Hello everyone,
Thank you Kyle for setting this up and the good shoe talks.
I’m based in the East Bay of the SF Bay Area. My current workshop is in Emeryville.
I got into shoe making and repair in the late 90’s as the climbing shoe resoler at Marmot Mountain Works in Berkeley. I have a Dropbox at the local climbing gym and resole 20+ pair a week.
I studied shoe and boot making with Bill Shaynor in Oregon and used to participate in Marcel Mrsan’s Facebook shoemaking group. I went to a couple of their conventions, which were pretty cool. I’ve also done the SSIA trade shows. These were great for meeting many shoemakers in person. I’m currently working on a pair of bespoke wholecuts in black calf for a customer in Texas. Clicking and skiving are todays tasks. Ive probably had a couple dozen customers for bespoke shoes. Thousands for repair. And a handful to learn the trades.
I used to have a regular drop in shoemaking day where folks could drop in any Tuesday and get help, talk shop, or just work quietly in parallel. I enjoy being a resource and I like talking shop.
I look forward to seeing how this forum develops, and seeing everyones work and progress in their craft. Places like this have been invaluable to my own development.
@Twand, hey, great to see you here! This is Kyle from down in Oakland.
I’ll say to you what I’ve hopefully said to everyone else who’s hopped in so far: Please be “constructively selfish” in starting new topics that you would like to see on a forum like this!
Plug events, ask questions, showcase your stuff. Whatever’s fun, interesting, or useful to you in and around shoes will also be good for this new forum and the folks checking in.
I have to ask about those hiking boots in your photo, too. Are those the ones I saw in your shop when I visited? Insole for a new pair of Norwegians on the last underneath?
As for wholecuts, I rarely if ever see much about how to do those in books, even books focused on making dress shoes. There might be something in the new German book on upper making that I’ve seen marketed online. I believe @customboots is stocking English translations.
Yeah, Kyle, those are the ones that you saw in the shop. I have another pair in Horween that I wear. And those are insoles for I think an regular English welt, a pair of derbys in moc- croc cow. I’ll look of a picture of them. It’s the Baker insole leather and you can probably see how beautifully even and tight the grain is, such a beauty to work with
I hear you on the Baker insole leather. I splurged and got a few blanks from @customboots a while back. But I haven’t committed to using them on any new pairs or rebuilds so far. The much cheaper insoles from Panhandle may have cost me some torn-out holes and snapped awls, but I feel less like a serial leather murderer taking out my beginner’s mistakes on them.
