Thursday, February 24, 2011

Alexander's Shoe Repair

Today I spent several hours at Alexander's Shoe Repair with a cobbler named Nicholas.  The first thing he says is "I want to quit"

Nicholas has been working on shoes for over 30 years.   He is the only employee at his fathers shop and has "shoes piled on his head."

People come in constantly interrupting his work and helping him look for their own shoes piled up in the back of his shop.  Most of the jobs aren't finished when the customers arrive and he'll do them in 5 or 10 minutes.

He showed me around and told me about some of the machinery he uses and some prices on equipment.  A big sanding and polishing unit can be bought used for around 8k.

He has a nail gun machine for soles, an industrial singer with a rotational walking foot, and several industrial sewing machines for the thick stitching around the welt of a boot.

He also showed me the industrial contact cements that he uses for shoes called "Barge all purpose Cement"


Nicholas sanding away at a platform heel.


Sewing machine used for thick sole stitching.


Rotational Walking foot, Cool!


Industrial Strength contact cement for shoes.



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