My Mainz Calcei

[Neuraleanus]

I finally finished both of them:


My thanks to Martin Moser for his tip on getting the hobnails in straight. I filed each nail prior to pounding them in. A 1/16 inch starter hole also helped.


With the exception of glueing on the out-sole, I followed the methods outlined by Martin Moser. After ripping the leather on my first shoe, I also made the interior reinforcement somewhat more substantive then he did:


The fabric lining is some wool flannel left over from making my toga.

[MARCVS PETRONIVS MAIVS]

Nice!

[Martin Moser]

Good work, Lee!

[Magnus]

Hey Lee, how did you get the leather to go dark like that?

[Neuraleanus]

Hey Lee, how did you get the leather to go dark like that?

I used black leather dye. I first used the alcohol based stuff, ran out of that, and finished with acrylic based dye. Not exactly period, but it achieved the desired effect.

[Magnus]

Cool! Hopefully it sticks and you dont' get black feet the first time you wear them lol. Good job!

[M. Demetrius]

Size 10? Ship them right over here. :lol:

You can rinse some of the black out by wetting them and letting the water flush out the dye. Otherwise, that alcohol dye will certainly dye your feet or udones. You might not mind that, but it will happen.

For non-Roman leatherwork, I've used that dye and sealed it with lacquer. That seems to keep the pigment contained, but it's probably too shiny for Roman gear.

Wax? Sno-seal? Neatsfoot oil? all those might help to keep the water out. Even Neutral color plain old Kiwi shoe polish, which is basically wax, of course.

[Neuraleanus]

you dont' get black feet the first time you wear them lol.

I did not dye the inside.

Size 10?

I'm a size 9, so they might be a bit tight for you. I did the duck-tape over socks to draw the pattern, followed by adjusting the pattern by fitting the duck-tape over one of the lasts. Fitting to the last indicated that I needed to add material about the toes.

Roman Days is coming up. I plan on wearing them there and we'll see how they work.

[Oisin]

Would you mind posting your patterns from those? I've been trying to find a good tutorial for making that type of Calcei, and haven't been able to come up with anything.

[Martin Moser]

Would you mind posting your patterns from those?

Look at the 3rd pic from above in the initial post :-) )

I've been trying to find a good tutorial for making that type of Calcei, and haven't been able to come up with anything.

Look at the following, all the info you need should be in there (although dispersed, you will have to do some reading and piecing together, I fear):

http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=18926
http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=14820
http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=6707 (this is on making caligae, but a number of the techniques described are the same as for calcei)

[Oisin]

Thanks. Because of their slightly different colors, it looked to me in the picture above like the toe and heel sections were two different sections layed on top of each other so that the whole pattern wasn't visible. I see how it works now, though.

Also, where do you find lasts? I've been looking all over the internet, and can't find a pair. Ebay only seems to have childrens' sizes available. I did find one pair the right size, but was seriously outbid. Is there anywhere reliable (and cheap!) to find a pair?

Also, now that you have a pair of these, do you think it would be a hindrance to comfort or mobility if I were to slightly enlarge the tongue and add a seam to close up this hole:



I know it might not be perfectly correct or documented, but it seems like a good thing to close up. Or is there a purpose to having that there?

[Martin Moser]

Because of their slightly different colors, it looked to me in the picture above like the toe and heel sections were two different sections layed on top of each other so that the whole pattern wasn't visible. I see how it works now, though.

Ah, ok. You can take it as a rule for Roman shoes that the upper is made out of one piece of leather.

About lasts - for the US I can't tell - maybe somebody else can help out here?

Also, now that you have a pair of these, do you think it would be a hindrance to comfort or mobility if I were to slightly enlarge the tongue and add a seam to close up this hole:

Hm, I don't think it matters this way or that :-) )

[Matt Lukes]

You should try some period iron-vinegar dye- it turns vegetable-tanned leather black. Wet some steel wool and let it rust nicely, put that nice iron oxide in vinegar for a while, strain and the resulting iron acetate is an excellent dye... if a bit stinky LOL

[Peroni]

To avoid the stink, iron (nails/wire wool etc as Matt stated) in plain water works just as well. It goes as black as the ace of spades in only a short while. I have an iron dye-bath on the go constantly. If you keep it in a resealable plastic container it lasts for ages and ages.