IMPROVEMENTS IN LASTS FOR MAKING BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Lewis Sharman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th February 1867.
I, JOSEPH LEWIS SHARMAN, of No. 67, Denmark Road, Northampton, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LASTS FOR MAKING BOOTS AND SHOES," to be as follows:→
This Invention has for its object improvements in lasts for making boots
and shoes; in making boots and shoes in which the sole is attached to the
upper by metal rivets it is usual to employ an iron last, against which the
rivet is clenched; unless, however, the rivet is truly driven it is liable to turn
and injure the upper of the boot or shoe. To prevent this I according to
my Invention make a ridge all round the edge of the bottom of the last, so
that the end of the rivet coming against this ridge is firmly supported until it
is clenched, and as by this arrangement all danger of perforating the upper is
avoided the rivets may be driven much closer to the edge of the sole than is
now usual, and a much closer and better joint obtained.
For making boots and shoes in which the sole is connected to the upper by
means of wooden pegs I employ a metal last with a dovetail or undercut
groove at the bottom all round its edge; this groove is filled with a soft com-
position into which the pegs can be driven without injury. If it is preferred
to employ rivets in place of pegs at the heel of the boot or shoe, then the
groove is not carried round the heel, but the last is here made with a ridge
to support the rivets, as above described. Thus it is not necessary, as is now

page_text: usual, to remove the boot or shoe from the pegging last and place it on another
for rivetting, but the rivets are clenched upon the same last as is used in
pegging. The lasts are cut down considerably further than is usual, indeed
nearly or quite to the toe, in order that the last may be drawn out freely,
especially when pegs are used.
In place of employing wood for the "block" or upper part of the last, as is
usual, I employ a composition which when hot is pressed into a mould, and
is so brought to the desired form, and it hardens on cooling. Gutta percha
mixed with other materials to harden it may conveniently be employed.
In the manufacture of rivetted boots and shoes it is desirable to cover the
rivets on the inside by means of the insole, for if a "sock" or lining cemented
in be employed for the purpose it is very liable to become displaced in wear.
To admit of this being done I make the centre part of the bottom or sole of
the last removeable, and in using such a last I split the leather of which the
insole is made all round its edge; the insole so prepared is attached to the
removeable part of the sole of the last, and the upper surface of its split edge
is turned up all round; this part of the last is then fitted into its place, and
the upper surface of the split edge of the insole is then enclosed between the
two parts of the last, whilst the under surface of the insole projects out to the
edge of the sole, as is usual, so as to be caught by the rivets, whilst the upper
surface of the insole being out of the way is not caught; then after the boot
or shoe is removed from the last the upper surface of the insole is fixed down
by cement, and it then covers the rivets.