Proper leather shoes

They are too short and too wide. So that wouldn’t help.

Sorry. Serious suggestion - maybe neatsfoot oil (will probably set off a big klaxon in here)? Used for reconditioning old horse tack, etc. Or a good leather cream?

Too short & wide doesn’t sound promising to my untrained ears though.

You’re probably right.
I’m not sure how much they need as I don’t currently own a well fitting pair of gloves, but I guess around 5 mm length to the index and middle finger.

Sounds like the stretching I’ve done on mine.

Could a cobbler take the width down with some stitches on the back of the hand?

I could do that myself if necessary down the line. The length is the most important right now.
I once had a foam spray for stretching shoes. I wonder what the active ingredient was...

Don't know how precious these are to you but I had great luck stretching a few pairs of NOS Italian police gloves by soaking them in very hot water, drying them on my hands and then using copious amounts of Pecard Motorcycle Dressing. Worked a charm.

Sounds like I’m on the right track then.
They are precious motorcycle gloves, but worthless if useless. They are of good leather and simpler construction than most other mc gloves so should stretch better.

Good luck!
I tried it with cold water first time around but that did virtually nothing, oh just remembered, I used dish detergent as well - sorry, it’s been awhile.

Saddle soap may be better, I don’t know, but I was by the kitchen sink, so...

anyone interested in a pair of Allen Edmonds boulevard?

size US 10B

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Thanks. What was the function of the detergent? Just cleaning?

These gloves were made in the 80s and I picked them up off of Etsy in fall, so they had a lot of age stiffness and possibly picked up stuff off the plastic that they were stored in. In my mind the detergent also served to soften the leather.

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I'm both uptight and underwhelmed about adding a stick-a-sole to my boots. I've walked ~500meters in them and given them a little rough-up with some p80 on a board, , I'm a little underwhelmed by video tips about the process seeming to be slap it on it'll be fine, when I know there's a taper on the toe and heal that I don't have sufficient clamps to close. Also juggling with wiping off with water vs. giving them some saddle soap action. Anyway sloes are dainite logger and I'm enjoying being uptight about it...

Whut

Dam, did it read that bad.

Probably, didn't get all the way through it.

It's on hold for prosecco now

Are sticking a half sole on your shoes yourself? Why not let a cobbler do it, won’t be expensive? Or perhaps leave them as is and get a rougher boot for bad weather?

Yeah, that's exactly it, I think they're all closed and it should be an achievable DIY job. I didn't know dainite did such a nice stick on soles.

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Yeah, probably needs some work... 😂

I bought the same soles and had the same idea. Didn’t have the bottle in the end, they are languishing in a drawer somewhere. Let us know how it goes.

Why are you making snow shoes?

You will struggle.

Doing a basic 1mm thick stick-a-sole half sole yourself is not beyond the realm of possibility. However, I have seen in charity shops just how bad even that has been done.

Even the 1mm s-a-s will pull off if you have not prepped the surfaces and used the correct bonding agent (glue). You will also struggle to get a good outer edge.

Doing a heel block, and logger soles, requires a finisher (giant belt sander), and a hydraulic press. If you don’t have the shoe or boot on a last under a shoe press it will never conform to the shape of the sole, and will not adhere permanently. It will peel off. If you don’t have access to a finisher, you can try but likely gouge your heel block and cut it too close and too far and fail to get a consistent edge. Heel blocks are not easy to cut. A cobbler’s knife will cut them but blunts quickly, and must be used with caution. You can’t use any old pen knife or blade because you’ll be working dangerously close to a leather upper that is more susceptible to a massive slice-through than you think.

You also need to balance the shoe. You don’t just lump 10mm of heel on top, you scour off 10mm of heel block and replace it with the new heel. Then, whilst lasted, you drive nails to the correct depth, with the metal last being an anvil to stop anything poking out of the insole.

A logger sole should also be tacked along its edge, since you are more likely to kick it loose.

Ah, I glued the heels yesterday afternoon and did some shaping this morning,, they'll eventually make it to a cobblers for a proper job..

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