Normally, I prefer to work with wooden lasts but because of the climate in Singapore and logistical issues, I find myself using more plastic lasts here.
Before and After
Here is a before and after shot of the last. The left shows the unmodified side while the right has been completed.
Another angle
While the lasts are built to the customer's measurements, there are usually 2 main points that I pay attention to on flat feet, namely adding volume to the arch and reducing volume from the instep.
Here are some photos to illustrate.
Big piece of leather added to the arch
Instep view
Notice that the instep has been shaved down significantly and is not as tall as the unmodified side.
Completed
This took the better part of a day to complete with a big part of time spent getting the lines to flow smoothly especially after adding and removing a big volume.
At this stage I will usually send the modified last to a last factory for duplication then work on minor adjustments for each sides. This saves me a significant amount of time and also ensures that the toes are identical.
So the next step is to just wait for the lasts to return and we can start on pattern making and on the trial shoes.
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Top view of toe
I remember taking 5-6 hours for one side when I first started out. Nowadays I'm down to slightly over an hour and half. Good improvement but still some room to get faster.
Different angle
I do all my outsole stitching by hand and usually at 11spi for a single leather sole. For comparison, the higher end goodyear welted shoes usually come in at 8-9 spi and is done by machine.
Stitching to be hidden away by a thin flap of leather
Based on 11spi, there's about 150 or so stitches in the forepart of the shoes. Stitching along the beveled waist will be hidden and it's not necessary for a high spi as pictured above.
More photos below.
Close up
Another pair
Side Profile
Ramie Thread from Japan
If you've enjoyed this blog post, please do take some time to look through our collection of shoe accessories over here. Thank you for browsing!
]]>Our toe puffs come from Baker, a tannery in Devon UK which specialises in oak bark tanning. Baker's pit tanning process takes about 14months with fantastic end results
Toe puffs from Baker come pre-cut in about 2/2.5mm thickness.
Before and After
The edges need to be skived down, with the straight edge paper thin. The round sides are skived to slightly less than 1mm so that they are still strong enough to be lasted.
Skived Edge
On fitting shoes, I use different toe puffs. On the left is a split leather toe puff from Japan, it comes pre-skived and already thinned but still requires some adjusting to get a smooth toe profile. On the right is a celastic type toe puff, interestingly this particular one is supposed to be used like a leather toe puff with paste. I have yet to try it out but will be one of the things on my list.
Split Leather & Celastic Type
]]>Here's an image of a pair of chisel toe samples being made.
Under those layers of leather is a ~4mm thick leather insole. Hardly noticeable due to the unbroken slope down to the feather edge. A small and subtle detail that carries a huge visual impact.
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I have been recently interviewed by Fu Pei, blogger at www.fupei.net, regarding my brand and story.
Please find the English version here at:
And Chinese version here:
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/355701757
-Tor
]]>Finishing shoes properly takes a lot of patience and takes up a disproportionate amount of time. For me, finishing takes up more time than welting and stitching the outsoles combined.
Here's some photos of some steps during heel finishing.
This step starts after the shaping the heel with a knife and after rasping. Wet the heel slightly and take a broken piece of glass and run it against the heel stack to remove all rasps marks
Shaving with a broken glass
After shaving
Using sandpaper, sand the edges. I usually progress from 100 to 180 to 240 and finally 400 grit. This step should be done when the leather is dry and can be done sanding in any direction.
Sanding
Wet the leather slightly and take the used 400grit sandpaper and go over the edges again, this time only in one direction and slightly more pressure. The grain surface should look completely even and smooth.
Before and after wet sanding
After burnishing with only satisfactory results, far from perfect given the unevenness
Heel lightly scoured. Much more even than the previous heel.
Inked and lightly brushed
Fumu (フム) is Japanese, meaning to step or to experience. We wish everyone the best as we put our best foot forward into the uncertainties of 2021!
Here's some pictures of our first commission ready to be de-lasted. Made on a modified chisel toe last to accommodate a high instep. Fully handmade and handwelted with 11spi handstitched oak bark tanned outsoles.
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We make all our bespoke shoes with this type of hand-stitching. It serves the same function as a regular bar tack but takes longer to finish. Tiny details can make a big difference and this adds a very intimate detail to shoes, at least for me.
Thread, Curved Needles, Awl
Pre-punch with sewing machine and widen slightly with awl (from the lining side)
I thread mine through roughly 8 times
Making the first loop (If i'm not wrong this is the same as a buttonhole stitch)
Placing each stitch right next to each other
Halfway through
Finish by tying ends behind the tongue (Pardon the poor lining pattern)
Finished
Another finished bartack
]]>He is a perfumer so alcohol and essential oils are quite inevitable in his line of work and this left tiny spots all over his shoes.
Visible Alcohol Stains
Initially, I suggested using only creams to restore the colour but the stained areas absorbed the cream differently so I took in the pair for a more extensive restoration.
Here's my process below:
Shoes are lightly stripped of old waxes and cream using acetone. Acetone is highly effective in removing dyes as well so take extra care to not remove too much dye or this will turn into a re-patina job.
After prepping the surface, I used Fiebings leather dye to add colour back to the affected areas.
After Stripping and Recolouring
Acetone removes oils and dries out leather so it is important to condition and nourish the leather after applying the dye.
At this stage, expect the colour to change due to the darkening effect of the oils and also a slight lightening effect where the solvent in the conditioner pulls off some dye.
For alcohol stained shoes, this could mean that the stains re-surface and become prominent again. If this happens, go back to re-colouring and dyeing to smooth out any stains.
Conditioned and after applying creams
After conditioning, the rest is the standard shoe care routine. Use shoe creams to blend and help the colours pop, followed by waxes to help seal and protect the finish.
I used black cream on the toe gradually blending into the body with a combination of light brown and walnut and finished with a medium shine on the toes using the high shine wax.
Here are some photos of the finished project. The stains are still visible if you look up close, especially nearer to the burnished toe areas. Overall, they are much better than before which
Medium Shine on Toes
Sunset Shot
Unobrush and Pure Polish
While shoemakers are considered shoukunins, we are often reliant on other artisans when it comes to shoemaking tools.
Here's an introduction to my Japanese tools
Part 2: Lasting Pliers (Wani)
Wani means crocodile in Japanese, which is a pretty apt description of the lasting pliers.
Crocodiles in action
The last of the lasting pliers craftsman retired a couple of years before I moved to Japan. From what I gather, when craftsmen were abundant, shoemakers were able to custom order one, pretty much bespoke to their specification. These were not necessarily restricted to just the width and length but also the curvature, pivot point and handle shapes. Nowadays, the Japanese made stuff can only be found second-hand and often go for a pretty price, over ¥20,000, not unlike the famous Swedish E.A. Berg pliers.
Lucky find in auction
I was lucky to find a pair in an auction. These do not have the maker's name engraved on them and feel slightly different from the infamous Otani pliers that I was fortunate to have used in shoemaking school.
Japanese lasting pliers are usually narrow nosed, much more so than the Swedish patterned pliers. My pair measures 1.5mm and 3.5mm while the narrow Swedish comes in at 7mm.
7mm vs 1.5mm vs 3.5mm
Ruler for reference
Another feature is that the pivot/lever of the Japanese pliers usually comes in a smooth finish. This allows for a seamless transition from pulling in the leather to placing the nail and finally hammering the feather edge; something which I appreciate quite a bit nowadays.
Swedish Pattern vs Japanese pivot
Despite the recent rise in number of bespoke shoemakers in Japan, it is a shame that this industry no longer exists in Japan. Part of the reason could be due to mechanisation of the shoemaking industry where bigger factories usually employ lasting machines rather than lasting by hand or perhaps due to outsourcing to lower cost countries such as China or Vietnam.
Ironically, if auction prices are any indication of the real value of these pliers then it may also have been the artisans themselves setting a price too low for survival.
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While bespoke shoemakers are considered shoukunins, we are often reliant on other artisans when it comes to shoemaking tools.
Here's an introduction to my Japanese tools
]]>While bespoke shoemakers are considered shoukunins, we are often reliant on other artisans when it comes to shoemaking tools.
Here's an introduction to my Japanese tools
Part 1: Knives (Tokyo Uchihamono)
I was taught to use only Japanese craft knives for shoe making, from clicking and skiving of uppers, feathering the holdfast to preparing the outsoles and heels. These knives are might look oddly shaped but are surprisingly versatile.
Insole Trimming
The blades are crafted the traditional way, with each piece starting off as a block of carbon steel before being forged and hammered by hand into the right shape and sharpened by hand.
All my blades are made from either Aogami or Shirogami, traditional Japanese high carbon steels, which are highly regarded around the world.The typical construction of these blades involves 2 types of steel, a hard spine with a soft cladding. This method of construction results in a blade that has good balance between sharpness and ease of sharpening.
Knife Cross Section
For the knife enthusiasts, this construction also allows for a Kasumi finish. The Kasumi is the wave which appears on single beveled knives where the softer steel meets the harder steel. The type of whetstone used during sharpening can affect the Kasumi finish. I've been told that using natural stones results in the most beautiful Kasumi. Thankfully, a Kasumi finish is purely aesthetics and I am happy as long as my knives are sharp.
Close up shot, no kasumi finish
The handle material is Japanese Magnolia wood. This is a lightweight wood which is fairly resilient against water damage and is commonly used for tool handles in Japan. Some blade smiths offer different types of wood. Aside from having a different grain pattern for aesthetic reasons, the weight of the wood varies and tilts the balance towards the handle; I can imagine this being enough of a reason for the seasoned craftsmen because these upgrades can cost more than the blade itself.
The number of blade smiths in Japan is on the decline but due to the huge demand from the culinary industry, we should still be able to enjoy their works for some time, unlike lasting pliers, which will be the feature of the next post.
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First step is to add some scrap 5mm soling leather on on toe. After skiving the top edge and wetting it to help the hard leather conform to the last, I nailed it in place temporarily while waiting for the leather and glue to set in place.
After drying, I shaped the toe using a combination of knife and rasp to get the desired toe profile. I was looking to get a sleek chiseled look so I lowered the toe height considerably while straightening out the side edges. Leather is not as hard as wood or plastic, so some leather hardener goes a long way when modifying lasts this way.
Experienced makers have a good eye for lines and can spot any imperfections immediately. I try to get my lines smooth and clean by looking at the last from multiple angles, a small trick is to hold it against the light and check if there's any breaks in the reflection.
It is not uncommon for bespoke shoemakers to only make one side of the last and then get it copied as a pair before finishing up. If I had access to a last maker locally, I'd probably do the same to save some time when I get busy.
Adjusting the toe shape took about 6 hours, excluding the drying and waiting times. Quite pleased with how these are turning out so far. Stay tuned for updates to this pair.
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