How a shoe is made

Consumer visited Grant Langley (pictured right) to find out how a shoe is made. Grant's family has been making shoes for over 90 years: his grandfather made boots for the 1924-25 Invincibles.

Grant supplies dress shoes for the armed forces, and it's his boots you see on many of the characters in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings.

Making a classic dress shoe

Materials include: high shine leather; leather and synthetic linings; spongy insoles; brass eyelets; laces; plastic heel and toe stiffeners; blended nylon/cotton thread; neoprene and polyurethane glue; PVC soles.

1. Grant starts by cutting materials for the upper. The sides ("quarters"), toes ("vamps"), heels ("counters"), leather linings and tongues are cut from leather skins on a hydraulic clicking press.
2. Leather edges are thinned to make it easier to fold and stitch the upper together. Thinner edges will also give the completed upper a more refined finish.
3. A toe stiffener ("puff") adds shape and strength. Grant then adds linings to the upper to help absorb perspiration and reduce heat inside the shoe.
4. The upper is stitched together and brass eyelets are inserted. Laces are threaded through the eyelets to hold the upper in shape. The edges of the upper are coated with neoprene glue and folded around an inner sole. The bottom of the inner sole is also pre-coated with neoprene adhesive.
5. The plastic stiffeners in the heel and toe are heated and pressed around a hard mould that's shaped like a foot (a "last"). The sides of the shoe are heated and pressed in the same manner.
6. The shoes are put through a heat-setter. That machine heats the entire upper and shrinks the leather around the last, so that it retains its shape once the last is removed.
7. After heat-setting, rough edges on the underside of the upper are scoured smooth. The high shine lacquer is removed with a fine wire brush (glue adheres better to a rough surface). Polyurethane glue is applied to the base of the upper and then dried in a heated room. A metal shank is placed on the outside of the inner sole: this will eventually give the completed shoe rigidity.
8. The PVC soles are prepared a day before. They're wiped clean with a solvent, and polyurethane glue is applied to the inside of the sole. The adhesive needs 24 hours to dry.
9. The glue on the upper and the sole is reactivated so that both surfaces become tacky. The upper and sole are pressed together in an air-operated "Dr Funck" machine (Dr Funck was the business partner of the famous Dr Marten). Once removed, the shoe is allowed to cool and then slipped off the last.
10.  Leather linings ("sox") are glued to the spongy inner sole. The shoes are cleaned and boxed.