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+--- Thread: Marching and Footwear (/showthread.php?tid=24160)
Marching and Footwear - Renatus - 09-09-2014
Quote:will you please modify your signature to contain your name I think is rude not to know who you are talking tooThat is one of the RAT rules anyway.
Marching and Footwear - Martin Moser - 09-09-2014
Just to add some real life experience to the discussion of how long it takes to make a pair of caligae: I have been making a number of Roman era shoes, some caligae among them. For one of the latest ones (Castleford) I've been timing myself. All overhead like preparing the workplace, getting the leather, putting away stuff etc. etc. aside and deducting all fancy doings like breaking the cut edges, greasing the finished shoe arrive at a minimum of about 6.5 hours of work for one shoe, so ca. 13 hrs for a pair.
Doing the fancy stuff adds 2-3 hours easily. As I like to do the fancy stuff ;-) and there is some overhead, too, I typically spend more like +/- 20h ...
Some details (for one Castleford caliga) from my records:
- copying and cutting pattern: 1h45'
- cutting and thinning of 2 decorative bands: 15'
- sewing double back seam (inside and outside) 1h45'
- cutting out lower sole and preparing for tunnel stitching: 40'
- sewing upper and sole: 1h
- nailing after original pattern (104 nails): 35'
Time varies depending on quality and thickness of leather, complexity of pattern, amount of detail and decoration (caligae, just like almost all Roman shoes were often decorated in one or more ways), number of nails as per nail size and pattern and quality of final finish.
Even so I try as well as I can, God knows how close I actually am to the original techniques and tools, so there may be "inaccuracies" because of that.
Introducing some kind of separation of work and years of experience OTOH I'd estimate a well (but not custom) made pair of caligae to take about 10h upwards.