Author Topic: Every Man A Cobbler- 4- Patterns and Cuts  (Read 1028 times)

Offline thecapgunkid

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Every Man A Cobbler- 4- Patterns and Cuts
« on: January 10, 2020, 06:28:41 PM »
When I first started making shoes back in the 70’s it seemed every museum in Connecticut had shoe upper patterns cut out of that brown paper often seen on a broad roll in the General Store.  Never used the stuff myself because it was too flimsy.  I still have the boot pattern My Master made for me using this stuff when teaching me how to measure the foot.  He always used a pencil.  Didn’t matter what the leather was, it was a pencil every time.

In my turn, though, I almost never use a pencil, and don’t fancy using paper.  Once I mastered it under his tutelage after fumbling through it, I judged it  a little too time consuming.  Indeed,  Waldomir confided in me that his precision with brown paper was due to the fact that it was what the Nazi’s gave him  in the labor camp to work with and  he was well aware that he was a Luger Round away from oblivion.  Once he learned it that way he did it that way for years and years.  Talk about cool under pressure…

The other lessons taught me over the years, some conversationally and all casually incidental, have proven valuable enough to  pass on.

Manila folder and poster board.  Love the stuff.  Even paper patterns I make will get transferred to them before going near leather.  The former because the fold, when acting as a spine, will give you reliable evenness every time…much more so than using graph paper.  The Latter will hold up for a long time unless you have a heavy hand whilst drawing on leather by ruining the edges of the pattern.  You can make the fold on the posterboard.  They are both cheap and easy-peasy to store.  Both respond well to a razor sharp Box Cutter ( I don’t like to run my clicking or round knife over paper) through both layers of folded material.



If you are just starting out, or have not yet acquired enough experience to trust your hand, try drawing your patterns on the flesh ( underside) side of your leather using a red gel pen or a black gel pen.  When cutting on the flower side of the leather brown dye will obliterate the former and black dye the latter, assuming you leave a few marks when cutting.  Working on the underside of your leather will hide marks if you do not have the patience to go back over your cut and trim away the markings.  You’ll also learn to cut more precisely.  You can ditch this  otherwise amateurish technique as you gain experience and confidence.  I use ink on site so the tourist can see  what I am doing once I draw the pattern.




The softer leathers, such as Elk or Deerskin, present their own problems for you because they tend to stretch and travel a little when drawing or cutting.  That’s where dead weights help. A Coyote from my Cowboy Action Years named Doc Ivory cut me this half inch steel square from his metal shop that will pin a pattern or secure a rivet for me.   The craft stores sell these cute little anvils that will do the same.

The softer, more supple and darker leathers you can get at rendezvous ( usually seconds from a factory or split hide) can be your worst nightmare for patterns because almost anything you use to draw on them will be tough to see.  I wish I could remember the name of the guy who taught me to use a small cotton ball and some talcum powder to mark my patterns.
Witness this piece of trash that probably embarrassed the cow it came off marked as such.  Loaded up with grease the final product justified itself and produced a really nice belt bag that I flipped before photographing it.




Work with enough leather and you will see your precision and techniques improve to the point where you can pick your writing tool to suit yourself.   Waldomir taught me on the first day to stick with a practice that you do well.  I never saw him use a pair of scissors on his leather, something he regarded as unmanly.  To this day I work with a clicking knife the way he taught me because I judge that, no matter what you are using in your project, the most efficient way to cut a pattern and lose the drawn line is with a razor sharp knife and an oak plank as a cutting board




My clicking knife and skiving knife were made from a piece of industrial band saw and I have no idea where Waldomir got them before giving them to me.
On the stiffer leathers, drop your forearm on the cutting surface and drag the knife slowly enough, and you will be surprised at how neatly and efficiently you work.  On the softer leathers, as long as your hand is behind the cutting path, you can use the fingers of your free hand to separate the leather as you cut.  Using both hands like that will help keep the hide stiff enough while working on it.  I only use the rubber cutting board in the picture when working on cowhide.







That’s another post, though.

Tight Stitches,
Capgun

Offline James Rogers

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Re: Every Man A Cobbler- 4- Patterns and Cuts
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2020, 06:58:20 PM »
Good post.
I agree about the file folders. They are cheap and make good patterns. Used to cut out wooden patterns for any of them that would be used over and over but today you can have nice acrylic ones made that let you see your leather underneath which allows for better layout. Same holds true for a gun or rifle pattern.
I always mark my patterns out with a marking awl as shown.


I use a round knife or half head knife for most of my cutting but my buddy Eric, although masterful with the those was also a whiz at using the pull cut to take patterns out of a hide. I use a clicker sometimes as well.

Offline msellers

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Re: Every Man A Cobbler- 4- Patterns and Cuts
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2020, 07:10:26 PM »
Thanks for another great post. I also have been using the manila folders for years for patterns. Need to make a clicking knife for leather, also need to get better with my round knife. Have been using an utility knife for years, cheap, sharp, easily replaced blades.

Thanks again for all these great posts.
Mike

Offline Brokennock

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Re: Every Man A Cobbler- 4- Patterns and Cuts
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2020, 12:31:57 PM »
Another informative and useful post. Thank you.
The blade shape of the clicking knife looks like a utility knife, what is the difference other than the blade not being replaceable?

I've used Manila folders and interoffice file envelope paper for patterns, I also like the thin cardboard that shirts are folded around for sale, for smaller projects once the pattern is drawn and refined.
I tried cutting my favorite bag pattern out of acrylic on my friends scroll saw, it kept welding itself back together behind the blade and ultimately came out too rough and uneven to use.

Offline thecapgunkid

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Re: Every Man A Cobbler- 4- Patterns and Cuts
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2020, 02:08:12 PM »
Thanks for the compliments

Brokkennock...The blade shape of the clicking knife looks like a utility knife, what is the difference other than the blade not being replaceable?

Good question and I have to admit that I really don't know other than maybe authentic appearance.  I have always found that, because of the way I was taught, holding the clicker was too difficult with a box cutter.  Besides, those are the same blades from the 70's.

I used to use Exacto knives until Waldomir walked into Bethpage Village with a couple of Hacksaw blades and showed me how to wrap and use them onsite.   Never looked back.

Offline Mike from OK

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Re: Every Man A Cobbler- 4- Patterns and Cuts
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2020, 05:06:06 AM »
Excellent information. Several of the good folks here put me on to using Manila folders a while back. And I use a scratch awl to transfer the pattern to my leather.

As for cutting, I use a handful of various tools... Plain old utility/razor knife, X-acto knife, and one of those Fiskars pizza cutter looking things... The pizza cutter works well for long straight cuts and bigger curves. The blades are expensive, but I get a long life out of them.

Mike

Offline Craig Wilcox

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Re: Every Man A Cobbler- 4- Patterns and Cuts
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2020, 07:48:11 PM »
Having built quite a few airplanes, each needing steel and/or aluminum parts cut, folded, spindled and mutilated, I can sure vouch for the use of manila file folders for patterns.
These were designed or drawn directly onto the manila, then cut and used as patterns.  Some of the patterns were used on more than one airplane.  And until very recently, I had a thick stack of them in my tool box - the first used back in 1979, the last in 2008.

Now I find myself doing the same thing!  But with locks, sideplates, muzzle caps, etc.  Not using very much 4130 steel, though.  BTW - mostly used a jewelers saw to cut the pieces out of steel, just as I do with the steel parts today.  Went through a LOT of blades along the way, mostly 2/0.  You can cut very close to the line, and thanks to the durable patterns, you can rely on the parts being exact, and using very little filing along the kerf for a precise fit.

Funny how practices learned more than 50 years ago come into play now that I am almost 3/4 of a century old.
Craig Wilcox
We are all elated when Dame Fortune smiles at us, but remember that she is always closely followed by her daughter, Miss Fortune.

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Re: Every Man A Cobbler- 4- Patterns and Cuts
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2020, 06:33:29 AM »
Thanks for the tutorial, CK.  I've tried to use pencil (per TC Albert) but it's not consistent.  It hardly "writes" at all on my 5 oz. leather but does fine on the 9 oz. stuff.  Why I never thought to use a marking awl is a mystery.   Thanks, guys.   P.s. I use Cheerios boxes for patterns with the printed side as the "flesh" side of the template.   If I do more leather work, that's going to get expensive <lol>  :o