safety shoes for woodworkers

[Bob Hammond]

Hey, my 93y/o neighbor (born in Germany) gave me a pair of shoes. They're actually pretty comfortable but best worn outdoors in the soft earth.

Pretty natty, eh?

[Randy Roberts]

Bob,
I don't see how you are going to keep them at 40% relative humidity. And how do you sand out the scratches...a walk on the beach?

[David King]

How in heck do they carve out the insides of those? Did they light a fire and do a controlled burn until they fit right?
Maybe sandpaper socks?

[Bob Hammond]

The shoes are quite old but show no signs of cracking. They're made from watersoaked poplar, and were hand carved inside with a spoon auger and hook knife. The outside was shaped with a block knife which operates like a papercutter. Here's a video: https://youtu.be/dt5BLJhiMO0

They're pretty comfortable but they're meant for use on softer surfaces than cement. My college roommate wore a pair of these eveywhere in the 70s. He told me that an old guy measured his foot with a stick and then just whittled away with the block knife and spoon as he watched. His shoes had a leather strip glued on the insided at the instep, which is something that I might do for these.

[Matthew Lau]

The bigger question is-- how did he get so intimate with your feet?

[Calvin Buenavides]

It looks cute but the question is how comfortable it is on the feet?

[Bob Hammond]

It looks cute but the question is how comfortable it is on the feet?

I did need to carve out the instep a little bit to fit into them, but once they're on they aren't floppy, and they aren't heavy.
Actually, they're quite comfortable standing still, or walking outside on the lawn - warm and dry. On pavement they clop along and seem too stiff.

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