Re-soling shoes: half sole vs full resole explained
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- čas přidán 2. 06. 2018
- In this video I show the difference between two major ways of putting new leather soles onto shoes: the half sole repair versus a full resole.
NOTE: There IS an error in my video: an "iron" is a unit of measure of leather thickness equal to 1/48 of an inch, or 0.021 inches. therefore " 10 iron" would be 10/48" or .21 inches thick, not 0.40" as I stated. One other advantage to a half sole resole is that if the original manufacturer’s logo is near enough to the heel, it may be able to be maintained.
Here are links to a couple other videos I reference. “Shoe construction differences: Bonded, Blake stitched, & Goodyear Welted”:
• Shoe construction diff...
“Shoe Construction: Goodyear Welted shown”:
• Shoe construction: Goo...
“Shoe review: Allen Edmonds McAllister wingtip Oxford”:
• Shoe Review: Allen Edm... - Jak na to + styl
Thanks for answering this question.
You are most welcome. Thanks for taking the time to comment! It certainly helps the channel!
I was expecting information on the pro v con of getting a half and whole sole. The video is essentially shots of what they look like. I generally like your vids bit this could use an update.
That’s an excellent point!
Having seen some of the "recrafting" work from Allen Edmonds lately I think I will stick to my local cobbler. That being said Alden still does amazing work.
Manny Bamberg I have not at all... have you seen them doing poorer work than before?
It all depends what the customer wants, there is a great deal between a shoe repair and a shoe restoration. Try to imagine you take your car for a service and it came back with full restoration costing thousand of dollars and all you wanted was an oil change.
Absolutely! My goal with this video was to give people a basic understanding of the two options.
Hey Bob,
Love watching your videos! FYI, the da da da da is called "Wheeling".
Sidharth Panwar LOL thanks. I knew those indented lines on the sides of the heels or welt were called wheeling I guess I never put 2 and 2 together that on the sole it’s the same terminology. Thanks!
Hey Bob, One comment I would like to say is that AE are very particular about what they re-craft. If you have a pair of shoes that you want to send to AE and the soles were done by somebody else, AE may not take your shoes for re-craft.
M Z Yes, I have read that too, I think the keyword there is MAY not. Thanks, I should have mentioned that. That’s important to consider!
Hi sir what do you think about Bostonian Impression shoes? Are they any good?
Aiman Hakeem Are you talking about new ones being currently produced, or older vintage ones? Like most of the US shoe manufactures (other than Allen Edmonds & Alden, and maybe a couple other start ups I’m not familiar with) in the early 90s or so, almost all shoe production went overseas. Florsheim & Bostonian made some GREAT quality shoes until then (most of them had high quality leather uppers & Goodyear welted soles). Generally speaking, the shoes made in the USA are better than the ones made overseas because of the materials used & construction methods. I can tell you from experience that a lot of the shoes they made in the last 10-15 years (made overseas) the leather is a lower quality, and will crack overtime even if you take good care of it. Most of the shoes they sell now have bonded rubber soles and are disposable because they will not last long and are not re-solable. I just looked at their website, their highest and Bostonian shoes DO have full grain leather uppers, and appear to have Blake stitched synthetic soles. Their “high-end“ shoe is $135, right now was on sale for $80. It’s a $100 shoe.
Robert Powers thats the thing. I couldnt decipher the date it was made but it is on their "Impression" line. I have read somewhere that Clarks bought them over around 1970s and now I dont know if the one I saw is a vintage or recently produced, though it has a goodyear welt construction and the sole has been resoled a few times (I noticed the new half sole). I am still pretty curious about the date of the production. If it is a vintage I figure I might cop them tomorrow. Thanks for the info sir
@@CobblerBob Just as small correction, shoes with rubber/ synthetic/ pvc soles can all be repaired, I repair them every day, although the cost usually makes the process uneconomical
unless there is an overriding reason.
Recently I had my goodyear-welted Aldens brought to a local cobbler and it appears he cemented the new half soles on.
Did he just ruin my shoes? Or make them irreparable? @CobblerBob
No.....they will be fine.
What about direct moulded soles ? 😅
Can i get a the outside of the sole to be tan? It seems the outside of the sole is always black against the brown leather?
YES, you just have to sand off the black edge with sandpaper. I'd start with fresh 180 grit, then go to 240 then finish with 320 grit. Be careful and go slow at first. Practice on a cheap pair of shoes first. I do exactly this on my McAllisters:
czcams.com/video/0WWNmlizVtM/video.html
I would be so annoyed to see shoes on my fabric lounge, but love the video so maybe its forgiven!
How much does a typical full sole job cost with a local dealer?
it varies WIDELY! It varies on your location (for ex, big city like New York vs Ohio where I'm at), the kind of job that's done, and quality of the work. From my experience around here though, a full resole with "standard" leather is around $70-$80. That being said, TWO local cobblers will NOT STITCH the leather soles back onto a Goodyear Welted or Blake stitched shoe! The one cobbler near downtown Akron told me his machine broke years ago and he stopped stitching, only glues the soles on! There is another cobbler near Cleveland that does Goodyear Welt stitch on a leather sole, but he hasn't been in business that long and his skills are not there yet. In other words, his jobs will be functionally sound, but not nice enough to take a photo of and display on social media. He also rarely does full sole, he almost always advocates a half-sole. So I would take a pair of shoes I will beat up to him, but not my Allen Edmonds.
Then there are guys like Trenton & Heath www.potterandsons.com, or Steve from Bedos Leatherworks www.leatherrepair.com in VA - both of them run extremely successful CZcams channels and Steve is considered by many as the best around. His shoes are works of art, but I think his standard resole with house leather and an all rubber top lift start at like $180 (that's from memory, you cannot hold him to a price I'm quoting from memory). I've seen some of his full rebuilds with JR Rendenbach premium leather go over $300, but they wind up being BETTER than the new shoe in many respects. There is also Sunny Yoo from Metro Cobbler & Co metro-cobbler.business.site in Maryland. From what I remember, he's more than those average local cobblers I quoted, but less than Steve's costs. I think I'd go with Sunny if you want the most bang for the buck.
I have never had a half sole done. It just feels like a cut 'n' shut job and in my mind looks untidy.
Nothing is worse than half-assed workmanship.
People that say "OK" constantly, to affirm their own statements, tend to be good presenters but terrible listeners. Lol
34 Times?
6:25 wealth fudging
Ok ok