YouTube video showing Pierre Corthay at work, interspersed with segments from a sit-down interview
Notes
Working
- many tools hanging on the wall
- “Des Metiers Sur Mesure” [Works Made to Measure]
- “Moi Mes Souliers” [Me My Shoes]
- wood lasts hanging
-
0:32 lastmaking
- stock knife with a concave face away from his body
- bench well below the waist, with leg vise
- tape hanging around his neck
- shaping on line finisher with a small, naumkeag-like abrasive wheel
-
1:44 patterning
- [scoop block shown already cut]
- marks main axis in pencil, right on the last
- brown pattern paper
- rough cuts a piece by hand, lays it over the last
- [working on quarter]
- working over a thick cutting board
-
3:02 clicking
- pulls roll of leather from cupboard up by ceiling
- lays the pattern piece and cuts directly around it, without marking
- temporarily glues the vamp pattern to the leather
- using what looks like a L'Indispensable knife
- when done cutting, pulls the pattern piece off the leather
-
4:30 skiving
- over thick glass
- sharpening stone before starting
- curved shoe knife
- short back and forth strokes to start, then long, sweeping cuts
- lights an alcohol lamp to burn off loose fibers
-
5:18 edge dyeing
- paintbrush
- short strokes
-
6:20 closing
- post-bed sewing machine
- very slow
- two or three stitches at a time
-
6:41 lasting
- tacks in mouth
- Swedish-style lasting pliers
- drafts the toe first
- then back to the joints
-
7:57 coworker blocking
- quick swipes on handheld sharpening stone
- trimming to featherline
-
8:34 last build-up
- leather fitting
- cements on, hammers down
- pares with knife
- very acute point on knife
- drops the knife into the part of his apron hanging between his legs so it’s quick to pick up again
-
9:07 coworker welting
- long, thick awl haft with a flared pommel
- hand leather
- casts the stitch on the outside
- taps awl in wax
- curved awl, flat duckbill point
- chases the awl point with the bristle
- angled channel carved on inside of holdfast
- wraps hand and awl haft to pull tight
-
9:50 thread making
- linen
- coad: friction melts
- untwisting cord on thigh over apron
- staggering cords
- wraps the cords around first three fingers to stabilize for unwinding
- waxes in his hands, across his lap
- attaching boar bristles from a wood box
- black bristles
-
10:56 slow scanning macro shot of finished welting and heel seat
- seat appears to be whip stitched
-
11:26 coworker finishing
- lighting a spirit burner with heating tray
- edge iron
- rubs wax direct on edge, then melts and burnishes
- 0:44 scanning shot of finished shoes
Interview
- a millimeter’s difference around a toe can make a huge difference
- different feet, some fleshy
- test shoes
- never get fit perfectly right on the first go
- fit is also psychological
- many families of clients