Ken Hishinuma Reddish Brown Shoes Series

YouTube video series of Ken Hishinuma making himself some Oxfords from ILCEA box calf

Part 1: Clicking and Closing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMR2BuMYtWE

• clicking
• closing

Part 2: Insoles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_UGKQa-sbQ

• blocking
• insole carving
  • feather plow

Part 3: Lasting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muZdLQVO5eo

• lasting

Part 4: Welting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htbsduc0ra8

• welting
  • premade Italian leather welt
  • 1:56 replaces the lasting tacks with staples so his inseaming thread won’t get caught on nails
  • draws a line for the inseam on the upper with a silver pen
  • 3:28 Tiger Thread for welting
  • self-made bristles from wire
    • folded in half to make a loop
    • twisted together
  • used to use hemp, but polyester easier
  • knots the tread past the needles
  • wets the insole with water
  • staple remover
  • staple gun for staple lasting
  • curved awl
  • lap board with foot strap
  • hand leather on left hand
  • removes staples as he stitches
  • holds bristles in mouth
  • starts at the heel breast on the inside, works forward toward the toe
  • initially tightens with the fingers, not pulling very hard
  • first pierces the upper, then lays the welt over the tip of the awl
  • inserts the bristle while withdrawing the awl
  • inserts both bristles through the hole at the same time
  • now tightens hard, wrapping the awl haft and using the hand leather
  • tensions the welt while sewing
  • avoid unattractive wavy welt
  • [Ken appears to be piercing the upper just outside where the staples lie, between the staple holes and the featherline.]
  • purpose of welt to avoid damage to upper when resoling
  • hand sewing takes about an hour per side
  • discussion of Goodyear welting
    • t-shaped canvas ribs inflexible
    • more flexible
    • can choose where to place the welt
    • comfort
    • advantages and disadvantages
  • 14:47 around the toe
    • shorter distance between holes
    • threads in twine as rib reinforcement
    • never had an issue without it
    • taps the welt with a hammer to help bend it
  • finishing
    • cuts the welt square, then skives as a separate step
• sewing the seat
  • marks stitch spacing with a compass
  • no pre-pierced holes
  • pierces from the outside in
  • looks like he saddle stitches, but it isn’t fully shown
• welt a bit distorted
• smooths down with a stick
• trims the lasting allowance
  • “the most refreshing of all the steps in shoemaking”
  • cuts right up to the welt
  • does just the upper leather first
  • then does the linings and stiffeners
• shows how the feather led the upper to lay flat
• hammers down flat
• removes tacks holding insole to last

Part 5: Filling and Shanking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VgyiLz7_gM

• bottom filling
• affects cushioning and stiffness
• affects the rolling motion during gait
• reduced the width of the welt
• saved the strip of leather from carving the channel
• fastest and most efficient to cut one strip and replace it
• starting out, thought that difficult, but tried it and succeeded, and saved time
• likes the look of it
• applies glue to both channel and the strip
• hammers down
• cork sheet filling
  • glues down through heel seat and shank first
  • pares flush with leather knife
  • rasps flat
• shanking
  • bespoke: bamboo shanks
  • made to order: iron shanks
  • “is no big difference.”
  • uses iron here
  • wraps the shank in tape
  • two-rib premade shank
  • tape helps the adhesive hold the shank
  • bent to fit the shape of the arch
  • leather for leather shank covers about 3mm thick
  • made a tracing of the heel seat and shank area to cut
  • pares by hand
  • combined steel and leather shank to made more rigid behind the ball joint
  • supports bodyweight
  • controls bending and twisting during gait
  • alternative: also cork underneath, but that just fills the recess
  • glues and hammers down
  • pares down with knife, especially beveling the edges at the welt
  • rasps
• forepart
  • covers the forepart in masking tape
  • traces the shape of the cavity with felt marker
  • uses to cut cork sheet
  • one template for each side
  • gives some cushion, but not so thick that feels “fluffy”
  • flatten out the surface
  • make sure the ball meets the ground correctly
  • feels weird to land on the wrong part of the foot
  • center of gravity
  • contact point slightly behind the ball joint
• shaped forepart somewhat concave, so the foot rolls
• shaped shank more concave

Part 6: Soling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpLpF0gYQ0Y

• [low-tack tape above featherline around heel and forepart]
• oak-bark-tanned sole leather
  • lasts longer
  • from Dusini
  • applied glue then cased overnight
• carved the outsole to improve the beveled waist
• hammers down with French hammer, over a piece of scrap leather
• uses a stick to press the welt down in long, continuous strokes
• trims the sole with a Japanese leather knife, backhand
• trims through the waist at an angle, creating a bevel
• hidden channel
  • about 5mm thick sole
  • 2:45 flap
    • about 1mm thick
    • cuts with Japanese leather knife, backhand, very slowly
    • stops at the heel breast
    • hammers the flap down, then lifts it back up with a stick
  • wets the welt
  • heated fudge to mark stitching
  • gum tool to create a stitch channel under the flap
  • thread making
    • golden thread
    • ramie

    • This is the easiest Japanese thread to use.

    • cobbler’s wax

      • from a mixture of oil, rosin and wax

      • [seems to be bluish in color]
      • wax allowed to soak into ramie
    • ties one end to a bench
    • ramie originally white, later dyed
    • rubs hand leather with wax against the thread
    • darkens the thread, makes it shiny, reduces fluffiness
    • increases durability and strength
    • works like adhesive
    • prevents water penetration
    • burnishes again with cloth to remove excess and soften the wax
  • as a final step, coats with wax to make slippery [looks like light beeswax]
  • thread becomes hard
• boar bristles
  • twists off a taered end
  • scrapes over a wire brush
  • applies cobbler’s wax to taper and bristle
  • wraps the thread around the bristle
• 10:37 outseaming
  • bristles in mouth
  • foot strap
  • twists the curved awl a lot
  • starts from inside waist toward forepart
  • coarser stitches through waist since the bevel will hide them
  • can only stitch deeply beveled waist by hand
  • fine for strength, since doesn’t bend or touch the ground
  • [puts both bristles through the holes at once, starting with the bristle up from the bottom]
  • more efficient to punch and stitch as you go, not pre-punch
  • holing all at once too much strain on hands
  • piercing the next hole closes the previous one, so have to widen the hole again
  • keeps the awl in right hand
  • wraps the thread with the awl haft
  • hand leather on left hand
  • doesn’t pull as tight as inseaming
  • very curved, narrow awl blade
  • final stitch: just from top to bottom, leaving thread under flap
  • presses the leather around the stitches on the bottom of the sole down with a stick
  • lays the flap down
  • hammers through the waist with the pane of a French hammer
  • lay the flap down ASAP to avoid wrinkles
• flap will dry faster, since thinner
• roughly 2.4mm stitch length

Part 7: Heel Building

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohGNde0e8CU

• heel building
• pre-cut heel lifts
• rounded last bottom creates a very rounded heel seat
• bent leather rand
  • or can cut out the center of a lift
  • notches the leather strip for the rand around the bend
  • wets the leather, immediately shapes and hammers down
  • let dry bent
  • shaves and rasps the heel seat of the outsole
  • people think the heels are made of wood
  • costs: each lift about 150 yen, for one heel several hundred yen
  • other materials: MDF, Nanpo (from leather scraps)
  • leather the best, mostly for appearance, but also very durable, better for repair
  • can remove top lift without tearing away pieces of the heel
  • rubber gives more cushioning
  • paints glue around the edge of the seat and sticks the rand on, hammers it down
  • pegging awl through rand, outsole, and insole
  • wood pegs in the center of the rand
  • pierces all wholes first, then goes back and adds pegs
  • trims tops of pegs with knife
• first top lifts
  • paints with paste
  • paints paste on the bottom of the rand
  • cut a single notch out of the center of the first lift, out of the breast line
  • hammers it down
  • trims flat with the knife
  • rasps
  • trims the edge with a map knife and the leather knife, pushing and pulling cuts
• [some time skipped]
• three lifts stacked
• checking flatness with side of rasp
• last lift
• rand file
  • theeth on one side, flat bevel like a knife on the other
  • uses between the upper and rand
  • has covered the upper right above the featherline with low-tack tape
• hammering
  • peens the heel lifts with the peen of a French hammer, striking with the face of the peen perpendicular to the length of the heel, creating lines that go from bottom to top
  • then hammers with the round face of the hammer
  • tighten the fibers and fill gaps
  • file, strokes all in one direction
• nailing
  • down through all the lifts, under the top lift
  • only replaced when whole heel is replaced
  • drives at slight angle inward toward the center of the heel
  • together, they hold he heel lifts together like a claw
  • nails driven straight risk coming out
• top lift
  • combination leather and rubber
  • paints paste on heel lift and top lift
  • hammers down
  • trims with Japanese leather knife, backhand and pushing
• glass scraper
• can see papillary and reticular layers of the leather lifts
• heel breasting
  • pencil lines marked on side of heel and top lift
  • trims with map knife
  • rasps with rand file
  • glass scraper
  • concave curve
• finishing
  • sandpaper
  • same process as outsole edges
  • wets, then sands again, mostly pushing in the same direction with long strokes
  • rubs with glazing iron
  • heel iron along the top edge
  • glossy look
  • to come: sand again, ink, polish

Part 8: Finishing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfBEwFuy614

• finishing
• ink edges
  • with paintbrush
  • pigment-based for classic shoes, dye-based when emphasizing leather texture
  • yellow masking tape on upper above edges
• natural outsole finish
  • colorless sole stain liquid
  • applied with rag over fingers
  • burnish with rag when halfdry to flatten grain
• edge wax
  • “SYLVESTER SCHAFFHAUSE”
  • rubs on edges like a crayon, back and forth
  • electric stove to heat tools
  • edge iron
  • heel iron
  • rubs the hot irons back and forth
  • temperature about 80°C
  • blend into the leather
  • leave it smooth, put patchy
  • polishes with rag wrapped around thumb
  • black-bristle brush
• removes low-tack tape
• cuts the temporary lacing ribbon
• delasting on a lasting jack
  • lasting jack appears to be a pipe with a pin held onto it with u-shaped threaded clamps
  • some struggle to get the second last out
• final polishing
  • shoe cream
  • uses brown cream on reddish leather
  • add color in the perforations
  • for black shoes, use black cream
  • brown: same or slightly lighter color, to avoid darkening
  • wants the shoes to darken in time
  • rubs in with fingers
  • brushes after rubbing in
  • toe
    • wax on the toe with finger
    • wetted flannel rag wrapped around forefinger to polish
    • using brown wax
    • antique look
    • medium circles with finger
  • brushes over the whole shoe with toe-polishing finger flannel
• shoelaces, bar lacing
• tree
• left side a little wider, to fit his wider foot
• strong Edward Green vibe
• try on
  • bitg puffs of air slipping on
  • nice fit
  • hard to make shoes for himself, because can’t measure his own feet in the right posture
  • fit improves every time
  • presses on the vamps with a pen, crosswise, to influence where the wrinkles form, as parallel as possible
  • admits the pen doesn’t really affect the process much, maybe 10%