The students attached fake welts and soles and have started to build up heels on their shoes. Tomorrow will be an incredibly busy day. Lots of work still ahead and the shoes have to be finished by the end of the day.
Today the students placed and shaped toe puffs on their shoes and then finished lasting. After that they put shanks in place and then filled the bottoms with shank covers and cork. We had to put some pressure on them in order to stay on schedule but after a very productive afternoon, they’re all ready for tomorrow when they’ll attach soles and build up heels.
Here are a few photos of the students working on lasting their shoes today. Some look fairly happy. Some look like they’re deeply concentrating. They all look like they’re working hard, very true, and they all did a great job!
I’m in Portland, Oregon this week helping Marcell as an assistant while he’s teaching a beginning level shoemaking course here. At least I hope I’m helping and not just confusing the students.
The students practiced lasting today as well as trimmed their insoles. The real fun begins tomorrow when they start lasting their uppers.
The Wholecuts
The Blake Stitch (Bologna Construction) Slip-Ons
I finished both the Slip-Ons and the Wholecuts over the weekend.
I’ll post some photos tomorrow.
The Slip-Ons now have their final heel layers in place.
Rasping to angle the heel build-ups slightly…
Using lighter weight nails without threads to attach the heel build-ups…
Attaching the final heel layers.
Here are the lasts for an upcoming pair which I’ve started to modify to fit the customer’s feet better.
I would be lying if I didn’t say that taking a hacksaw to a brand new last didn’t freak me out a little bit!
A little length taken off the right last…
A Profile Gauge to make sure the curve of the heel is the same…
Some work with a Shoemaker’s Rasp (a.k.a. a Four-in-Hand Rasp)…
And a little smoothing with some sandpaper…
These are ready to make a test pair on.