There was a post on the Cordwaining reddit a few months ago that showed lasting stand imported from China. The store that the stand was purchased from also sold lots of other shoemaking tools. I was really interested in purchasing but this was also the time that de minimis ended and with high tariffs on China it made importing a nightmare.
Earlier this month I revisited this possibility and found out that the chinese forwarding company Cainiao has tariff included shipping options: https://www.cainiao.us/p/us-air-shipping-with-tax-included-is-here. For those that don’t know when importing from stores that don’t ship overseas you can either use a proxy or forwarding service. Proxy services like SuperBuy (what the reddit poster used) purchase the item for you, it is then shipped from the store to their warehouse. Once the item is at their warehouse they can consolidate it with any other purchases and ship it to you. A forwarding service gives you a warehouse address. You use the address to purchase items on your own. Once they arrive at the warehouse they can consolidate and ship it to you. If any issues arise from the purchasing of the item (missing/out of stock, QC) then you have to figure it out yourself. Because of the extra support proxy services provide they charge more than forwaders (usually). In the case of Superbuy (proxy) and Cainiao (forwarder) there is no purchasing fees (Superbuy has fees if you want them to take individual product pictures) so most the cost difference is incorporated in the shipping.
I decided to go the Cainiao route. It was very confusing at the start since all the Taobao stores are in Chinese. The process of just setting up a Taobao account is complicated. I did the google signup option but kept running into “suspicious activity” issue. These are all well documented on reddit so I was able to figure it out but it was really annoying to keep getting banned for a few hours. Ultimately I had to also make an Alipay account and then verify it with my passport. There are other ways to circumvent the issue without giving the Chinese government your passport but this was the easiest option for me.
After the Taobao setup I quickly discovered the huge amount of shoemaking resources on Taobao not just from the initial store from reddit but other stores too. I decided to make a purchase of “smaller” items first to test the importing process and tool quality.
The main stores I purchased from are:
These are the links to the stores through Taobao. Viewing the stores this way lets you read in English and see the approximate price conversion to USD.
My package was 10.55kg 44x42x32cm. After the 2 discounts from Cainiao I paid 861 CNY or $124 USD for Eco-air Delivery (No tariffs) and received the package in 8 days. For comparison the Superbuy shipping calculator estimated $198 USD for the cheapest air delivery using the same dimensions. Everything came extremely well packaged and nothing was damaged. I had one product that was out of stock and I had to manage the refund process myself by chatting with the seller on Taobao.
I have only had the item for a few days so I can’t give a detailed review but I would like to share some first impressions and thoughts.
Larger items
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Glazing stick: Heavy and well made, finishing on the metal is not great, a few rust marks that would probably mark the outsole leather. Plan is to put some green polishing compound on a rag and rub it.
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Last hook: Finishing isn’t great but it shouldn’t matter anyway. Unfortunately, the pointed part does not taper enough. Only about half an inch fits inside the 2 lasts (Minke and pictured last) I have with last hook holes.
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Spirit Burner: Much bigger than I expected, can fit 3 tools. Well built but rough around the edges. I tested it and it worked great with Green Envy denatured alcohol.
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Bulldog pliers: Well polished steel. Really top heavy since the head is so big. The spine that goes into the handle is really thin. Not sure how much I trust it to last.
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Last 2112: Plastic last comparable in weight to my other plastic lasts. The store gives ball and length measurements but I just took my EU size and it seems to be fine.The removal mechanism really sucks. Its basically cut in half and then a string with a metal rod connects the 2 halves. The issue is that there is still a lot of play between the 2 parts. I have to use tape to completely eliminate the movement, not sure how hard it will be to remove tape during last removal.
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Turtle / backseam block: I have no clue what this is called but the translation said turtle. This is for shaping seat area of the upper. It is wider than appears in the store images but should still work. Heavy but a little rough around the curves
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The Book of Men’s Shoe Making: To my surprise a Chinese translation of the popular Japanese shoe making book was being sold in the stores. I still am not 100% sure if this an official translation but its extremely well done. It feels like a premium book and the price I paid is the same as the retail price in the back and very similar to the Japanese retail price. It’s only been a few days but I am almost done reading the book. It is amazing! It walks through the shoemaking process from start to finish with extreme detail. Its like watching one of Ken Hishinuma videos but with every single detail explained. The main downside is that it is in Chinese/Japanese so a lot of the details are lost on me. Still just from the pictures it is a valuable resource. Another downside is that it caters to the Japanese market and so a few of the tools/supplies used are not really available here in the states.
Smaller tools
- Planes: I got a a round and flat leather plane from another store on Taobao, looks like the same one as Rocky Mountain leather sells. My plan is to use this to clean up the bottom of insoles like Kazuma Nishimura does here.
- Leather rougher: Doesn’t work that great but its meant to help the glue adhere.
- Heel Pry: The images in the stores shoe it being used to place cork in the cavity but its definitely meant to be a heel pry too. The point tapers and its really hard/impossible to bend.
- Welt beater: Really well made. Coated in something.\
- Fudge wheel: I got 1 fudge wheel with the handle and then the separate wheels. The wheels came with a little rust. No play on the wheel so it’s easy to use and go over again without messing up.
- Rand file: This is a weird one. What I’ve usually seen in rand files is that one side is smooth while the other side has the file/rasp and there is a taper to keep the heel as close to the upper as possible. In this case the taper is there but the file is on both sides. I dont really see anyway you use this without marking the upper. I will probably just put tape on one side.
- Waist iron: Polished but still a little rough around the edges.
- Seam detailer: Same as waist iron.
- Seat wheel: Well made with very little play in the wheel. However, the lip that’s supposed to touch the top of the heel is pretty thick and not very tapered. I can see this being hard to use in cases where the heel is snug with the upper.
- Assortment of awl hafts and awl needles: The stores sell several awls and needles. I purchased some with hooks and then a few traditional outseaming and inseaming ones. The awl hafts are fine although the thin one on the left has a lot of play. All the awls are completely blunt. I don’t think any of them are tempered but that’s just based on how easy they are to bend. The inseaming and hooked awls seem OK, they have a good shape and size. The outseaming awls are not great. I ordered 5 and all of them have weird bend that moves the blade outside the center of the haft.
- Flowering punch: I tried it once on the eyelets OKA factory sells and it messed up the punch. Probably not tempered.
Consumables
- Shoemakers wax: The store page shows its made of pine rosin and beeswax. In the images it looks much softer than what I received. It flakes really easy and gets everywhere when I try applying it to some ramie thread. I think I will remelt it and add some sesame oil.
- Lasting Nails: About 1 pound of 17ga nails. I think the cheapest nails I’ve seen. Still I wish they were thinner and were lost-head instead of oval. Will use on newer lasts that aren’t as damaged.
- Shanks: single rib, came with a bit of rust.
- Metal tip: same as any other.
- Curved needles: I was hoping these would be thinner. They are much thicker than the small needles I use from OKA factory that I bend myself. The thread hole is also larger than the rest of the needle. Will probably not use.
- Glue brush: Using an old toothbrush works OK but the larger number of bristles here makes it nicer when using it to wet the welt/outsole like they do in Japan.
Patterning
- Pattern 2112: Some of the shoe lasts sold also offer a plastic pattern. I decided to get this split toe derby pattern. It has the seam allowances and the hand stitching holes marked. It includes upper and liner pattern but there is no assembly instructions and no lasting allowance marked. I think I will use it more as a reference than how it comes.
- Welting glove pattern: I believe I got the medium size but it still feels quite small. No assembly instructions.
- Silver pen compass: This is from Nattools that makes premium leathercraft tools. It is really well made and comes with a nice pen. It’s only been a few days but using this for my sewing is so much nicer than just having the line from a traditional compass.
- Beading: The black tape on the bottom is meant for beading in the shoe upper. Unfortunately, I think it’s a fake leather so I won’t be using it.
- Masking tape. Low adhesion masking tape. I tested it on 2 leathers and it didn’t pull off anything. Much nicer than the masking tape I got from the hardware store.
- Seam Gauge set: Someone on reddit posted a while ago searching for a seam gauge set. It seemed like the only new ones available are made by Julian from shoemakercraft. I was able to find a source on Taobao. It turns out these are the exact same ones that used to sell on ZegZug for $160. The set comes in a nice box which unfortunately is covered in residue from the tape used to keep it shut. The tools are nice and sharp/pointy but the handles are a bit rough.
Conclusion
The tool mania has definitely gotten to me. I wasn’t sure how this experience would go but with the loads of other tools available from these stores I wanted a lower risk attempt to see if it was worth it. I definitely feel that it was and will be purchasing again. In particular, I want to purchase the welting stand and some of the other larger tools. The tools are nowhere near the finishing level from starko tools but they are functional where they need to be (for the most part) and at a great price. I hope this kind of post is OK. I spent my own money to see if this was a viable way of obtaining some of the harder to find shoemaking tools and I just wanted to share with others in case it can help inform their purchasing decisions. If anyone has any questions about the process or any of the products I would be happy to answer them.