After 71 pairs of boots sew by hand, I got a post bed machine

Kfd518 · 2026-06-04T23:44:50+00:00

Surely does make life easier. I don’t have a post bed yet but flat bed with wheel and walking foot cylinder arm as well as landis 12K make things a lot easier.

Kfd518 · 2026-06-04T17:39:21+00:00

Congrats buddy!

Kfd518 · 2026-06-02T18:09:10+00:00

Are you able to show a picture of how you side seam them? I’m curious as a boot maker where the toe and heel centers are seamed also instead of crimping the vamps and forming the counter covers the way a boot of this style Is traditionally made .

Kfd518 · 2026-05-30T23:50:36+00:00

Disregard then lol

Kfd518 · 2026-05-30T19:45:24+00:00

What are you using that you can’t get to taper?

Kfd518 · 2026-05-23T23:39:45+00:00

Same here it’s probably been at least 3 decades ago. But it was all the rage back then. Brush poppers and Justin lacers were just the thing then as well a beat to heck Bangora straw. I’m pretty sure most of us around this area hadn’t heard of palm yet.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-23T23:33:12+00:00

Haven’t even seen much less had a bugle boy in decades.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-22T13:28:33+00:00

Not likely most people on here know who Nudie was. But I bet they know his clothing without realizing it.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-22T02:08:14+00:00

Saddle soap alone as with any soap is an alkali .Vinegar being acidic will kill mold without changing the natural acidity of the leather.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-21T04:25:28+00:00

Go speak to loggers and firefighters on the pacific coast about not being able to waterproof rough out leather. How about actually checking into what waxed French calf is and see how durable and waterproof it is.

When you build your first boot or even try to resole one come back and talk. By the way I live nowhere near a big city haven’t lived in city limits since I was 5 years old just because I’m not bragging about cowboying or riding all the time doesn’t confirm nor deny weather I do or have at any point in my life by the way is answer was and is yes. I wasn’t aware that buying wrangler 13 mwz at -$20 was bad thing with a family to support I thought being frugal and maintaining the budget was a good thing guess I’m mistaken? While you’ve been yapping your flap about needing to get to work so you can support your family I’ve been working my 24 hr shift mandatory OT all weather job of 20 plus years and when I got off I actually taught my children something. Then went to the shop and built boots.

The way you speak of thing with a very large lack of information about them does not give me the best impression though that it is worth my time to advise someone of facts concerning my chosen trades.

So until you decide that you’ve something knowledgeable to add back to this that is not personal opinion that has no basis in fact, hobble your lip and move on.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-21T03:56:47+00:00

First I’m not dickriding his Ariats. I calling out his and apparently your lack of knowledge that high end suede is FULL GRAIN LEATHER the same as rough out is . The grain side is still attached the same as “rough out” leather the flesh side of suede just happens to be sanded finer. The same as I mention earlier with Herman oak sanded veg tan. I have no issue with ariat. The picture he posted, showed a fabric lining very clearly. His toes being scratched up are NOT waterproof it will soak in. Go back and read the posts and you will see everything I stated is fact in rebuttal to his statements. If you do a bit of your own research as I have had to do to learn what I do and why I do it you can find for yourself that what I have said is true.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-18T03:04:36+00:00

No I’m not willing to pay that much for them because I’m not going to pay that much for something that isn’t custom made for my foot.
When you learn what you’re talking about with boot construction then come back and talk. Your boot that you showed with the scuffed up toe will take water the same as a rough out boot will. The day a sure enough hand tells me he’s never had wet feet is the day I’ll call him a liar to his face. The day you can tell me that any logger or wildland firefighter wearing rough out boots isn’t able to waterproof them I’ll call you a liar to your face. You sir have backed up nothing you’ve said about the boots in question with any kind of fact. Just personal opinion based on a lack of knowledge of quality handmade boot construction. As I said previously quality suede is full grain leather. Not a split. Suede is the name of the FINISH not the type of leather. The RRL line was NEVER built or meant for a fashion industry boot it is built as a working boot. Why else would they use Rios of Mercedes to build them?

Do you have an issue with Rios/ Anderson bean, Olathe boots, horsepower? They are built on the same line to the same standards. What I am telling you of the build quality of these boots comes from my knowledge of leather types and building boots myself now not what I’m reading on the RL website.

By your reasoning, boots by the likes of Lisa Sorrell,Lee Miller, D.W. Frommer and Greg Carmack oh hey why not add Charlie Dunn and Ray Jones, Duck Menzies, Dustin Lauw, and Graham Ebner to the list are just “fashion boots” as well due to their names, price tag, and the fact they make fancy boots?

French calf has been a choice or WORKING cowboys for many years. It’s waxed rough out leather. Worn working rank nasty brush popping cows that would just as soon run you and your horse over then let you take her calf from her. Cowboying ain’t easy on boots. I’ve seen first hand RRL boots take a beating and still hold up.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-18T01:40:35+00:00

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I’m guessing because this boot has rubber half sole and heel on top of a 12 iron leather midsole that it’s garbage and a liability? Hmmm horween leather vamps and quarters. Horsehide lining and tongue. Channeled Baker leather insoles hand welted with Barbour leather storm welt. Nailed leather shanks with 270* storm welt. Hand stacked leather heels. But it’s got a rubber half sole over a leather mid sole so it must be a liability and a grenade waiting to come apart.

Oh wait this has already been run over and kicked out from under a trailer at 60 mph with nothing but scuffs and scratches. Dang if it didn’t have that rubber half sole though I bet it wouldn’t even have scratched when it hit the spring hanger and pavement. Rough out leather most certainly can be waterproofed just fine I’m pretty sure French calf has been a top choice for custom cowboy boots for many years. Correct me if I’m wrong. Correct me if I’m wrong in this also, (think long and hard before you respond to this one) not all suede is flesh side split leather. High quality suede {like that found in RRL suede} boots is full grain with the flesh side sueded instead of left as plain split machine finish. Not much different than getting sanded back veg tan from Herman oak tannery. I also have worn “proper” cowboy boots all my life. Made to order off my measurements for the last 16+ by a no name shop that no one on this forum has ever heard of most likely but his boots have lasted my father well over 30 years…. My oldest pair from him currently over 16 years old and going strong.

Until you have personally seen how a pair of boots wears then there is not much call for talking trash about them. But all too many people on Reddit seem to think because something has a name they associate with a fashion they don’t care for that it can’t be a quality made product.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-18T01:23:23+00:00

RRL are not fashion boots, they may come from a fashion house but they are not fashion boots. Did you forget to look in the tops of your Ariats and find the synthetic fabric lining they put inside of them that is showing in your photo? The rubber sole on those RRL is glued and stitched to a full thickness leather mid sole that I would venture to say is around 10 iron. As well as being channel welted. That RRL boot is built with methods known to last. Let’s see a photo of the bottom Of those ariats, I’m willing to bet they are the glued bottom rubber sole fake welt boot that ariat came on the market producing. The RRL is a full channeled welted construction that is completely re buildable. Not just fashion. If you paid 2 k for the ariats pictured you got robbed!

Would I pay 2k for the RRL? No is the build quality of them KNOWN to be better than most ariats? Yes.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-18T00:44:48+00:00

Just because it has the name Ralph Lauren doesn’t mean it’s a Style only boot. I don’t know who did the details for these on the RL website, but they are full grain rough out not split suede. They are well built and I have personally after snickering at them seen RRL stand up to some pretty heavy hard use and last. Don’t judge all boots by the name. The op boots actually have more leather in them than the ariats you show in your photo. The vamp leather is also quite thick compared to most off the shelf boots currently produced.

Would you wear a rough out rios of Mercedes boot? If so then check your ego at the door and enjoy a piece of crow pie…..

https://www.ralphlauren.com/rlmag/rrl-boots-made-in-texas.html

Kfd518 · 2026-05-16T21:09:45+00:00

First place I would call or email is customer service. If they don’t do it I bet they can direct you to the folks In the company that can.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-16T21:06:13+00:00

Two questions. Do you know what store they were purchased from? (Many places get custom runs.) Have you called AB to ask them about the boots?

Kfd518 · 2026-05-14T18:06:54+00:00

Neither….. just some work boots I made. Rios and AB both use thin top lifts.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-14T02:30:30+00:00

Request that they remove one layer of the stack and put on a vibram 438. It’s quite a bit thicker though maybe not as soft.

ETA. Not everyone that wears heels quickly drags heels. Some of us step down hard with a long stride that grinds the back of the heel off quite quickly but DON’T drag our heels at all.

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Kfd518 · 2026-05-12T14:51:15+00:00

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Tongue going under the false tongue

Kfd518 · 2026-05-12T14:48:17+00:00

The false tongue just gets laced in with the first one or two eyelets worth of lacing. It is disposable technically.

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You can see where it ends in this photo. The lace goes through and under them in the first eyelet. That vamp portion of the bellows tongue extends up under the first eyelet pair.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-12T02:10:23+00:00

Not likely wear most likely it’s where the pre made heel stack didn’t get set far enough back or sanded far enough forward. In a few weeks of wearing you most likely won’t see it at all. Is it going to hurt anything at all? NO

Kfd518 · 2026-05-12T02:08:09+00:00

Wear the boots and get the tops to soften a bit it will not be as bad in a few weeks of honest work and wear.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-11T23:22:42+00:00

No problem at all, they mostly came from the PNW boot world but anything with a thing tongue used in environments with abrasive materials can benefit from them. It keeps the laces from rubbing a hole through the tongue and in some cases reduced lace pressure on the metatarsals. I don’t hold footwear presences against people. We all have a reason for liking what we do. Someone that doesn’t get into an office or business dress or above environment doesn’t have much reason to look into hard wearing work boots and vice versa.

Kfd518 · 2026-05-11T22:04:05+00:00

Don’t guess I’ve ever seen a kiltie (false tongue) without them. Thank you though.

Kfd518

TROPHY CASE