Bill Bird Bespoke Orthopedic Shoemaking Series

YouTube video series by Bill Bird showing and explaining the process of bespoke orthopedic making from measurement through lastmaking and shoemaking

Measuring

1. Principles of Measuring a Foot for a Bespoke Orthopedic Last

• more complicated that straight bespoke
• “last draft”
• all the information to make a last
• as much about feeling the foot
  • where joints are
  • where does it bend
  • where are firm and soft tissues
  • how flexible it is
• 3D scanners measure surface of skin or sock, not what’s underneath
• he’s measuring a plastic anatomical model
• start standing
• tracing
  • pen 7mm diameter
  • 3½mm out
  • holding 90°
  • presses into the side, so evens out difference between soft and firm structures
  • pressing as hard as wants the shoe to put pressure on the foot
• length measure
  • stick to measure
• have client sit
  • arch comes back up
  • foot relaxes
  • measure length again, usually shorter
• while sitting, 45° tracing of arch
• 45° is perpendicular to the axis
• tape measures for bone structures
• not recording the shapes, but predicting them from the draft
• ball girth
  • capsule of medial joint
  • capture the roundness of joint capsule
  • around fifth toe joint, by feel, right through center
  • open up the tape and mark lines on the tracing both sides of the tape
  • tension matters, changes measurements, determines how much pressure shoe puts on foot
  • writes measurement between lines tracing sides of tape on the medial side
• shows a completed draft
• shows last made to the draft

2. The Soft Tissue Structures and Bones of the Foot

• what measuring?
• feel through soft tissues to bones

Girth Measurements

1. 1:09 Ball Joint Measure
   • first to fifth ball joint
   • “MPJs” [metatarsophalangeal joints]
2. 1:41 Behind the Joint
   • fifth toe joint
   • just behind first toe joint, in soft tissues
   • immediately behind spherical bulb
   • importance: defines the “going on” of the shoe
   • e.g. for slip-on shoe
   • measured where the tab ends on slip-on, but same for lace-up shoe
   • balance between being able to get in and have the shoe hold the foot
   • heel passes the quarters of the shoe when there’s just enough pressure
3. 3:23 Instep Measure
   • highest point of instep
   • tarsus made of flexible square bones
   • shock absorption of the foot, supination and pronation, here
   • “crank” of high-heeled last here
   • wrap around in front of base of fifth metatarsal to second cuneiform bone
   • can feel second cuneiform bone by palpating and pressing down
   • jargon: “measure to the bone” (means this bone)
4. 5:14 Top of Instep
   • peroneal tendons go around ankle under a notch
   • back/proximal side of bending group of bones
   • tape into notch of digiti minimi
   • up to where foot meets the shin, into the notch
   • retinaculum turning the tendons
   • top of the facings (lace panels) can’t go higher than this
5. 6:43 Long Heel
   • put tape zero on second cuneiform
   • wrap around the bulb of heel
   • cross over in a V
   • locates the point where instep girth measurement was taken for lastmaker
6. 7:27 Short Heel
   • around heel bulb
   • around top of instep
   • crossing at V
   • important for boots
   • the “choke” or “going-on” of the boot
   • even if have zip

Length Measurements

• 8:57
• with size stick
• standing in stocking feet
  • just touch the toe
  • records in millimeters
• take seated, as well
  • shows change in arch
  • foot gets shorter
• could make right up to 4” heels from same draft, knowing how joints flex
• when you’re good at measurement, it gives the client confidence

3. Measuring a Client’s Feet for Bespoke Orthopedic Shoes

Draft to Last

4. The Heel Section

Review of Foot Draft

• all you need to make lasts for any kind of shoe, regardless of heel height
• 2D to 3D process
• “tool for making a shoe on”

Lastmaking

• start with a stock last slightly larger
• prefer reducing wood to building up so building on wood
• carve rough lasts from wood blocks for exceptional feet, e.g. size 15 with straight inside line

The Joint

• start at joint and work back
• “the foot will always gravitate toward that joint”
• demo: thermoplastic shell around medial side of finished last
• downhill ramp from heel to ball
• lowest point called “the tread”
• ball of plastic model foot
• “will go down until it nestles into that thread, into that low point”, even if it creates gap at heel, crushes the toes
• “the joint of the foot will automatically find the corresponding part of the shoe”
• marked the joint on the tracing when marking the position of the tape for ball girth
• carve with sandpaper and sanding machines
• used to be done all by hand
• remember: tracing half a pen width wider than foot, 3½mm out
• want tracing of the last to match tracing of the foot with the same pen

The Clip

• want the shoe to clasp the foot at the heel so that the foot can’t escape
• called “the clip”
• common fitting problem: forefoot and arch feels great, but foot slips out when walking
• wedge over the bulb of the heel
• Achilles tendon narrow there
• don’t want to squeeze the heel so much that the foot pushes back, pushes the quarters out, causing topline gaps
• starting out, Bill would see the gap at the topline, take away material there to make it narrower, but the gap would still be there because the foot was pushing the material out from underneath
• “not too big, not too small”

The Arch

9:50

• on draft: traced 90° and 45°
• distance between tracing lines shows height of the arch at that point
• don’t want to fully support the foot
• foot has bounce to it
• if fully supported, will feel cossetted, disabled
• “a bit of bounce”
• makes last so 45° tracing of arch falls about 4mm outside the 45° tracing of the foot on the draft
• foot gives a bit of shock absorption before it hits the arch support of the shoe
• called “rectification”
• “rectify the arch”
• from joint through waist tarsus rigid, strong
• from joint forward, very flexible, can be squished
• “The way shop shoes work is they give you more room than you need here [around the heel] and less room than you need here [around the ball] so the toes get squished. That holds the foot into the heel.”
• bunions, hammertoes, damage to toes
• a method of getting shoe to fit 65-70% of people with a foot that long
• “What we’re going to do is hold the foot firmly here [over the instep] and give room for all these toes so they don’t end up looking like this model.”

5. The Toe Section

• “all large animals…have hooves”
• “a mouse has toes”
• “human beings…only got two legs…only species that has both”
• we land and stand on a hoof (tarsus)
• we flex our toes and balance and take off with claws
• hoof at the back, claws at the front
• “we like to call the toes and paint them pretty”
• toes must have room to move
• flexibility and sensitivity to the ground
• experiment:
  • heel on stair step with toes over, touch the handrail, take other foot off the ground, close eyes, try to balance on heel alone
  • face the other way, heel off and toes on, easier to balance
• flat surface under ball versus very contoured waist
• “West-end London” toe and last shape
  • Lobb’s
  • Foster’s
  • New & Lingwood
• longer than the foot
  • general for Men’s: 3 sizes or 25mm longer than foot
  • ladies’ or women’s: 2 sizes (16mm) longer than foot
• 4:53 traces last made to fit over draft and compares
  • conforms with medial joint
  • cuts across the front of the big toe very slightly
    • can do that without damage
    • “gives you enormous scope for elegance”
  • just skimmed the fifth toe
    • can’t press on it
  • pulled in a bit on the joint of the fifth toe
    • pulls the toe
    • makes the foot feel secure
    • helps about pinching the toe
  • empty space in front about an inch longer than foot
    • air
    • toes can move
    • creates elegant shape
    • last designer has freedom here
    • e.g. trainer: round and only slightly longer than foot
    • e.g. slip-on moccasin without toe puff: flat recede
    • e.g. fell boot for climbing: thick and bulky
    • e.g. chisel style, sharp recede, square sides
    • has wood cutouts of different toe shapes
    • all could be on the last without changing the fitting
    • style, culture, society they keep
• 9:36 profile
  • trace the last laying on its side
  • akin to a silhouette
  • toe shape = outline + profile
• “the recede” the whole 3D shape
• highest over big toe
• difference between elegant last and ugly, bumpy thing
• difference of millimeters
• spend lots of time with little bits of sandpaper
• customers come back if the shoes look elegant

6. Girth Measurements

• now between the joint and heel
• six girth measures on draft
• long heel
  • bulb of heel round
  • seat of last has ridge for featherline
  • makes it slightly larger than the round heel of the foot
  • last 2-3mm larger than foot
  • e.g. foot was 348mm, make the last 351mm
  • locate the second cuneiform bone on the last via the measurement
• short heel
  • e.g. 321mm → 324mm
  • shows top of the instep
  • for boot last, would put an addition at top of the instep of the last
  • facing mustn’t go higher than where the ankle begins
• mark the joint on the last
• mark the measure points on the last
• “the crank” where the last curves
• it’s where the foot is bending
• doesn’t mark medial measure points, since already marked the bones on the instep from the lateral measures
• get the last measures the same as the draft
• tension put on the foot is tension from the shoe when made
• behind the joint
  • 228mm measured
  • gave it 1 extra mm at 229mm
  • if too small here, shoe will slide down, throw a crease over the ball
• third measure
  • 229mm matching exactly
  • remember sock lining will take room
  • will spread the facings slightly
• fourth measure
  • top of instep
  • perineal muscle notch
  • 246mm
  • likes it slightly large here [implied: another 1mm]
  • otherwise facings gape
  • if too small, could add shover on top
  • oak-bark tanned leather skived and cemented on
  • like to avoid fittings
• now complete last
• needs to slip into two parts
• style: c. France 1890
• foot can flex, but last can’t

7. Creating a Profile and Outline from a Draft

Outline

• make an outline that has a toe shape
• without space, square Scandinavian shoe like a Wallabee
• “in the west—in our part of the west—we like to have a nice, rounded toe shape”
• usually 2-3 sizes longer than foot
• crosses over tracing of big toe slightly
• don’t contain the fifth toe (painful)
• can contain the foot just behind the joint on the lateral side
• cut out the outline, mark where the measurements were taken
• outline is flat on the ground
• for heel, outline climbs up a ramp
• making 1″ heel shoe
• back of ball of foot hits the ground in a wavy pattern
• 

Profile

• plan and section : architecture :: outline and profile : shoemaking
• subtract the thickness of the sole in calculating pitch
• pitch = heel height - thickness of sole
• pitch of last different from heel height
• bottom of the foot heel actually is round
• orthopedic, don’t have flat bottoms
• last heel bottom curved
• using 8mm spring
• marks where the longest toe ends
• standard last length
• back profile
  • shoe 1/5 of SLL e.g. 1/5 of 27.5 about 5.5
  • parallel line 6mm in
  • create a curve within the box
  • 10mm of last to stick up above the shoe
• 7:57 short heel and long heel in reverse
  • loop tape at short heel measure
  • curve it like it was going around heel
  • lays curve on profile with fingers
  • uses like compass to draw curve intersecting the eventual instep line
  • curve of all possible positions of the top of the instep
  • same for long heel measure
• corresponding measures
  • top of instep for short heel
  • makes a loop for bottom of arch
  • make another arc
  • find the intersection
  • draws line on outline 2mm out from it for error and expecting the wood to be sanded down
  • same for instep measure (corresponds to long heel)
  • gives 2mm again
  • want 10mm of cone sticking out
  • using experience and judgment, draw curve down to toe, topline back to back height
• using local ash block
• will cut out outline on horizontal, profile on vertical

Last Carving

8. The Wood and the Bandsaw

• use outline and profile to carve

Wood

• locally grown ash
• called “a spoke”
  • spoke: section of log
  • bark bottom
  • radiate like spokes of a wheel
  • very economical
  • shrinkage less along bark than radially
• “ash is OK”
• softer summer versus hard winter growth
• beech, maple, hornbeam better
  • very smooth
  • consistent carving in all directions
• bad
  • pine
  • softwoods
  • break up
  • lasting rivets can split them
  • oak
    • full of tannin, dyes shoe blue
    • big summer-winter difference
  • lime OK, but soft, easy to destroy

Carving

• on bandsaw
• before bandsaw
  • used manual bow saw, hatchet
  • quite efficient when the power cuts out
  • rasp
  • did this as Tom Steinhoven’s apprentice at Lobb’s
• bandsaw much quicker
• modern: turning lathes, C2C
• disclaimer
  • not an instructional video!
  • too many pitfalls, too many dangers
  • need competent guidance
• sharp bandsaw safer
• principle: keep three points on the table at any time for safety
• tops table with wood to smooth out, nothing catches
• dust extractor
• prescription goggles, ear defenders
• “Don’t do this unless you have very professional supervision of experienced people.”

9. Carving the Last Outline and Profile on a Bandsaw

Outline

• problem: no wood over toe
• blade will pull down
• cut from joint to joint where flat from below, then cut the toe from above
• toe
  • first cuts to length, approaching a slice at a time
  • then follows the curve
  • little bit by bit
  • approach the lines slowly
  • “a lot easier than it looks”

Profile

• redraw the profile
  • bending the profile around makes it too short
  • have to look down and project it
• fill wood flaws with car body filler
• [How is he keeping the profile perpendicular? Isn’t the side he’s resting on curved now?]
• [Seems he has enough points to rest on.]
• “a kind of Picasso, cubist last”
• all the corners still on
• carve away on the bandsaw
• then to standing machines to do the rest
• old days: rasp

10. Detail on Bandsaw

• center axis down second toe and middle of cone
• more volume on lateral than medial side
• draw line on rough last, should still be there when done
• foot-shaped, crooked, not symmetrical
• more scoop to hold the shoe on
• foot very narrow under ankle bones and Achilles tendon
• freehand bandsaw cutting
• the “range” (flat surface in front) needs rounded edges (“crown”)
• brushes off waste with right hand as he goes
• rounds out heel shape, but looking straight from the back
• “I’m not carving a last as sculpture, carving the inside of the shoe”
• “I’m not thinking about the last, I’m thinking about the shoe”
• scoop from lateral heel over waist down over toes
• blade never more than a couple mm into wood
• using the blade like a rasp or carving machine
• skimming the wood
• make sure wood will break away more than be grabbed
• move the wood through in smooth, flowing shapes
• only take off 1-2mm at a time
• effortless
• mistake people make: going too deep in one cut
• skim in over and over

11 Using a Rasp to Smooth Contours

• Tom Steinhoven: don’t work in a vice, but in hand
• real feel for the shape
• artistic carving
• heel pressed into stomach
• rasp “starts to put line in”
• rasping and sanding by hand gives more dynamic, beautiful shape
• made more accurate than any stock last
• check the measures
• mark the positions where measurements were taken on the last
• joint measure: 4mm over
• behind joint: 4mm over
• instep: 4mm over
• top: 15mm over
• “we’re really, really close there”
• rasp works, sanding machine just faster
• not hiding any secrets with the rasp, but it’s not easy

12. Sanding

• finishing machine
• 3” belts
• 8” and 4” diameter wheels
• can DIY glue sandpaper to disc
• friend Dave had the machine made
• really good extractor
• well guarded
• “nice and slow”
• 24-grit
• first: good bottom profile
  • solid piece of plywood coated in pink chalk that shows up well on the wood lasts
  • 20mm pitch block
• work plan:
  • work bottom until “tread” (where crown touches the ground)
  • “break point” where curve starts to come up toward heel
  • “range” where featherline coherently curves around front of toe
  • heel seat
  • for square heel men’s shoe: heel lays flat, not pitched forward
• first works on moving the tread back toward the joint
• sands, then checks on board with pitch block
• next works the heel seat
  • “D-shaped curve”
  • seen from the back, a straight line
  • seen from the side, a straight line
  • “otherwise the shoe will look awful”
  • “crown” the convex curve of the forepart
• then works break point or curve and arch
  • feels the shape of a plaster cast arch, then feels the shape of the last to compare
  • don’t want to completely replicate
  • wants to rectify
  • use thumb and forefinger as dividers between ball of heel and ball of joint
  • “very much a feeling game”
  • sometimes washing dishes, looks clean, but can feel sticky food
  • spatial awareness by feel far more sensitive than vision
  • want slight curve on waist for elegance more than fit
  • makes the waist look narrow and shaped
• upper part
  • “line” gives a last elegance
  • on foot
    • medial: up the arch, then down the bones
    • lateral: all the bones very low
  • up to the navicular, then down to the calcaneus
  • has to flow or will look wrong
  • medial line
    • “make a really nice feature of it”
  • back shape
    • easier to bind foot with lacing, strap, etc.
    • bulb of the heel / calcaneus
    • laced back so bulb can’t get over the clip of the Achilles
    • rubs pads of thumbs into the scoops of the clip from the top
  • scoop or sweep
    • parabola at back
    • parabola over forepart
    • gives flow to the last
    • focuses on it hand sanding
    • Salvatore Ferragamo V&A exhibition:
      • had some of his lasts
      • he pushed down really flat on the outside lateral ahead of base of fifth metatarsal
    • “very few of my clients do have elegant feet”
  • work on toe shape
    • highest volume over distal end of big toe
    • more straightness on both sides of the toe for style
  • can now put steel rivets and car body filled into flaw in wood on the toe
  • heel feather edge sharp corner, so add allowance
  • checking heel measurements against last
  • checking joint measurement
  • to bring up, add leather patch (shoulder leather)
  • checks instep measurements
  • his pitch block is scooped at the top, not flat
• recommends finishing with hand sanding
• can get very close in
• hand sanding can flow in lines following those of the last
• could go up to 80 grit on the machine
• hand sanding takes the bumps off
• just has sandpaper under two fingers
• “bark-bottom last” puts rings parallel to the bottom
• don’t usually finish with wax, since can come off shoe, still sketch on it during patternmaking
• can show the client drawings, sand it off

Foot Conditions

13. Categories of Foot Conditions Requiring Bespoke Orthopedic Shoes

14. Shoe Design Principles for People with Chronic Tissue Swelling

15. Shoe Design Principles for People with Fragile Skin

16. Shoe Design Principles for People with Anaesthetic Foot

17. Shoe Design Principles for People with Internal Chronic Foot Pain

18. Shoe Design Principles for people with Hyper Mobility Joint Syndrome

19. Shoe Design Principles for People with First Degree Deformity

20. Shoe Design Principles for People with Second Degree Deformity

21. Shoe Design Principles for People with Third Degree Deformity

22. Hidden Elements of a Bespoke Orthopaedic Shoe

• ankle boot for demonstration
• invisible: stiffeners, insoles, and toe puffs

Stiffeners

• “short stiffener” example
• open lining, insert stiffener
• shoemakers paste on outside of stiffener, place up against upper
• more past on inside of stiffener
• push lining to stiffener
• “lining pasted to stiffener pasted to upper”
• shaped on the last
• “shell shape”
• variety of stiffeners
• oak-bark belly leather
• wet, so malleable
• soaked “for quite some time”
• long stiffener: all the way around lateral and medial sides to support all the way along
  • good for hypermobility
  • court shoe or other shoe that’s open far down
  • keeps the uppers from gaping during walk
  • “doesn’t ‘blow’”
• 3:53 skiving
  • sharp knife, looks like a Barnsley paring knife
  • top edge
    • tapers to nothing top edge
    • skives the flesh side
    • can’t feel ridge with finger
  • bottom edge / lasting allowance
    • flips the leather to skive the hair side
• lays over the heel of the last
• very firm and supportive when dry
• shape can be a “prescription element”, too
  • e.g. long on medial, short on lateral
  • people with collapsed arches often have swelling around ankle
  • can make the difference for a comfortable shoe
• medium stiffener
  • lighter
  • less supportive
  • still solid
  • want to last 10-20 years
• short stiffener
  • in most shoes you buy off the shelf
  • uses little material, cheaper
  • doesn’t have to have left or right, same shape for both shoes
  • don’t spend money where it isn’t seen, people don’t know
• feel as important as appearances
• Haglund’s Bump
  • osteophyte on bottom of Achilles
  • some buy ready-made shoes, bring them in, they open up the quarters and cut the stiffeners out
• can skive down to make lighter
• stiffeners contribute a lot to weight

Toe Puffs

• fine tune for the most elegant toe shapes
• light or heavy
• industrial: “steel toe puff” / “toe cap”
• “wall toe puff”:
  • just around the sides, not the top
  • to protect hammer toes
• no puffs in thin moccasins
  • but that’s different
  • more like a leather sock

Insoles

• usually covered with sock lining
• “backbone of the shoe”
• oak bark shoulder leather
• wetted so malleable, dies hard to shape
• carefully shape the bottoms of the lasts
• behaving like an orthotic insert
• insoles become firm when dry, too
• carved to shape with knife
• example has big turned-up portion through the arch
• runs knife against the last
• normal insoles in store shoes don’t support the arch at all
• scour away the front of some insoles, add a cushion to make the forepart very soft, compared to reinforced the heel part with a steel shank
  • back: contain the foot
  • front: flexibility and softness
  • metatarsalgia
• others: big toe arthritic, painful to bend
  • build up carbon fiber and resin layers so shoe rigid through
  • rocker on the bottom
  • walk without bending toe

23 Measuring LLD in Footwear using a shoe-horn

Old, Loose Notes

Measurements

• tracings
  • standing foot at 90°
  • seated arch at 45°
• lengths with size stick
  • standing foot length
  • seated foot length
• girths and tape positions
  • ball girth joint to joint
  • just behind medial joint
  • arch to cuneiform bone
  • instep to crook of ankle
• girths
  • short heel to crook of ankle
  • long heel to cuneiform bone

Rectification of the Arch

• Watch from here.
• Arch shape of the last is a bit wider than the tracing of the arch.
• Arch is traced with pencil at 45°, perpendicular to the axis of the foot.
• Don’t want to fully support the foot.
• Foot is a bit flexible, will bounce as it’s loaded and unloaded.
• If fully supported, the wearer will feel cossetted.
• Allow a bit of bounce.
• Gives 4mm allowance out from the arch tracing.
• Gives a little shock absorption before hitting arch support.

Recede

The “recede” is the sloping of the toe shape of the last toward the tip of the toe box.

Toe Shape

• video: The Toe Section
• A good looking design is millimeters of difference.
• If it’s just good enough, they’ll pay but not come back.
• If it looks great, they’ll come back.

Girth Measurements

• checking against last
  • short heel: add 2–3mm to account for the non-round featherline [a girth adjustment]
  • long heel: same
• locate cuneiform bone via long heel
• locate instep via short heel
• mark joints on last
• “shover” name for volume of leather added to build up last
• “slipping the last” in two pieces
• foot can flex, but last can’t

Draft to Last

• from 3D to 2D back to 3D
• outline with toe shape
• extends usually 2 to 3 sizes longer than foot
• bring in big toe slightly
• don’t contain the fifth toe (causes pain)
• can bring in slightly behind fifth toe joint
• make cutout of bottom paper (“outline”)
• example: 26 mm/1 inch heel
• create “profile”
• subtract thickness of the sole
• “pitch” of the heel
• heel height less thickness of sole
• pitch does not equal heel height
• bespoke orthopedic: no flat heel bottoms, always rounded
• curve to heel
• align ball joints of outline and profile
• used 8 mm spring
• standard last length
• back profile
  • shoe is 1/5 of standard last length
  • parallel line 6mm in creating a box
  • draw curve within the box
  • add 10 mm above the shoe so the last sticks above the shoe
• short heel, long heel measurements
  • measure out with tape into a loop
  • wrap the loop around the curve of the heel of the outline
  • move that curve over the profile, back at the heel
  • run a pencil in the far part of the loop to mark a curve with all possible points where top of instep or cuneiform could fall
  • same for long heel
• two other girth measures go to same points: top of instep and cuneiform
• triangulate top of instep and cuneiform
• give a few mm of extra so can sand down
• 10mm of cone sticking up out of shoe