Lasting and Making

Section VII, Volume IV of Boots and Shoes

by W. Wardley

Chapter III. Lasting—Method One

• Make sure the lining seams are flat before starting.
• French chalk to lubricate the last before laying on the upper. French chalk is smooth and slippery, but not greasy.
• Positioning the Upper: visualize a center line through the last

Main/Draft Pulls

• Take the first pull over the tip of the toe.
• No jerking or dragging backwards over the last.
• "the outer side or faced side of the upper when lasted is forced to occupy a larger area in circumference"
• May crack materials, especially patent leather.
• Stout materials will require more strain.
• Figure 18: arrow showing strain starting from the counter point across to the toe.
• "The correct strain should bring the upper tightly to the back of the last, setting up a tightness along both sides, and cause the vamp to become taut lengthways between the instep and the toe end bridging the hollow forepart of the last."
• Avoid twisting the upper over the last.
• When satisfied, drive a tack on each side of the first one to prevent the upper from pivoting around the single, first tack.
• Now position the side linings.
• Figure 19: Diagram with arrows showing the strains for pulls 1 through 8
• Second and Third
  • Pull from where the edges of a toe cap would land.
  • "conforming the vamp portion to the shape of the last"
  • Pull in two directions, first lengthwise, then across the last.
  • Make sure strain is equal between sides.
  • Pull the lining over together with the upper.
• Fourth Pull
  • Pull at the back seam.
  • If you pull too much over, the quarters will be too low and will lose grip around the heel.
  • IF you pull too little over, the quarters will be too high and cut into the back of the heel.
• Fifth and Sixth
  • Pull at the sides of the seat.
  • Bind the material around the bulge in the seat of the last.
  • Pull from the point where this bulge in the last "drops into the curvature of the waist".
  • Do not pull straight.
  • First pull any looseness out of the lining.
  • Then pull the stiffener first toward the ball joint, then up around teh curve of the sat.
• Seventh and Eighth
  • Goals: make taut around the sides of the shoe and clear any looseness in the waist
  • "clearance pulls"
• Pulls one through eight are the "main" or "draft" pulls. The process is "drafting" or "pulling over".

Clearance Pulls

• Last the outside waist first.
• The outside waist is shorter and straighter, requiring less strain.
• This is where bulldog pliers might make sense.
• Pull partly toward the joint, partly toward the featherline.
• Next pull the forepart between pulls 2 and 7, 3 and 8.
• Pull forward, then over.
• Seat
  • Avoid pulling so hard that you pull the back down.
  • "Only sufficient strain should be used to clear the lining, stiffener, and quarters.
• Toe
  • If the shoe is plain-toed, without a toe cap, insert the toe puff now.
  • Remove the tack from pull one at the toe. If the tacks for pulls 2 and 3 were placed correctly, there will be room to insert the toe puff.
  • Place the toe puff far enough back to blend into the curvature of the forepart, but not so back that it interferes with bending the foot.
  • First pull over the feather, then twist to pleat.
  • Hold the pleat with the thumb.
  • Tack in the valley of the pleat, not the crest.
  • Only take small pleats.
  • Drive tacks level, so the leather can be trimmed off level with them.
  • Only use "cutting in" on very stout uppers. Take diagonal slashes following the angles of the pleats, starting around the tack for pull one. Do not cut out as far as the feather.

Tacks

• 3/8 inch from the feather edge
• evenly spaced
• Trim off surplus material.
• Lightly hammer the bottom flat.

IV. Shapes of Lasts and Hoist Methods

Sharply Curved Lasts

• Some lasts curve more sharply from instep to toe.
• It's harder to pull the uppers tight to those curves.
• Change the main pulls to ease the uppers down.
  1. Take the first pull as normal.
  2. Take the second and third pulls a little closer to the toe.
  3. Take the fourth and fifth pulls right at the joint, leaving enough space to take more pulls at the forepart between the existing ones.
  4. Retake pulls two and three.
  5. If the upper isn't pulled all the way down to the last, repeat the side pulls until they are.
  6. Pull the seat.
  7. Pull the sides of the seat.
  8. Retake the fourth and fifth pulls at the joints.
• Also suitable for other designs: open-tab, Derby, Moliers, Langtry
• "holds the tabs in position against the strain of sinking the seat", against them riding up the instep

Hoist Methods

See Hoisting

• Tipper designs popular
• Hard to last tightly cut uppers.
• Purpose: Get enough lasting material out of the upper.
• "'Hoisting' means the placing of the upper over the last with the seat or stiffener portion ‘raised' to some suitable position up the back of the last prior to taking the first pull over the toe."
• Positions the bottom edge of the upper away from big curves at the back.
• Creates a shorter path to the toe, requiring less material.
• Method 3 for Moderately Tight Uppers, Heavy Materials
  • Take the first pull.
  • Take the second and third pulls directly across the last, rather than at angles.
  • Take the fourth and fifth pulls at the joints directly across the last, too.
  • If the upper is tight over the last, continue to the seat. If not, repeat pulls 2 and 3, then 4 and 5, before moving on to the seat.
  • Redo pulls 4 and 5, now pulling forward toward the toe, to tighten the waist.
  • Redo pulls 2 and 3, again pulling forward.
• Method 4 for very tight uppers
  • Take the first pull.
  • Take pulls 2 and 3.
  • Last the toe all the way around to keep the upper from tearing away during the hoist.
  • Raise the seat of the upper a little.
  • Take pulls 4 and 5 between pulls 2 and 3 and the joints.
  • Raise the seat of the upper again.
  • Take pulls 6 and 7 at the joints.
  • Raise the seat to its final position.
  • Pull the corners of the stiffener.
  • Redo pulls 6 and 7 to clear the waist.
  • "Great care is required…" to avoid bursting seams.
  • Only use when absolutely necessary.
• Lasting machines are usually used with patterns cut for heel-seats-up systems.
• Hoisting takes more time, almost doubling the time needed.
• Whether to hoist should be left up to the laster.
• Too much strain can harm the materials.
• One quarter often stretches more than the other, misplacing seams.
• "There are many bad faults that occur through the use of these methods for which the laster is in no way to blame."
• Another method is used for goloshes.

Leg Position

• position of the leg portion relative to the foot portion
• Not "pitch", which refers to last heel pitch.
• In bespoke work, the leg position is adjusted to fit the customer.
• In factories, it's set for an average.
• Can use hoisting to bring the leg position forward.
• "When lasting the normal cut upper without hoist, the primary tensions over the toe radiate to the point of the back seam just above the back of the last, binding the upper snugly into the curve at the back without affecting the top portion of the leg."
• "With modern methods and standardized patterns, and in order to facilitate the output, the prevalent idea is to dispense with hoist entirely…"

V. What Is Lasting?

• The pulls can become routine, but should be changed to fit circumstances.
• "the laster should know what effects each pull should, or will, have upon the upper"
• "Like an archer shooting a target, he should know when he has ‘scored a hit.'"
• "The art of lasting is to reproduce in the complete shoe the shape and characteristics of the last being worked upon, so that when the last is withdrawn, not only should the shape of the last be reproduced, but the upper must be stretched and strained in such manner as to retain that shape while being worn."
• "The best lasted shoe is that which retains the shape of the last longest when subjected, to the straining and distortion which are inevitable in wear."
• How?
  1. Apply strain appropriate to the material.
  2. relationships between pulls
  3. "draft", the result

Upper Materials

Leather

• Leather loses its shape in wear because it stretched somewhere, becoming larger.
• This is from not removing enough stretch during lasting.
• Have to remove stretch from leather to give it elasticity.
• "This can only be likened to the tuning-up of a string instrument. If the string is left slack we get no tone,  because there is no tension or life in it, but if tightened up just sufficient to what is called ‘concert pitch' we get the right note, as the string is now taut or live, but a further tightening-up of the string will cause it to snap."
• epidermis and dermis
• Poorer leather has looser grain, withstanding less strain.
• Stiffeners reinforce those parts of the upper that can be rigid without making the shoe inflexible.
• Inserting the foot partially re-stretches the uppers..
• In walking, the foot expands and elongates.
• When the foot is listed, the leather fibers relax again, shrinking.
• Shrinking helps clear wrinkles caused by bending.
• Couldn't form uppers just by moulding or hammering leather into shape.
• Pulling the upper leather makes it thinner.
• Faced leathers like patent or enameled can crack because the face is stretchier than the leather.
• These materials should be kept warm or at a moderate temperature while working.
• Glace kit can stand a fair amount of strain, but too much exposes the pores.
• Printed and embossed leathers shouldn't be stretched to the point the pattern disappears.
• Buckskin, doe, antelope, and others are very stretchy, but need careful handling to avoid distortion.

Linings

• Linen especially liable to overstrain or break.

Entries Linking Here

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• 📋Drafting