A Manual of Shoemaking and Leather and Rubber Products

by William H. Dooley

The soles are cut out on the beam machines, also previously described. They are then channeled on the side that is next to the foot. This channeling is similar to that done on the welt insole. Two incisions are made, the inside one being the same as in the welt insoles. The outside one, however, is different, as the flange is cut off square instead of being rolled up. This leaves a channel which begins at the edge and surface of the sole and extends in semicircular form to the abrupt wall of the cut in the sole, which forms the breast against which the upper is to be sewed.

After the soles are channeled, they are soaked until they become soft enough to roll up easily. They are then placed on racks and kept in a damp room until needed.

A turn shoe is hand lasted wrong side out. First the uppers are turned with the lining outside, then the last is inserted and also the toe boxing.

The sole is set straight on the last and is tacked firmly to it. The operator, by aid of hand pullers, draws the upper over the sole and tacks it securely from a point where the breast of the heel will rest to where the large toe will extend, and then along the same distance on the other side. The toe part is next lasted by machinery, a wire being fastened at one side and run around the edge holding the pulled-up parts of the upper which has been stretched tightly over the last.

The shoe is next passed over to the Goodyear inseamer operator, who sews the upper to the sole, the needle passing down through the inside channel, through the sole leather, out through the square-cut channel and then through the upper, uniting the upper to the sole with the chain stitch. In fact, the bottom of a turn shoe at this time looks exactly like the bottom of a welt, with the exception that the turn shoe is still turned wrong side out. The nature of the stitch is the same—a waxed, threaded chain, with two rows of thread on the outside that loop with the single thread in the inside lip of the insole. The shoe is sewed only from the back of the shank to the toe, the heel part still being loose.

The seam is now trimmed with an inseam trimmer, a machine with a revolving, jagged-edged knife that saws off the surplus portions of the upper, leaving it smooth and even with the sole. The tacks are all pulled out with a sort of a nail puller, which works rapidly and automatically.

The lasts are then taken out and the shoe is turned right side out. This turning process is not a difficult one, but it is perhaps the most interesting operation that the layman will see in the entire factory. The operation is accomplished by means of a rigid iron bar set slantwise in a table. The upper is turned right side out by hand and the sole is rolled right side out by means of pressure on this bar.

After this turning process, which twists and rolls the shoe out of shape, it has no semblance of its final form. The back part of the sole and upper are still loose, the upper being fastened from the shank to the toe.

The turn shoe must be “second” lasted, and the inserting of the last is no easy matter. A contrivance called a push jack assists the operator greatly. He uses a flat, narrow rod to smooth out the lining, and after squeezing, pushing, and smoothing, the last is finally made to fit in the shoe. The counter is placed in at this time, the shank piece is set in place, and the shoe and last are placed on a jack for nailing. The back part upper is now stretched tightly over the heel part of the last by means of lasting pullers, and is tacked down, the nails going through the shank piece and clinching against the anvil heel seat of the last. This operation completes the lasting, the shoe now having a form exactly like the last over which it is made.