For me, the best part of being onsite is the wonder and interest you see in the tourist eye when you show them techniques used by the 18th century Cordwainer or Cobbler. It provides value to them because the reason they showed up in the first place is embedded in their curiosity. They love the part about the hog bristles instead of needles and wood pegs. It also puffs up the old ego so that I think I can actually bring some value to the table in my presentation, where the learning and research behind it never ends.
If you are working with leather and want to ascend to the quality levels some of the projects show in this forum, or if you just have that itch that drives a craftsman to learn and try more along the way, then consider this;
Everything I have posted about leatherworking in the previous Cobbler articles was taught to me in the first week of my apprenticeship. It is that basic.
Within seven days I learned that handwax, awl shape, tapered thread ends, managing bristles and finer harness needles and use of different clamps were all integrated for workmanship and quality by people for whom time was most certainly money. Take a look at these clamps;
The guy to whom I shelled out a small fortune for the top one was one of the cabinet makers at Williamsburg. That because there was no way I could make one like that myself. A lot of projects and shoes have gone through that oak beauty and are banging around Rendezvous and Historical sites.
The bottom guy, though, is the one I wish could talk. Somebody actually figured out that, if ash would be flexible enough to bend into snowshoes, then you could steam it, set it in a jig and throw in either a wedge or a big ol’ iron bolt and wing nut to get this workable beauty. One of these days I am gonna get some one inch dowel cut into pegs, lodge them in a piece of 2 x 8 along the arc I draw, get a couple of 1/2 x 3 ash staves and make another one.
One of these days each of you who are growing your skills is going to figure out that the little clamp you got at Tandy is not quite handy enough for the bag or knapsack or snap sack you wanna make. If you go for it, please post pics of your home grown clamp.
One of these days….no…today…someone is going to tell you to consider combining equal parts Pine Pitch and Resin with 1/8 or so of beeswax or pine oil, slow-melt them outdoors, pour the stuff in a pan of water and knead it like taffy.
Once embedded in your thread you can manage an awl and smaller holes when you drag the thread closed as the handwax almost liquifies with the friction. It will embed in the holes with each stitch. The closest thing to waterproofing if the thread is re-waxed while stitching that was available at the time. At some point you’ll also trip over the difference between summer wax and winter wax. By dragging one of the needles around and through the loop before you close, you make a half cast thus ensuring that each stitch is secured
Take a look at these two Artiss Konseps for a minute. My Master always took the right needle up through the loop on the right. I like to take the left needle around and down through the left loop ( a little different from the original drawing). Pedantic, maybe, but by making a knot similar to tying your shoes in this fashion, every stitch will be more secure.
My Master, Waldomir, was so good at stitching that everything was perfect and even on both sides of the seam. His light pounding of the seam with his hammer produced the prettiest stitches I have ever seen. Then again, he had about thirty years of doing it, whereas I had one week. I couldn’t get anything right at first. The inbound hole was always even, but coming out the other side always seemed to drift into a foreign country as far off as New Zealand, Bulgaria or California. The entire first week of training, no matter what I did, Walter would tsk-tsk and reprimand me in the thick Ukrainian accent I miss and wish I could hear again…” Diss Iss Lowza pissa Krep”. But Lord Bless him he hung in there with me until I got it right. Patience and practice. You know…The awl is my friend, the awl is my friend….be the stitch. Nah…
Being quick on the uptake, it only took me five years to finally find marking wheels. About five months ago I got one of those horrific Chinese Patchers, stripped off anything having to do with thread, replaced the needle with a diamond ground pegging awl of just the right length so I could stab nice, neat holes and never look back. Okay, okay…so it’s cheating…but I confessed it. So there. Besides, it’d be an enormous help if I were in business and selling all my crafts.
I remember the hot, July day as we sat in the carriage shed in Bethpage Village at the shoe benches when he even taught me how to take a steel umbrella shaft section and grind it into a finely tapered, diamond- cross sectioned awl. …
In one afternoon I learned the art and mystery of the tight, secure, durable stitch. I guard that diamond shaped, exquisite awl with my life because the taper he ground into it, although delicate enough to break just by looking at it, is so finely polished that it will go through 9/10 ounce cow smoothly and evenly.
It’s the little guy on the left. I wonder what he would have said about that Chinese patcher…
Now, tell the truth and shame the devil…you’re gonna try some of this…right?
Tight Stitches,
Capgun
