Last Designing & Making Manual

book on hand lastmaking by George Koleff, with accompanying video

sets out geometric methods for insole shapes and last profiles

teaches lastmaking from laminated wood blocks

Foot Tracing

• foot outline
  • pencil at 90°
  • for foot length
• “tread outline”
  • pencil at 60°
  • standing
  • used for width

Foot Measurement

• always round to nearest 5 millimeters
• holding tape slack can gain 5 millimeters, pulling tight can lose 5 millimeters
• angled ball girth as “joint measurement”
• mark tape position on tracing
• instep girth
• short heel
• long heel
• waist girth
  • “immediately behind the joint”
  • 20-30 millimeters behind joint
  • 3-5 millimeters smaller than joint
• toe height

Shoe Sizing

• “metric system” [Mondopoint?]
• Metric used throughout book

Toe Allowance

• men’s pull-on boots 15-20 millimeters
• working and hiking boots 15-18 millimeters
• everyday shoes 12-15 millimeters
• pointed toe shoes 15-20 millimeters
• men’s open-toe sandals 2-4 millimeters
• ladies’ and children’s open-toe 2-4 millimeters
• ladies’ high >50 millimeters heels
  • round toes 5-8 millimeters
  • pointed toes 15-20 millimeters

Men’s Insole Geometry

The following description restates Koleff’s method in somewhat plainer terms, giving new and different names for lines and points. A guide to the point designations Koleff uses follows.

Koleff’s method relies on a foot tracing and three foot measurements: angled ball girth, instep girth, and short heel. He mentions that some also use long heel, which he says can be calculated from short heel by adding 46 to 40 millimeters.

Joint Angle Reference Line

Koleff starts by drawing a line across the forefoot purely for the purpose of determining the angle of the treadline. This is not the treadline itself, but a line used to draw it later.

He starts by drawing a straight reference line connecting widest parts of the forefoot on the tracing, corresponding to the front part of the first MTP, and the DIP of the small toe. This line resembles the way some makers measure straight ball girth.

He then draws a second reference line along in the inside of the foot that passes through the innermost point of the first reference line, at the widest part of the inside of the foot, and continuing tangent to the inside of the heel bulb of the outline.

He then draws a second reference line across the forefoot, perpendicular to the inside reference line, that passes through the MTP of the small toe on outside. This line resembles the way some makers measure waist girth.

This creates two parallel lines across the forefoot: one through the MTP of the big toe and one through the MTP of the little toe. Finally, he draws the joint angle reference line from corner to corner between these lines, connecting the MTP of the big toe and the MTP of the little toe.

Center Line and Heel Line

Koleff draws two lines along the length of the foot, one described as the center line and one described as the heel line of symmetry or backpart.

He starts by marking the center of the back of the heel curve of the tracing. He draws the center line through this point and the middle of the second toe. Foot length is determined along this center line by drawing a second line across the foot, perpendicular to the center line and tangent to the further forward point of the tracing outline of the toes. Toe allowance is added from this point forward along the center line.

He then draws the heel line of symmetry starting from the same point at the center of the back of the heel tracing and but this time extending through the middle of the third toe. This is the line across which Koleff distributes the width of the backpart later.

Heel Adjustment

Koleff shortens the heel part of the insole pattern by marking a point in front of the line at the center back of the heel tracing on the heel line of symmetry. He doesn’t explicitly say so, but this reduction seems to account for the concave roundness of the heel of the foot: the tracing of the heel shows it at its widest, but the line along which it rests on the ground is narrower.

Koleff reduces by 5 millimeters in his running example of a men’s “Metric size 26.6, width 8” foot and 25 millimeter heel height. However, he notes that the adjustment varies:

• “Normal Everyday Shoes”: Reduce 5 mm
• Pull-On Boots, Hiking Boots, Heavy Duty Boots: Reduce 1-2 mm
• Ladies High Heels, Ladies Open Toes: Allow 1-2 mm

Joint Line

Having drawn both a center line and a heel line of symmetry, Koleff draws the actual joint line, or treadline, parallel to the joint angle reference line and passing through the center line at a distance of two thirds of foot length from the back of the heel of the insole, as adjusted from the center of the back of the heel of the foot tracing.

Note that Koleff’s diagrams don’t show this line separately from the joint angle reference line. As he points out in the text, the two lines happen to overlap, given the dimensions he chose for his running example.

Joint Width

Koleff markes the edges of the insole along the treadline by two calculations:

$\text{Inside}=\text{Joint Measurement}÷6$

$\text{Outside}=(\text{Joint Measurement}÷6)+\text{10 millimeters}$

These distances are marked from the center line.

He doesn’t say why the additional 10 millimeters are added to the outside.

Heel Center and Width

Koleff locates the center of the heel by at one fifth of foot length from the back of the insole toward the forefoot along the heel line of symmetry. He draws a guideline perpendicular to the heel line of symmetry through this point.

Koleff calculates the width of the insole at the heel like so:

He rounds to the nearest millimeter.

He draws a heel width line perpendicular to the heel line of symmetry at the heel center point, then distributes the heel width evenly around the heel center point on the heel width line.

Instep Width

Koleff places the instep halfway between the joint line and the heel width line along the center line. He draws an instep width line perpendicular to the center line here.

Koleff describes calculating the inside and outside widths for the instep in very terse terms of other points and lines he’s already defined. Subtleties arise here: some of the points he refers to lie on the center line, others on the heel line of symmetry. Spelling it out:

The distance between where the instep width line crosses the center line and where it crosses the heel line of symmetry isn’t calculated. It’s determined by the angle between the center line and the heel line of symmetry and the length of the foot.

Toe Width

Koleff gives a standard method for calculating the width at the toe:

Note that this is based on the width of the joint, not joint girth.

He divides this length in two and distributes it evenly along the line perpendicular to the center line at the furthest extent of the tracing of the toes.

Guidelines

Koleff creates a closed, ten-sided polygon by connecting the points marking the outside of the insole. However, these only serve as guidelines for drawing the curved, flowing edge of the final insole shape.

He notes that the curves on the sides of the heel must be symmetrical.

Points Reference

A — center of the back of the heel tracing

B — furthest reach of the toes along the center line

B1 — edge of the insole on the inside of the toes

B2 — edge of the insole on the outside of the toes

C — center of the back of the heel of the insole

D — front of the last, including toe allowance, along the center line

H — center of the heel

H1 — edge of the insole on the inside of the heel

H2 — edge of the insole on the inside of the heel

H3 — where the heel width line crosses the center line, rather than the heel line of symmetry

J — two thirds of the foot length ahead of C on the center line

J1 — edge of the insole on the inside of the joints

J2 — edge of the insole on the outside of the joints

K — position of the instep along the center line

Last Profiles

• differences from foot profiles
  • longer
  • different curves
  • toe spring
  • back curve for better grip
  • higher cone
  • raised instep