MIMF

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?

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?

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?

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.

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

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

Calvin Buenavides wrote: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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