Lasts!

Haha, the lasts have finally arrived!



I was able to start the patterning process Thursday night, and I'll get into it in earnest on Saturday, when it will (hopefully) be less hot. I'll be taking the opportunity of working with multiple sizes of a single last style to try my hand at grading the patterns (generating different sizes) - due to mostly making one-offs, it's a skill that I've never had need to learn. This should also make it go faster (as I cross my fingers against jinxing things).

Also... A customer has just ordered a pair of the "Elf" last for future footwear.



Since it usually takes around a month to get lasts back from copying, they should arrive when I'm finishing up the bike shoes. If you like this style last and are interested in having a custom pair of lasts done up for you, this is the ideal time to do it so it won't take super long to start. The site is peppered with images of shoes and boots made on the Elf - look at the about page, and the portfolio page - they are the ones with the distinctive upturned toe.

FYI, I'll try to throw together a bit of a process explanation on the lasts page as a way of explaining the time lapse. Done! Let me know if it seems clear and straightforward.

Have a good weekend!

Bike Shoes Trial Run!

So, yesterday I mentioned I want to do a trial run on the bike shoes - here is an updated version of the proposal:


The basic design is engineered to be pretty quick builds, so I can make them relatively inexpensively. Since the big hurdle is the cost of getting the lasts copied, I need a small group of interested people to put down deposits. While, I'm not comfortable stating it here, I have a trial price in mind that should at least cover a small range of lasts, the materials, plus help me keep the lights on. This is for handmade - not made to measure - bike shoes for use with clips and straps (heck, there's nothing that says you need to use these on a bike!). If you are interested, contact me and we'll discuss what options* there are and how to proceed. I'm not asking for specific sizes - give me a shout and we'll see if a natural range results. I am thinking at least six people will make it a go, and I need to know soon, as it takes some time to get the lasts copied.

It will help speed things up greatly if - before you contact me - you get your feet measured using a Brannock device at your local shoe store. Whether you identify M/F or other, please have them use the mens' device. Make sure you are standing up for the measuring of both feet. The instructions for the use of these devices have changed over the years - your particular store might not follow this set.

I have to get back to the studio, now, but please get in touch if you are interested or you have questions.

Cheers!

* I know not everyone wants bright red shoes - color is one of the points to discuss with me!

They Will Be Shoes!

I am working on some shoes for something upcoming (tease!) and I'm working on modding a pair of athletic lasts I've had floating around for a bit. The project is coming up soon enough that the lasts and shoes need to be good first time out, so I'm taking it slow and steady.

The technique for reducing the vertical height of the last uniformly from the bottom of the last uses a flex-shaft, drill bit and a stop-collar:



I've drilled two different depths, so when I rasp down the remaining material, I will have to blend the curves:



A little tool I've had for many years, that has proven to be invaluable to me, is this little miniature spoke shave. I use it to make fine adjustment and smooth out the bottoms of lasts:


I have a great deal of shaping left to do, so I'm expecting to be working on it most of the week between other projects and studying/research:

Organizing the Studio, Organizing the Blog!

I am still tweaking it and deciding what is going to stay on the about me page, but check it out. I've made an entry that talks about the kind of projects I am particularly keen to work on.

I've created a new page describing my three primary last styles. All of my lasts are available for doing custom work, including ones not showcased on my lasts page.

I may have mentioned that I wanted to build a new cutting table and possibly a divider wall? Well, as a birthday present, I was able to purchase the materials - yes! Consequently, the studio was shut down for a couple weeks(!) while I was building. I'm still cleaning (oh, the dust!) and organizing, but it is really very cool that I'm finally able to give things a proper home.

This is the new cutting table - it is very much overbuilt, but I can really heap abuse on my studio furnishings, so this is a good thing. It has a very large shelf underneath that will someday have drawers to protect rolled up leather:

Two of the legs have heavy duty casters so I can move it wheelbarrow style:


These are not the most brilliant of pictures, since the quarters are close, but I built a dividing wall to separate the "clean" from "messy" areas of the studio. One side is paneled with smooth white paneling that works as a white board to take notes on:


And on the back side, it is paneled with peg board to hang my tools over my shoemaking bench:


While the inevitable scrapes and bruises are healing, I'm putting everything away and creating task areas, such as a dedicated dye/airbrush station for working on my custom dyed pieces.

Along with everything else, the small leather goods were put on hold during the building, but I did pick up a fantastic piece of leather from Horween - it was a splurge, but it will make some really nice pieces.

This coming month is turning into a really busy time! There's some really exciting stuff I should be able to announce soon, plus I should have a few more items on Etsy soon, so keep an eye out.

WIP 8-24-10

I've formed the bike shoe test upper over the last - I need to make a few minor tweaks to the pattern, but I like the way it looks so far:



To provide additional stiffness and protection to the external stiffeners, I applied a few coats of shellac. This is a bit of an experiment - shellac is popular with some vintage bicycle enthusiasts for treating handlebar wrap, and I though it would be a nice addition on this shoe- as it is based on vintage styles. It gives it a nice shine and didn't darken the leather a much as I feared- just a nice warm tone that goes very nicely with the orange leather:


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This is one of the test shoes on the new flat last I'm testing - just a basic slip on with contrast topline binding:


I'm still working on getting the binding consistent, but it is coming along nicely. I'm going to tweak this pattern a bit, plus I have two styles lined up for patterning tomorrow.

Last update and progress on the cycling shoes

Last week I received the new last samples as expected and I've been working working steadily with those. I've also been making significant progress on the bike shoe last and sample shoes. So, kind of a long update!
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I am so far pleased with the pointed flat last (it really needs a new name!) - it seems to only need mild tweaking. I am working on some samples for fitting (more on that after the pictures).



I do need people to test this last on (three, preferably) - size 8. If you are in Chicago and you think you are a good candidate with healthy size 8 feet (6 1/2-ish in mens') please contact me at: erickw (at) riotgeer (dot) com to discuss the particulars. I'll make a dedicated post after I've made some samples up.
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The Guntons' (which I was very excited to work with again) are being vexing - and need some extra work. I like this toe so very much, so hopefully I'll be able to shake out the issues soon.



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The cycling shoe last has been going very well - I made some final tweaks to it after the last fit model, so I'm confident to have copies made for use. Until then, I've remodeled it's mate and I'm working on a working sample:




I've only cut and assembled a single shoe, since I want to check for surprises. This orange leather is something I've been hoarding for a number of years - I think it will be difficult to get more of it (sorry for the tease). On the other hand, this shoe might be a good candidate for the crust leather I was experimenting with last spring. The temperament of the crust was too firm for what I originally wanted to do with it - but perfect for this, I think!

I am continuing the external stiffeners from the last mock-up - I should have this reasonably close to finished this weekend. One of the guys at my bike shop fits this last, but I'd love to try it on additional people - if you are interested and wear a size 10 medium width (11 1/2-ish womens'), please contact me.

WIP- Cycling Shoes, continued + lasts!

Update on the cycling shoes- I've made up a fitter on the newly remodeled last- I think I'm pretty happy with it, but tomorrow I'll try it out on one or two of the folks at my bike shop- I should be able to make up a working sample on this last. I'm not exactly looking forward to fixing the mate to this last since it was a pretty dramatic alteration. I'd hold out to be able to have it copied by my last maker- but I'm not feeling that patient!

This morning I got confirmation that my last samples are indeed on their way! I'm pretty ecstatic to see them later this week.

So, expect to see some pictorial updates by the end of the week.

In other news, my neighbors and I are starting to get organized for an open studio day on Halloween - once there are details, I will post.

WIP- last making, continued

On Friday I finished the new flat last model, as well as finally putting some work into correcting some issues with the Gunton last. They are both on their way to my last-maker to get sample pairs turned- once I figure out how many sizes I can actually afford to try out (I have one or two people interested in the Gunton, maybe?).






Once again, I'll be hoping for a couple of feet to test the fit of the flat last (size 8 and _?). Fitting is focusing on the flat last, as I hope to do some lightweight slipper/casual shoes that I can produce relatively inexpensively, even as one-offs. The shape of he Gunton really requires heavier leathers and robust constructions that I will have to limit to semi-custom.

I have yet to decide on a name for the flat last- in a rush to pack it up, I named it Princess, but I'm not remotely thrilled with that. I like the idea of using a family name, like with the Gunton - if any family type people actually read this blog, I'm taking suggestions - the more obscure the better?!

WIP- last making

Distracted from Etsy projects (boo, me!) - this is a new last that I've been poking and prodding at:




Perhaps not obvious from the pictures, I've also modified the woodworking bench so that the vise is mounted to a leg for better stability, my various rasps have useful homes, and there's space (currently occupied by random chunks of wood and lasts) for a special knife for shaping lasts.

Complicated Patterns Plus More Last Remodeling

Continuing my exploration of athletic style uppers, here is my latest work-in-progress:


The beige leather is some orthopedic hide I picked up several years ago- stretchy, but still heavy. Stains easily for that lived-in look sooner rather than later. The spongy hand made some of the edge stitching disagreeable

The rust-ish color is a totally random find from the ren-faire last summer. It's a split- the color caught my eye and it was dirt cheap. My students could tell you how I grumble about split leathers, but I may have to concede that it could have its uses.

I'm crossing my fingers that they make a good combination.
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Last remodeling- small update:

I am continuing the last remodeling as a demo for my students. The photo below shows the leather feathered to the last:

The changes to the bottom will necessitate re-contouring the sides and bottom shape.

Bicycle Shoe Project

One of my recent fascinations are bicycle shoes. Last year I picked up a pair of older (early 90's/late 80's NOS?) SIDI bike shoes- which I promptly took apart to see how they tick. A few days ago I picked up another pair of Italian shoes that look older than they really are (apparently). The shoes are interesting for a few reasons: the uppers are of an incredibly simple pattern, the combination of detailing and material choices to define the functionality and the hardware requirements.

I'm using these shoes as reference pieces to explore a bit of performance footwear, combining full leather construction with the functionality required of a bicycling shoe.

Instead of creating an original last for this exploration, I've had one of my lastmakers pick an athletic last model with a high toe-spring from his library to copy. Pictured is the pair of lasts, One of them is carefully taped for patterning.



I'll update on this project as it progresses.

Erick