Down another rabbit hole I go.

[CliffG]

Here I go again heading down a new rabbit hole; I always keep wanting to learn different skills or refine my current skill set to something different , most often it becomes a hobby that I put money into and it gladly takes it from me and asks for more. After a while of this I loose interest and either trade or sell off what I have been doing previously for something different. The problem is I just never seem to pick anything that makes me feel like I am doing something of value other than occupying my feeble brain.
My last project was an old truck that was going to be scrapped, I knew the truck since I was about 7 or so and rescued it form the cutting torch. learned a lot about late 40's trucks, once again I realized I was loosing interest in saving an old piece of iron and I was not really accomplish something I would use in the end.
My wife and I talked about the things that I always talk abort wishing I had learned or done but never did, which brought up shoe and boot making which has always been interesting as most of my family has hard to fit off the shelf shoes.
Well I sold the old truck bought some old machines (mostly the wrong ones) and started reading books, watching youtube videos, reading articles I could find on the internet.
I got set up with a wholesale distributor for material and supplies and started learning OJT style by repairing shoes and boots that the family already had on hand. Slowly and sometimes painfully one after another is done and I learn so much from each one as it goes.
We go to estate sales and I sometimes will pick up an old pair of shoes to take apart and see how they were cut out and assembled. This morning I picked up a pair of boots I just could not take apart and they were not even my size but I just had to buy them to clean them up look at the design and just learn from this perspective.
I cleaned all the dry dirt off and gave them a very good polishing and buffing, took some edge dye to the mid sole edges, none of this is particularly new to me except I the edge dye, which I quickly found out that if not careful it will run over the side and soak the white thread that holds the sole on. UGH! oh well I went ahead and dyed all of the thread on the bottom of the boot black, lesson number 4567 in the learn as I go! However I am glad that I had not just completed making my wife a new pair of shoes and do this! either way all is good!
These are jump boots size 12 N. made by KU, they are dated 6-68, just two years newer than myself, dang disjointed that they are way to big for me.
I did not think to take a picture before but most of you all know what an old boot looks like anyway.
This is the first pair of boots I have owned with brass nails, I have owned boots with wooden pegs, but this is the first with brass nails.
onward and upward I go!

 

[Juanito]

My favorite boots, 3rd pattern standard issue McNamara boots. Millions of these were issued to US soldiers and Marines. Believe it or not, the right fitting pair will feel like slippers after the are broken in.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Yeah, my army boots and my field jacket were the two things I hung onto.

I admire the way you whole-heartedly throw yourself into new hobbies that are not small. I have a bad habit of rationalizing my way out of new hobbies before I even give them a chance. (“It’ll cost too much.” “It’ll steal too much time from my family.” “Who am I kidding, I don’t have the patience for that.” Etc. Etc.) one of these days, I need to give myself permission to “go down a new rabbit hole” as you say.