YouTube video from the 21st Independent Shoemakers Conference of Mariano Crespo’s bottom edge finishing class
Notes
- not enough time to demo it all, since it takes a lot of time and dirty tools and alcohol lamp
- one shoe to pass around, one to work on
- beveled waist: finish the bevel first, before forepart
- customers spec close welt or wide
- before rasping, start with the knife
- trim off to avoid spending time rasping down
- mark with a pen where to trim the welt and sole, check from the top view looking down on the vamp
- hold the shoe up, don’t look down
- rasps
- Japanese rasp
- very good
- but wear out very quickly
- lasts maybe six months
- maker retired a year ago (Furozawa?)
- French rasps
- quite expensive
- buy once and that’s it
- 115-120 Euro
- the best
- Auriou
- set of 3 costs 470 pounds with import, but good for life
- flat on one side, curved on the other, different grits
- use the flat side
- close to the end of the rasp, with most of the body in your palm
- put finger on the sole as a guide
- keep elbow close to body
- avoid rounding over
- put some water on
- story: mater licking water off the edge
- workers would only get up to go to the toilet
- lick to save time reaching for the water
- but knew how much to use, to avoid over-wetting
- push strokes in one direction
- use finger to keep the rasp straight without wobbling
- [has tape on the upper above the featherline]
- some say the edge should be closer on the inside and wider on the outside, but that’s harder
- it’s a West End style
- because walking wears the welt unevenly
- can adjust for pronation
- aside: finishing a pair takes a day or a week, can decide how much time to put in
- some Japanese makers spend days
- the edge starts to turn, becomes cloudy and uneven to start, then becomes shiny and more consistent in color
- Japanese rasp
- scrapers
- some use glass
- choose the right kind
- need to cut it properly
- he uses metal scraper
- lasts your whole life
- different shapes for soles, edges, breasts, etc.
- sharpening
- with a file
- 45° angle
- lay on strop, burnish edge with awl
- create a “lip” [i.e. a burr]
- then drag a cloth over it
- “whisker”
- “so forget about glass!”
- little bit more water
- scrapers in short strokes
- all push strokes
- remove rasp marks
- try not to bend the scraper, but keep it straight
- create a concave shape on the edge
- some use glass
- sandpapers
- uses three grits: 80, 120, 240 (final)
- tears off a square from the corner of the sheet
- holds over his thumb
- push in one direction
- push on the center
- create a concave shape on the edge
- too much sanding: becomes shiny and waterproof, hard to ink
- know when to stop
- if you go too far, roughen it up with less pressure
- when happy, trim off the edge of the welt
- welt knife
- two different types
- Yankee, left and right
- circular type
- Owns a circular type (“welt plough”), but never uses it. Too hard. Sometimes cuts the stitches. Maybe for heavy boots?
- audience member: just a technique thing
- “it’s nice to have it, though!”
- West End people use a Yankee type
- can use a French edger style, but hard to keep the angle straight
- can also just use a very sharp knife
- some people go on to iron at this stage, but you have to go backwards again, roughing up to get ink into the edge
- Mariano inks and fudges at this stage
- Cobbler’s Choice platinum black edging ink from Leather and Grindery
- some people make their own ink
- ink it once, let dry, ink again, then use fudge wheel
-
fudge wheels
- many modern imitations missing details
- angle of fudge must be right
- some don’t go deep into the welt
- some tend to slip off the welt
- some prick the holes by hand
- e.g. Tony Slinger doesn’t use a wheel
- “different ways of skin a rabbit”
- heating the fudge
- don’t want to burn
- spits on finger, feels the fudge
- if it’s sizzling, put into water and reheat
- technique
- covers finger with tape to avoid burning
- put finger close to the action
- some go back and forth
- sometimes have to do it twice, sometimes once is enough
- creating “babies”, or marks between intended lines, then have to flatten and start again
- takes time to learn to do well
- the ink provides the moisture needed, can’t let the second coat completely dry
- if it dries, need to wet with water
- for brown or natural, make sure the fudge is clean
- uses masking tape to protect the upper
- make sure it’s low-tack
- still need a piece of scrap upper leather to test first
- can pull up the color of poor-quality leather
- alternative: DIY protector made out of lining the width of a piece of tape, skive it down to nothing on one side, attach an elastic to it works for different shoes, can also pull it at the back and tie it off for more tension
- doesn’t work so well with a square waist, creates a gap, have to push down with fingers when fudging
-
ironing
- English edge iron has double lip
- other irons with one lip
- both do the job
- make sure the iron that fits tightly around the stack of welt and outsole
- too big an iron will round the edges
- one iron may not work all the way around
- long, narrow wood sanding block to sand down the edge to make it uniform, guessing 120 or less
- when done ironing, burnish the bottom edge with a bone to set the edge
- sign of quality: run finger all along the edge, can feel small ridges at the top and bottom
- ink again, one or two times
- temp check: can lick and stroke the iron without burning yourself
- elbow close to body
- no wobbling
- keep straight
- make pressure on the center
- first pass, no pressure at all
- second pass, increase pressure, but not crazy, steady
- heat will change the color
-
Kiwi shoe polish
- put on with finger
- heat the iron
- go around
- creates a high shine
- burnish with cloth
- buff back and forth
- some use finish wax after the polish
- Mariano doesn’t
- hard to get a good finishing wax these days
- if you use it, make sure you don’t put too much, light coat only
- don’t use wax that’s too thick and heavy, need a really thin wax
-
Tony Slinger gets his own wax made
- comes in tiny blocks
- maker is in Northampton
- maybe Premier Finishes
- sole finishing then, but out of time to show it
- Q&A
- Classic Hand Tools limited supplies Auriou rasps
- sole process
- same
- scrape, sand, wet a little, sand in one direction
- some want fishtail design
- very fancy, but once you wear it…
- tricky, because it’s the final stage, can slip and make a nasty mark
- have to concentrate