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  • 4 months later...

When I started repairing shoes back in 1965 Dri-ped oak and Dri-ped green were the class act in leather soles. To attach the soles they were rivited over the waist and rivited through a piece of lifting in the center of the sole,they were left full and not cut round and sent to the factory shop for stitching, where they were rounded and grooved prior to stitching.These soles were sold with a six month guarantee,they finished exceptionally well and the bottoms were cleaned by holding them over a gas flame to sweat them and the dirt was wiped off with a clean rag. Standard leather sole and heel cost around 18/6 with Dri-ped around £1-3s-6d. Great to work with and great for the customer. Ken :D

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just to let you know gents that i have manage to glue dri ped successfully in the past ,it is a lengthy process but it can be done and have also trained one or two of the staff in the company how to do it as for doc martins the comany i onced worked for used to turn them away as unrepairable becouse they could not get them to stick even with the heat knife even to the point where they were asking there suppliers for help on the matter ,it was only when a pair was esnt in for an adaption like a raise and socket and i said no probs they all said no way to which i replied piece of cake,then proved it

 

I'm dying to know how you cemented dri-ped, as I don't beleave it can be done without extracting the oil's it's impregnated with, thus making using dri-ped pointless. :?

 

Please tell me more elfman :shock:

 

:smt015

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When I started repairing shoes back in 1965 Dri-ped oak and Dri-ped green were the class act in leather soles. To attach the soles they were rivited over the waist and rivited through a piece of lifting in the center of the sole,they were left full and not cut round and sent to the factory shop for stitching, where they were rounded and grooved prior to stitching.These soles were sold with a six month guarantee,they finished exceptionally well and the bottoms were cleaned by holding them over a gas flame to sweat them and the dirt was wiped off with a clean rag. Standard leather sole and heel cost around 18/6 with Dri-ped around £1-3s-6d. Great to work with and great for the customer. Ken :D

 

I like the cleaning method, Ken. I never knew that :oops:

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That is a similiar way to the method used in the 50s Ken but we did not use a flame but hot water before attaching for stitching. We stitched them in th factory where they were repaired.

Anyone who says that these soles can be stuck on is unaware of what Dri-Ped & Chrome (this is the green part of the Dri-Ped and on Chrome it is all green and full of grease or Oldham Chip Fat, I think they were manufactured in bolton but I may be wrong.

 

Nice of you to post Ken and welcome.

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it is still possable to buy some bespoke shoes with driped soles but they are very rare to get in for repair and when you do then the only driped that is available is the spatten brand which is a blueish green in colour. as for attatchment of any leather soles there is four methods i e adhesive,wood pegs ,steel rivits or stitched the difference being that pegged and rivited are stiff and the oters flexable ,the princable of the stitch being that the locking knot of the stitch acts as the same way as the rivit head . as for the leather it self there is the open and closed fibres each has it own purpose and use, the tanning is done to help it last longer much like a preservative the most common being ,oakbark, vegatable, chrome,it use to take 6 months from when the hide was taken from the animal and the tanning process before the leather was suitable to use as a soling bend

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The way the soles are held on by the stitching method is by the use of a setting wax that holds the thread ridgid in the holes made by the Aw/Needle. This type of sole would not remain on the shoe for its wearout time as the stiches would pull through. that is why repaires now use adhesives to counteract this problem as we do not now use heated wax like the manufacturers. (or at least most dont).

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Walkers of Bolton was the main tannery.

I still have a pair somewhere from 40 years ago but I cant find them, the logo was on the sole.

 

Velostain is not now on the list of safe stains to use, it went years ago, amongst the 1st casualties of Cancer producing agents.

Balls do a similiar colourant, or did when I was using it. There are a few variants.

 

Latex was only used for normal leather.

Rubber solution, the type used for inner tube repairs was used on rubber and sticking crepe to non crepe products (still a good glues used correctly).

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i did a bit of work for you when i was 18 ken, almost twenty years ago and whilst i was still very naive! (i've learned a lot since then :oops: ) it was whilst you were in hospital.

the manageress of the dry cleaners back then was edi, she's one of my customers now and she's still going strong :D

 

it's good to know you're still out there :D i never get chance to call into manchester else you would've seen more of me over the years, i'm married with 5 kids now so time for me is at a premium most days :lol:

 

are you still staying in shoe repairing in your new venture or is it something else? do i know your mate if he's a cobbler?

 

regards, rick.

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Hi Rick, I had an idea it might be you,great to hear you are doing well,five kids, good to see you`ve taken up a hobby as well. Say hello to Edi for me it`s a number of years since I saw her,she had put a bit of weight on, and say hello to her husband Ronnie if he is still with us. I`m staying in shoe repairs but working in cheshire with a mate who lives over there so I doubt you will know him. All the best mate, if I`m in oldham I`ll call in and say hello Ken

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  • 3 years later...

Nightmare....... Got a pair of mens ECCO city shoes in for soles and heels, started to grind them down then saw there was a venneer of Dri Ped Green (I have called this stuff green oak for a long time). Knowing this stuff from the past I thought grind the veneer off untill i got to the plastic underneath, did that and found that none of my glue's would take hold of the plastic nightmare, waiting for the customer to come back to tell him the story.......hope he take's it well :-({|=

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