making your own Caligae

[Mauritius]

Is it worth making your own Caligae i.e. after buying the all materials , tools etc and time
:?:
or is easier and cheaper just to buy a pair

The plans look easy enough to cut out , however not sure on the sole construction and sewing it all together
how much does it cost to make your own compared to buying :?:


( ps size 6 UK if any one is wondering )

[Et tu brute]

Well i'll be making (with the help of my mam ) my own late roman shoes (is calcei the corroct term) they will be pretty basic, but will get the job done, as my feet are still growing i'll get plenty of practice at making them!

[Tarbicus]

The thread to read: www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?p=56089#56089

[Mauritius]

thanks for that

pictures make it easier to understand rather than just reading the instructions

now just need to find where to get the leather from (UK)

[Martin Moser]

Is it worth making your own Caligae i.e. after buying the all materials , tools etc and time or is easier and cheaper just to buy a pair

It depends on what quality leather you buy and how much you value your time in terma of money. In any case, buying caligae off the shelf inevitably will let you end up with something more or less incorrect going by what finds we have.

The plans look easy enough to cut out , however not sure on the sole construction and sewing it all together

Jim has already posted the answer-link for that question, if you have any questions just contact me, please :-) )

[Mauritius]

Is it worth making your own Caligae i.e. after buying the all materials , tools etc and time or is easier and cheaper just to buy a pair

It depends on what quality leather you buy and how much you value your time in terma of money. In any case, buying caligae off the shelf inevitably will let you end up with something more or less incorrect going by what finds we have.

The plans look easy enough to cut out , however not sure on the sole construction and sewing it all together

Jim has already posted the answer-link for that question, if you have any questions just contact me, please :-) )

thanks just need to find the best / cheapest place to buy some leather then !!

[Gaivs Antonivs Satvrninvs]

The only drawback to making them myself is the availability (or not) of proper hobnails. I already have some of the leather. That said, I know Martin's are of a quality that's hard to beat.

[Ceannt]

Hi all

Were can i get a pattern for thr army boot

[Martin Moser]

The only drawback to making them myself is the availability (or not) of proper hobnails. I already have some of the leather.

Nailing is the last step anyway, so don't let the missing hobnails stop you :-) )
Let's hope that Matt's venture with the hobnail production succeeds eventually (keeping fingers crossed, but not while typing)

[Martin Moser]

Were can i get a pattern for thr army boot

I may be able to help if you will let me know what exactly you are looking for (type/time frame etc.)

[Mauritius]

Were can i get a pattern for thr army boot

I may be able to help if you will let me know what exactly you are looking for (type/time frame etc.)

only know of one place http://www.larp.com/legioxx/calpat.html

I would be looking at 1stc, also the type of shoe/ boot used in Judea ?

[Martin Moser]

only know of one place http://www.larp.com/legioxx/calpat.html
I would be looking at 1stc, also the type of shoe/ boot used in Judea ?

This is a pattern that is actually based on a boot found in Mainz in the 1850s. The pattern is a reasonably good rendering of the original as published by Lindenschmit, Ludwig. Die Alterthümer unserer heidnischen Vorzeit. Bd.4. Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum. Mainz 1900. The pattern is simplified a bit, as described in the text on that page. Also, if you decide to use it, make all the leather strips 10-20% thinner at least - going by the originals you want to see lots of skin and little leather.

Here are the drawings from Lindenschmitt, the boot we are talking about is top right:





It is not clear why the 3 single leather strips at the front do not show a hole or any other means of thonging, which makes no sense to me. There are other finds from Mainz that do have holes in those tabs and a leather thong going through them.
Actually Lindenschmitt thought that what he had found was a shoemakers shop, so *possibly* this caliga was not quite finished and the holes in those tabs were meant to be cut to fit once a buyer came around (note I'm just wildly speculating here!)

As for dating, caligae are now considered by researchers to go out of use by 80 or 90AD (yes, depictions on Trajan's column and such are considered to show outdated, "classical" if you want, shoes) since not even tabs, let alone bigger pieces of caligae could be dated to 100AD or younger. If you are aiming at portraying a later date than that you should look at other types of (military) shoes, generally closed ones, which come in high and low versions, but that's another story (or topic) than this thread here.

Hope that helps a bit ....

[Ceannt]

Hi martin sorry for the late reply. 1st cen AD boot time frame vespasian to hadrian. Thanks brother and my juno and mars keep you

[Neuraleanus]

[url:39rq4pbj]http://www.geocities.com/legio_tricesima_cohors_tres/campusMartis/MakingCaligae/MakingAuthenticCaligae.html[/url]

with Martin's guidance. For hobnails go to Le Prevo leathers (the link is on my caligae page). The basic steps are:

1. First make your pattern. You can start with someone else's pattern and then adjust it. A popular way to do this is to wrap your foot in duck tape (over an old sock and cellophane) and redraw the pattern. Cut away the duck tape and transfer the pattern to cardstock.

2. Cut out the uppers from 7-9oz leather remembering to cut the straps extra long. You'll adjust the lengths later.

3. The backs may be stitched together in a variety of ways, but the romans seemed to favor what is called an edge seam (again, see my caligae page).

4. Out-soles may be cut from hardened leather called "bends". This stuff has a weight of around 16oz. Cut these a bit narrower than your foot. For in-soles you may use the same kind of leather as used to make the uppers.

5. As Martin shows, the best way to attach the out-soles to the uppers is to employ a tunnel stitch. You will need a curved awl and either either curved or flexible needles to do this. Following an illustration in one of my references, I put the tunnel stitch along the sides. This proved to be extra difficult. It is likely easier to use the tunnel stitch to form a sandwich between the upper and the out-sole.

6. After everything is stitched together mark the location of the nails with a pencil and pound them in. You will need something to pound on, preferably a shoemaker's anvil. Modern shoemaker's anvils are a problem as they're designed for shoes having heels. A narrow piece of steel is better.

7. The last step is to adjust the length of the straps and oil the leather.

[Mauritius]

trying not to go off track wheres the best place to get your leather in uk
( essex)