saw few shoemakers/repairer done that to make the shoe bigger. But normally you don't have to do that if you are using the same last.

[tomo]

Thanks Alexander,
Mmm, I want to try and keep the boot the same size. I'm sorting a last at the moment. I was concerned that the lasting margin under the sole may be very small, and sometimes the leather can be of poor quality there, so I was hoping that things will be more simple.
Thanks again
Tom.

[dw]

Some years ago, I relasted a pair of boots for myself that I had outgrown. I made them a full size longer and a size wider. So I was putting them on a different last.

I had to "anchor" the toe first because when I took them apart I didn't take out the toe stiffener...I really liked that toe. But through the forepart and waist, I sewed a one inch strip of leather on both the lining and vamp. As I recall I sewed this strip just "above" the old inseam line.

I wet the boot thoroughly before relasting and when I was done and had re-inseamed, the strip more or less trimmed off.

I suspect that much will depend upon the original leather and its condition.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--HCC Member

[holly]

Janne,
It wouldn't be this from Allen Edmonds?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVihz2DbPd8

It shows welting in an American factory, but isn't old. I was interested to hear that they don't put shanks in their welted shoes.

(Message edited by holly on March 14, 2011)

[janne_melkersson]

Holly,
interesting to see how they do it at Edmonds and I agree strange way to make shoes without a shank. Thank you for the link but it was not the one I was thinking of.

A friend find them and sent the links to me
http://www.archive.org/details/story_of_shoes_1
http://www.archive.org/details/story_of_shoes_2

[tomo]

Hey DW,
How did you make the boots larger. If you trimmed off the margin you’d sewn on, how do the boots come out bigger? Was it by simply working the old boot over a bigger last? In order for the toe to maintain its integrity did you build up the heel area of the original last only?

There use to be an old boot repair guy here who could do stuff like that, but he got sent for.

Tom.

[tomo]

Mmm, I might be answering my own question here. The boots would naturally stretch and the shape would 'alter' through just being worn. Does this account for the surplus material needed for lasting.
T.

[dw]

Tom,

As I recall, I built a little at the heel and a little less at the toe. And, of course, along the lateral side of the forepart. It was a half box toe so I just cut the old insole off leaving the "plug" attached to the toe stiffener.

If you re-last them "seats up" and the leather is good quality...AND you've cut the vamps so that the stretch is to the toe...there is almost certainly enough residual stretch in the vamps to be made a size longer.

You anchor the toe and tack it into place with the heel stiffener about an inch above where it will end up, take your ball drafts, and then hoist the heel.

I've done this several times but I wouldn't want to do it "commercially." Only if desperation required it. That said, they all came out quite well.

The only real caution is the throat...on a boot the way the tops and vamp sit on the cone of the last controls all sorts of factors...including lean, ease of entry, quarter curve aesthetics, height of heel stiffener under the ankle, etc.. Don't try this on a boot more than one size longer. And even then...

Tight Stitches
DWFII--HCC Member

[dw]

Tom,

I don't know about "account(ing) for the surplus...."

As you say the boots do stretch during wear and the fiber mat loosens up a bit. The extra strip is just so you can grab the vamps and vamp liners with your pincers and take a decent draft without marring or tearing the old leather.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--HCC Member