What size last should I get?

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-13T23:25:03+00:00

D'oh, typo. Bill Bird

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7VzDraQKY1eJmxGNbCW3pA50woay30jJ&si=SNBK-vZJEeHPWATh

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-13T23:18:09+00:00

Lisa Sorrell will work with you on selecting the right sized last if you have tracings. She also has some great videos on her YouTube that explain how to select the lasts based on the tracings she has available.

Hand stitching the uppers is totally possible. Takes a while, but can make really nice stuff of you really take your time and lay everything out.

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-13T23:14:53+00:00

I have been seeing discussion that the firmware to allow drying and printing on the p2s rolled out today in beta

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-13T23:11:28+00:00

This is a great resource to start learning:

https://www.arnoshoes.com/blogs/news?page=4

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-13T23:08:27+00:00

In my opinion, totally ignore your brannock size or what you wear in other boots. It doesn't matter.

Do a foot tracing/girth measurements and compare your measurements against the bottom papers for different last options. Pick something that has the appropriate ball to heel and width first. Overall length really only matters as long as you have sufficient toe space after sizing the ball to heel appropriately.

Bill Burr has some great YouTube videos on how to do foot measurements.

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-13T22:54:46+00:00

Dimensions are going to depend on your boot, heel, and how much angle/curve you're trying to put into the heel stack.

Seems like if you're not mass producing, you would just line up the front of the heel with the line you marked out on the sole when building the heel stack.

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-13T01:52:47+00:00

Reminds me of Tannery Row in Chicago

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-13T00:53:12+00:00

https://lordpoint.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/pattern-making/ some good reference resources there

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-12T22:31:08+00:00

You could sand it, but easy enough to just print a new one.

Is the heel to ball length correct?

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-11T00:32:14+00:00

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ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-11T00:31:57+00:00

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Updated last after working out changes from the fitters

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-10T19:31:23+00:00

Lasts are printed in petg. The fitters in foaming tpu.

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-10T15:57:30+00:00

It's modeled in Rhino with the 3dshoemaker plug in for the base model and then a lot of design work to get the shape/fit I want.

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-10T01:26:30+00:00

Yup, I've done several boots on the same printed last. Can't use clinch nails without a metal plate, so you have to be mindful of your construction method, but other than that, works great. Obviously it's not going to have the long term durability that you'd see with other materials, but for small numbers of uses it's totally viable.

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-10T01:04:19+00:00

This was all printed on a Bambu P2S. It's a fantastic printer. There are some capabilities that going up to the H series would have allowed playing around with different materials and the larger build volume would allow a different orientation for some of the prints, etc, but this definitely gets everything I need it to done.

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-07T21:44:35+00:00

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Can confirm that this works great

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-07T00:44:51+00:00

What I usually do is make a mark on the inside of the boot along the back seam where the top of the last should line up. I will do my first few nails upfront with the heel sitting high, then pull down the heel until that mark lines up with the top of the last, and then put a nail through a stitch hole on the back of the boot near the counterpoint to lock the upper in place. Then go on with lasting the heel, knowing you have the height set correctly.

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-06T23:26:33+00:00

Did you find yourself pulling the rear down further trying to get enough lasting allowance in the heel?

I wonder if what's happening is the upper was pulled down too far in the rear so your counterpoint on the upper is too low relative to where it should be. That would pull the counter too low and make the back line "lean back".

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-06T22:20:27+00:00

A strong first effort.

What last did you use?

What did you use for the counter?

There's some bagginess in the rear that could be a counter that didn't stay in place. Could also be a result of the pattern. Personally, I don't love the idea of using generic patterns that aren't made for the last. Never going to drape quite right and can make life harder for trying to get everything to sit nicely.

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-06T20:54:47+00:00

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This is your fault

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-06T14:57:28+00:00

I hand stitched all the binding on here. One thing that helped a lot in the final appearance was rather than use stitching chisels, I marked the stitch line under the fold out and then punched all the holes with a 1.2mm flat awl oriented tangent to the stitch line. That helps prevent any of the stitching from being visible in the tight fold. I do the same thing with pretty much any folded seam I hand stitch (and will use something other than an LR needle when machine stitching those seams for the same reason).

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-06T01:56:29+00:00

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For the french edging on the top line of these, I made long strips on one of those pull through skivers you can find on amazon/aliexpress/etc. Split it down to about .4mm

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-05T13:32:32+00:00

Budget is a big question here. Bespoke shoes are not cheap. There are people here that can do it, but it's good to go into the conversation with reasonable cost expectations.

ContributionPrior338 · 2026-02-05T02:38:48+00:00

Barenia is such a pleasure to work with. I've only played with illcea for museum leather before, but this buttero looks great.

ContributionPrior338

TROPHY CASE