Shoemaking by Machine.
The variety of inventions used in shoe factories is rather bewildering, every one of the many processes having a machine of its own, and each of these doing its work with admirable precision. We can name here only the more important of these implements.
First comes the clicking machine. This has a cutting board resembling that used by the hand workmen. Over this is a beam containing a cutting die under which the leather is passed. At every descent of the die a piece of leather is cut out of the skin of the size and shape needed for the upper leather of a shoe. Thus in an instant is done what was slowly done by a sharp knife moved around a pattern in the old method.
| In the Days of the Awl, Lapstone and Hammer | Amazeen Skiving Machine |
| Cross-Section of Goodyear Welt Shoe, Showing the Different Parts and their Relation to Each Other | Insole Tacking Machine |
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| Ideal Clicking Machine | |
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| Duplex Eyeleting Machine | Ensign Lacing Machine |
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| Rex Upper TrimmingMachine | |
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| Rex Pulling-Over Machine | Crown Tip Punching Machine |
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| Bed Lasting Machine | ||
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| Goodyear Universal InseamTrimming Machine | Tack-Pulling and ResettingMachine | Consolidated Hand MethodWelt Lasting Machine |
| Improved Sole Laying Machine | Star Channel Cementing Machine |
| Goodyear Automatic Sole Leveling Machine | American Lightning Nailing Machine |
The piece of leather thus cut out is next passed under the skiving machine, which shaves down its edges to a bevel, the thinned edge being then folded, after which the toe caps are passed through a punching machine which cuts a series of ornamental perforations along the edge of the cap. The linings of the shoe are then prepared and put in place and the whole goes to the stitchers, by which all the parts of the upper are united. This is done by a range of machines, which perform the varied operations with wonderful rapidity and accuracy. The eyelets are next added by a machine which places them in both sides of the shoe at the same time and directly opposite each other, this operation finishing the upper part of the shoe.
The sole leather portions of the shoe pass through another series of machines, being cut from sides of sole leather by the dieing-out machine, cut to exact shape by the rounding machine and to exact thickness by the splitting machine, and then toughened by passing under a heavy rolling machine. These and other machines complete the soles and heels, which are finally sent to the making or bottoming room, where the completed shoe uppers await them.
The first process here is that of the ensign lacing machine, which puts a strong twine through the eyelets and ties it in an accurate manner. This is done very swiftly and exactly, its purpose being to hold the parts of the shoe in their normal position while the shoe is being completed. The last, made of wood, is now put in place and tacked fast by the insole tacking machine, when the upper is placed over it and fastened by two tacks to hold it in place. Then comes the pulling-over machine, the pincers of which draw the leather securely against the wood of the last, to which it is fastened by other tacks. These tacks in the upper are driven only part way in, so that they may be easily drawn out when no longer needed.
The welt lasting machine next takes the job in hand, it being almost human-like in the evenness and tightness with which it draws the leather around the last, other tacks being driven partly in to hold it in place. A second lasting machine of different kind, draws it around the toe and heel. Then comes the upper trimming machines, which cuts away the surplus parts of the leather, the Rex pounding machine, which hammers it around the heel, the tack pulling machine which removes the lasting tacks and puts in others to hold the new placed leather, and the upper stapling machine, which forms a little staple fastening from wire which securely holds the shoe upper to the channel lip of the insole.
The shoe is now ready to receive the welt, a narrow strip of prepared leather which is sewed along the edge of the shoe and holds all its parts firmly together. This used to be one of the most difficult tasks in hand-work, but is done rapidly and exactly by this machine. After this all protruding parts of the welt and upper are trimmed off by another machine, the insole tack pulling machine removes all the remaining temporary tacks, and the welt-beating and slashing machines beat the welt with little hammers till it stands out evenly from the side of the shoe.
It may seem as if the number of machines engaged in this work are almost beyond number, but there are nearly as many more to come. In fact, a factory shoe in many cases is not completed until 170 machines and 210 pairs of hands have taken part in putting it together and getting it into shape for the wearer, and each of these machines works with an accuracy which no hand-work can equal. We have so far witnessed the assembling of the several parts of the shoe into one connected whole. The remaining processes must be run over more rapidly.
There is a sole-laying machine, a rounding and channeling machine, a loose nailing machine (the latter driving nails into the heel at the rate of 350 per minute), a heel seat rounding machine, and various others, one sewing the welt to the shoe, a leveling machine, a second nailing machine, which does the final work of attaching the heel to the shoe, and so on somewhat indefinitely.
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| Naumkeag Buffing Machine | Regent Stamping Machine |
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| Goodyear Universal Rounding and Channeling Machine | |
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| Goodyear Welt and Turn Shoe Machine | |
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| Stitch and Upper CleaningMachine | Twin Edge Setting Machine |
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| Goodyear Outsole Rapid Lockstitch Machine | |
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| Improved Vamp CreasingMachine | Miller Shoe Treeing Machine |
The Evolution of a Goodyear Welt Shoe
1. A last. 2. An upper. 3. An Insole. 4. Shoe lasted and ready to have welt sewed on. 5. Welt partly sewed on. 6. Welt entirely sewed on the shoe. 7. An outsole. 8. Shoe with outsole laid and rounded; channel lip turned up ready to be stitched. 9. Shoe with sole stitched on. 10. Shoe with heel in place. 11. Heel trimmed and shoe ready for finishing.
The remaining machines have to do with the final finishing. They include trimmers, stitch separators, edge setters, buffers, finishers, cleaners, stampers, shoe treers, creasers, etc., each playing a part of some importance in giving a final finish to the shoe and making it presentable to the wearer. The whole operation, as will be seen, is a highly complicated one, and is remarkably effective in preparing an article that shall appeal to the salesman and purchaser and prove satisfactory when put into use.
Such is the complicated process of making a shoe by machinery. It would be hard to find any machine process that surpasses it in complexity and the number of separate machines involved. Poor old St. Crispin would certainly expire with envy if he could see his favorite thus taken out of the hands of his artisans and the shoe whirled rapidly through a host of odd but effective contrivances on the way to become made fit for wear.