Think these were a British Boot Company produced pair. They have the old Solovair high shine leather and the traditional gold lettering. The build quality is pretty great as well. Did a few layers of brown wax on the cherry red and then finished with neutral mirror gloss. Cheers.
Just got these panels to close and started building layers. They will darken as I add brown and black in there. I like them tho. 😎
Had asian cappers that I hated because of the thick plastic like coating that polished like crap and never looked right, so I decided to remove it using Acetone a scrubbing pad and sandpaper. Once it was down to the grain everywhere except the lettering i redyed the leather and then conditioned it with Bick 4 (omg it needed it) and polished using Saphir products. I like that it actually looks like leather now and has visible grain. It polishes better too. Now I just have to do the other boot.
Got these for super cheap in eBay for cheap and all paint spattered and scuffed. After some paint chipping, sanding and a ton of elbow grease they look fantastic.
This band is hilarious.
Have a couple pairs of these so I wanted to see how this would go. Sanded them with a manicure Dremel, wiped with acetone, did a few thin layers of Angelus Crimson Red leather paint and finished with 4 coat Satin. Then conditioned from the inside with Bick 4 and polished with Saphir Neutral, red and black pate de Luxe. Been wearing them all day and no issues.
My all days for a while now. Still wish they did cherry red 11 eye. I’m too tall for 8 eye. They look like monkey boots on me
Been searching for these for a while. Finally finished the set. Came in almost brand new. The leather on these older ones is worlds thicker than later ones.
Thrifted some old beat to hell Crazy Horse 1461s for a few dollars and since the art store down the road started to carry all the Angelus products I decided to mess around with turning these into a cherry red smooth pair. I sanded them with a nail Dremel and few different grits of sandpaper, then wiped them with deglazer to get rid of as much oil as I could. I then dyed them red. Once that cured did a light condition and then after 48 hours I cleaned them and then applied a few layers of Angelus Crimson Red Paint. I wanted them to still show grain patterns so I kept the layers as thin as possible. Once that was dry after a few days I finished with Angelus 4 coat Satin. I did a few layers of Saphir Pate De Luxe neutral to give them a bit of a shine but I’m pretty happy with it. Been wearing them all day and haven’t noticed any failures. Dunno if I’d do it again as I hate coating leather but I’m happy how they turned out. Cheers.
I like the look of them a ton and just wanted to hear some feedback.
Got these for $15 off eBay almost brand new. It was shine time.
So I ordered these from the old White & Co (the former makers before Solovair)site back in 2001 and they were pretty beat up. I’d cut them from 14 eye to 10 eye about 20 years ago (I regret this), I was missing some eyelets, the leather was damaged due to poor care, and the sole was split and severely worn out. I wanted to get them fixed but kept getting turned down, or given prices I couldn’t afford so I decided to give it a go myself.
I added all new internals, resewed some loose threads and dyed the stitching yellow (it was really wonky looking and ugly once cleaned and I wanted to test out this yellow fabric dye I had). I then contact cemented a Vibram unit on (I initially wanted to get a Gripfast unit from the site but I was able to get the Vibrams for half off) and changed all the eyelets (I kinda feel like they are too big but it’s what I had) except the top ones because how they were cut wouldn’t fit. Lastly I sanded, conditioned, and refinished the lower body, vamp and toe and then redyed and polished. The soles trim could be cleaner but I was hand sanding,but I think it turned out pretty well. I’ve walked several miles in them and everything is holding so far. Still a work in progress. I’m contemplating cutting them to a 9 eyelet and putting a trim around the top for a cleaner look. Cheers
Hey all, I’ve been doing some at home shoe repair as more of a hobbyist. Up until recently it’s just been like refinishes, crack repairs and eyelet changes. I’ve recently gotten into resoling my friend’s shoes as well as my own. I’ve done a few pairs of docs which have turned out surprisingly well. It’s cool to be able to add things like steel shanks and inner material as well as sew in midsoles etc. I’ve used both Solovair and vibram replacement soles. However I have one issue. I cannot find any way to recreate the dr marten style grooving to the sole edge. I mostly use hand tools but would pay for something if it worked. Just wondering if anyone had a hack outside of a cerated butter knife heated up lol. Thanks. Cheers