T S HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE BY HAND By FRANK I, WEST 1HH iM I IH I' IiI Hul ii il i ttMtiM ]! HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE BY HAND By FRANK L. WEST Head of Shoemaking Division TUSKEGEE NORMAL AND INDUS- TRIAL INSTITUTE TS i ozo Institute Press Tuskegee Institute, Alabama 1912 V* £CI.A305730 PREFACE In these lessons I have tried to explain by illustrations and as few words as possible the different steps which are taken in putting to- gether a plain welted shoe by hand. Differ- rent shoemakers may have different ideas about the same operations, but the ultimate results, namely, neatness, comfort and dura- bility, are what all are after. After seven- teen years of practical work and teaching combined, I have found that the methods which follow give the desired results. Yours very truly, Copyright, 1912 By Frank L. West HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE BY HAND SOME FACTS ABOUT COMFORTABLE EASY WEARING SHOES Easy wearing shoes are generally the result of much thought on the part of the work- man, beginning with the selection of the last. The last should be one that is as nearly the shape of the foot as possible. Square toe lasts do not always insure comfort. The width of the ball and heel of a last has equally as much to do with the shoe being comfortable as the width or shape of the toe. It is therefore best that the shoe be made on a last that is quite wide enough for the foot from heel to toe. The foot sets square on the insole of an easy wearing shoe; whenever the foot begins to slip and rest on one side of the insole the comfort is lessened. The counter of a shoe should never bulge over the heel seat. The shank of the shoe should be wide enough, especially on the HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE outside. The sole on the outside should al- ways be wide enough. The sole at the toe should not be wider than it is on the inside ball. The soles should not make a squeaking noise when being worn. The shoe should bend easily when walking, especially across the ball. The tread of the shoe should be as smooth as rocking in a rocking chair. Work that is not neat often takes away the feeling of comfortableness. Tacks should never be placed and left when there is any liability of their ever working through to the foot. All of these and even more things must be thought of before and while making a shoe. The fact that a shoe should be neat, comfort- able and serviceable, should be constantly borne in mind by the workman. The finish on the job is begun the very moment the start is made. One careless or thoughtless operation may make it impossible to finish the job with the desired results. PREPARATION OF THE COUNTERS (See drawings on plate I) In these pages I wish to explain how to make a normal welted shoe with a medium bottom. It is very necessary that one should get everything in proper shape before begin- ning to make a shoe; that is, counters, boxes, innersoles, and everything in order as it should be before starting. The sole and heel leather should be in case and put away so that it will not get out of shape before you are ready for it. All knives and other tools must be in first-class shape. The bench must be clear of all other material or work save that on which you are to work. The job should be started, if possible, in time to at least get the heels on and the edges rasped up before leaving for the day. The first thing to get in order is the coun- ters. The counters should be as wide as the vamp and about one-fourth inch longer than the heel. Diagram I shows the exact shape of ^ HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE the counter. Notice the heavy lines at the edges; these show that the counter at this point should be thinner and should retain its normal thickness in the center. Diagram II shows the section of the counter. Diagram III shows the position of the counter in the upper before beginning to last. Diagram IV shows section of the rear of the upper with the counter in its natural position. PREPARATION OF THE BOX (See drawings on plate II) Most shoes are made with boxes in the toe, but it is much better for a shoemaker who is just learning, to make a shoe without a box, in order that he might not become discour- aged. Boxes, like counters, should be very carefully trimmed and skived. They should be the shape of the tip with the exception of the ends at either side of the tip where they are left long as shown in diagram II. The box should be made of material that is flexible, yet material that is easily hardened by paste. Porous leather, or wide grain leather can ho- used to great advantage in making the box, because the paste can easily penetrate it; this insures and makes a stiff box when the shoe is dry. The top of the box under the center of the tip is generally left its natural thickness. The front and sides of the box are skived very thin but not to a feather. The box at the be- ginning of the tip line should be skived to a feather having a gradual diminish. Diagram 10 £>/*, / -£? /> X 7?- im me oi~r Sklv'tct £>>**-* °*\ Sox as id A 2>icc? ^ol^ ,^ Moulding and fitting the sole 36 HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE easily to the shape of the last. Since the threads in the shank which hold on the outer- sole are generally put in at an angle, every care must be taken to see that this sole is well moulded, because the stitches when put in at an angle, cannot be as strong or hold as well as when put in perfectly square. The sole must also be molded to fit the ball, because the threads will have enough to do to hold it (the sole) in its place. Making sure that the sole is properly skived and well moulded, proceed to fasten it to the shoe for trimming. First lay the sole on the shoe, hold it down well in the shank with the strap, just as the innersole was held; fasten the ball first, with one nail directly in center, and then the heel. Tap it all around with hammer to be sure it lays well to the welt. The nails should be placed: one in the center of the toe, one in the center of the ball at the shank line, two or as many as necessary in the heel seat. Begin to trim the sole on the inside of the shoe, and rough-trim the whole sole, after which trim the sole again 37 a a Moulding and fitting on the sole 38 HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE square to the welt around the forepart, next bevel the shank, beginning (to bevel) just around the shank and forepart line as shown in Diagram III, line A. Now round up the heel seat, leaving sole wide enough to work on. With the sole well trimmed, the next thing to do is to cut the channel. The chan- nel is generally cut about 1-8 inch from the outer edge of the sole, or about the width of the guard of the iron with which the shoe is to be set up. See Diagram IV showing the iron with its guard resting at the edge of the chan- nel. The channel is cut just as far from the bevel edge in the shank as it is from the square edge of the forepart. This 1-8 inch in the shank is left to work on when fitting the edge to the iron. 39 STITCHING ON THE SOLE In making ready to stitch on the sole, see that the hands are free from grease, the awl is well sharpened, and everything around you which might catch in your thread is out of the way. Generally in a normal shoe, six strands are used in the forepart and seven or eight are used in the shank. The shanks, because of their shape, are compelled, as stated be- fore, to be stitched in most cases with slant- ing stitches. This is one reason why a larger thread is needed at this point. Some shoe- makers use the inseaming awl to sew the shanks, because it is much easier to use than a square awl. It is better, however, to stitch the whole shoe with a square awl, because the stitches which are made with the square awl are generally stronger. Two awls are neces- sary: a larger awl for the shank, a smaller awl for the forepart. In either case, the awls should be smaller than both ends of threads when put together, because they (the threads) should be forced into the hole which the awl 40 D<3 J D'*3 Stitching on the Sole 41 HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE has made. There is quite a slight in the use of the stitching awl; the blade of the stitching awl, being flat, is sure to break if it is twisted after it has been pushed into the sole. It is therefore necessary to push the awl in with two motions only; one is towards the welt, the other is a downward motion of the handle as shown by arrow in Diagram I. The awl should not be pushed further through than is necessary to make the hole large enough for the bristled part of the thread to be pulled through. The rest of the end is forced or pulled through and offers a resistance. The awl when pulled out is handled with two mo- tions, just as it was when being pushed in, only backward. The straight arrow shows the motion of the blade in the sole, the curved arrow shows the motion of the handle which is held in the workman's hand. If the hole is properly made it will remain square and insure a square stitch. The threads are generally overcasted on the welt; the length of the stitches is made to suit the taste of the workman. A good stitch in the sole is 42 Jl^.Z j)'«.V ti& Stitching on the Sole 43 HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE about eleven to the inch; in the shank about nine to the inch. Diagram III shows the stitch in the sole and welt with the channel not closed. To close the channel dampen the part that is turned back with a sponge. (It is best to dampen whole sole to avoid splotches.) With the back of the hammer rub it down diagonally all around, after which rub the whole bottom with the handle of the ham- mer or a rub stick. Never rub the stitches down in the channel with any instrument that will make the channel spread. If this is done it is extremely hard to make a neat job in closing. Diagram IV shows the channel after it has been closed. After this see that the whole bottom is per- fectly level while damp. Mold the shank well to shoe again. 44 BUILDING THE HEEL Before beginning to build the heel or Jo put the leather on the shoe for the heel, it is best to see that enough leather is properly prepared for each heel. The preparation of the leather means to have it well in case, well skived, and the pieces trimmed to their re- spective sizes, leaving them just enough larger to work on. See Diagram I. In skiv- ing the heel pieces, it is better to take from them all meaty substances and all of the out- side surface. The heart of the leather makes a better heel. An inside surface when put to- gether with an outside surface will not allow the heel to properly blend, and will nearly always show where they are joined. The first tap of the heel should be hollowed out in the center to suit the seat of the heel on the outer- sole which is generally a little round on the bottom, see Diagram III. Some shoemakers skive the sole instead of skiving the first tap. Skiving the sole gen- erally weakens the heel at the seat. It is bet- 45 £> <" '". 3 TJ £)<** Building the Heel 46 HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE ter to let the main foundation, which is the sole, retain its whole strength by skiving the first heel lift instead. The first lift should be fastened to the sole with as many tacks as are necessary to hold it until it is roughly trimmed. See that this lift is level before putting on the remaining lifts. The remain- ing lifts, minus the top lift, are put on next with enough nails to hold them until they are roughly trimmed in shape. Next nail the heel down with nails long enough to clinch on the innersole. See if the heel will be level with the top lift, by placing the top lift under the heel and resting the shoe on a level sur- face. The heel at its proper height should allow the seat, or heel of the shoe at the bot- tom of vamp to be level. Next fasten the top lift to the heel and trim it the exact shape you wish the heel to be when finished. See Dia- gram II. Next, nail it down, putting as many nails on the inside of the heel as are necessary to hold the tap in place. The outside of the heel should be nailed thick enough to pro- tect the heel. The nails should be placed 1-8 47 C c*,V J^i^- (#1 Building the Her 48 HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE inch from the edge of heel. Of course, if a person runs the shoe over from the inside, the nails should be changed to suit them. Dia- gram VII shows the difference in lasts, and how these lasts require different heels. The height of the instep of the last generally determines the height of the heel. The three outlines of Diagram VII show different heel seats; the distance from each heel seat to the floor- line shows the height of each heel. When the heel is finished it should rest slightly on the breast (see Arrow B, Diagram V, side view of heel, and Diagram VI, rear view of heel) and not quite touch the floor at the back. This is to help in walking, for if the heel should set perfectly flat on the floor, the effect in walking would be clubby, but by allowing the heel to rest, as shown in Diagram V, the walking will be more like rocking in a rock- ing chair. 49 PREPARATION OF EDGES AND BOTTOM FOR FINISHING Before beginning to prepare the edge and the heel of the shoe for the ink and burnish- ing, see that both heel and bottom are level, free from all ridges or bumps. After the stitches on the welt have been rubbed down, trim the edges of the sole as nearly the right shape as possible, after which, rasp it well in First and second steps in prepartion of forepart edge shape with the rough round side of the rasp. Next trim the heel in the shape desired, and rasp it up well. Be sure that the buffer is 50 HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE sharpened well. The idea is to make the edge of sole fit the iron which is convex. For this reason we are using the convex end of the buffer and side of the rasp, in order that the edge might be concave. With the buffer, buff the edge until it is smooth. See that the welt is trimmed with welt knife and rubbed Third and fourth steps in preparation of forepart edge down smooth with the bone. Try the iron to see what or how much is to be taken from the edge of the sole on the bottom. Diagram III will show the sole and just how much will probably have to be taken from the outer side for the iron. This piece of sole is cut away 51 First and second steps in preparation of the shank edge Third and fourth steps in preparation of the shank edge 52 HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE with the square point knife; sometimes with the lip knife. After the sole has been bev- eled on the edge to fit the iron, rasp it off lightly with the fine side of the rasp and then buff and sand-paper it. Diagrams I to IV show the different stages of the edge of fore- part. Diagram IV shows the edge and iron together. Diagrams I to IV which follow show the shank which has been treated in the same way as the forepart. After getting the sole in shape proceed to finish the heels. 53 PREPARATION OF THE FOR FINISHING HEEL Diagrams I to V show the heel in its differ- ent stages. The arrow on Diagram II shows the direction to push the rasp. It is rasped this way to make the layers of leather blend. /. ?• First and second steps in preparation of heel for finishing After the heel is rasped the edge of sole at ar- row on Diagram III is cleaned or cut out with the welt knife. In cutting see that the line beginning at the welt is kept straight and level all around the heel seat. The rhan break is used next at arrow 2 around the seat 54 HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE of the heel to file the material close to the up- per. Buff the heel down and sand-paper it until it is real smooth. Diagram V shows how the heel will appear when finished if properly cleaned. ¥ a Third, fourth and fifth steps in preparation of heel for finishing 55 BUFFING, CLEANING AND POLISHING THE BOTTOM After having prepared the edges, the next thing in order is the cleaning of the bottom and making ready for ink. Be sure that the nails in the bottom of the heel are filed and rasped even with the leather so that they can- not be felt with the finger. In buffing the bottom, be sure that you buff with the grain of the leather. The arrows on Diagram I show the direction in which the bottom is buffed if the grain is running towards the toe. If the soles have been cut end for end, from a piece of leather, it will be necessary to buff the soles in different directions to suit the grain. After the bottom has been made as smooth as possible with the buffer, begin to sand-paper. It is best to sand-paper in circles on the bottom as indicated in Diagram II by arrows. Sand-papering straight up and down the bottom generally leaves scratches. To make the ink take well the bottom should be left like velvet. Two sizes of sand-paper 56 Buffing bottom Sand-papering bottom 57 Bottom after being cleaned Bottom after edges are set up. Shows impression of guard on outer edge 58 HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE should be used: the larger size(l 1-2) at first, and No. 0, or finer, last. If the sole is buffed to a very smooth surface fine sand paper may be sufficient. If this is done as indicated by arrows, the result will be favorable. Dia- gram III shows the bottom after it has been cleaned. 59 BURNISHING THE EDGE The edge is now dampened and burnished first to be sure that the iron fits well. In burnishing the edge the shoe is held firmly in the left hand and the burnishing iron held firmly in the right hand. The iron is pushed back and forth around the damp edge until a good square impression is made on edge. The little bead of the iron will show on the welt and the impression of the guard of the iron will appear on the bottom edge of sole. (See Diagram IV of previous lesson, heavy black line.) Set up the shank in the same way; make the bead appear on the welt. Press the iron firmly against the sole to help make the shank lay to the upper. If properly set up, the impressions of the lip and bead will be against the upper. Next divide the stitches on the forepart with the stitch divider, being sure not to break the bead on the welt. Do not scratch against the upper with divider. After stitches are divided apply burnishing 60 HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE ink to the edge and let it set until mediumly dry. During this time the edge irons should be heating; when they are hot (enough only to dry water quickly when applied) brush the edge and proceed to burnish. If a white or light bottom is desired, the bottom is cleaned after the edges are finished. A good finish at this stage will be a thin coat of liquid tan polish evenly distributed and rubbed down with the grain and left to dry. If a black bottom is desired, the shank slicker will have to be used to burnish after the ink has been distributed and the bottom may be cleaned before finishing the edge. Place the slicker on the lamp; while it is heating, distrib- ute the ink evenly over the bottom. By the time the slicker or burnisher is warm enough for use, the ink will be about ready. The proper way to test the heat of the burnisher is by applying water from the sponge; if the bur- nisher is at a right temperature, the water will not spatter, but will simply dry on the bur- nisher gradually. Brush the bottom well and begin to burnish. Hold the shoe between 61 HOW TO BOTTOM A WELTED SHOE the knees and rub lightly backward and for- ward, making sure the slicker does not stop abruptly at any point. After the ink has come to a shine, brush well again with the brush and rub briskly with a woolen cloth. This will give the bottom a high polish. 62 TAKING THE LAST OUT OF THE SHOE After the shoe has been finished, it should be allowed to remain on the last until it is thoroughly dry. Best results are gotten from a shoe when it is made at least a month before it is to be worn. At any rate the workman should see to it that his job is well seasoned before it is taken from the last. Often the comfort which would be the wearer's and the praise which would be the workman's, all are lost because the shoe was taken from the last too soon, and lost its shape. To take the last out of the shoe one cannot use too much care. The block should be re- moved first and the tack which holds the counter in position at the heel should be re- moved. Much pains must be used to see that the upper is not bursted at the vamp in front. The last should not be pulled against the top of the vamp more than is absolutely necessary. Just as soon as the heel allows, the last should be pulled towards the heel. After the last is out, the bottom of the shoe should be carefully examined on the in- side to see if there is anything there which would hurt the foot of the wearer. Heel pads should be put on the insole at the heel to cover the clinched nails. The shoe should then be put in shape, dressed, laced or but- toned and set aside to dry and await the com- ing of the wearer. 63 c U JZ V) C '4= h 64 One copy del. to Cat. Div. fB3 26 »w LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HI 018 457 432 9