Film Friday – Shoe Repair Shops: Part 1

I am a sucker for a fine pair of shoes or boots. I love to go into a shoe shop to watch the cobblers work and smell the leather & dye. I have a pair of Justin Roppers ™ that have been with me since I was 17. I have had them half soled more than 5 times and full soled twice. I have had cuts stiched up and new heels nailed on. They fit my feet like a pair of bespoke calf-skin gloves. I wish all my shoes fit and felt like they do. I have Al’s Attire in San Francisco building my dress shoes and boots now and I hope to have that sort of relationship with their products as well someday.

First Rate Shoe and boot repair in the Great State of Texas:

Austin Shoe Hospital:Craftsmanship from Mosaic Media Films on Vimeo.

A part-time cobbler making shoes in his garage:

The Shoemaker from Pete Stone on Vimeo.

Western boot builder:

Lisa Sorrell from Tiana Jade on Vimeo.

Some small projects around the house

I have been swamped with work and travel for the last couple of months, so my shop time has been very limited. I have mostly been puttering around with my workbench, getting the last bits and bobbles done before calling it done and I have spent the off hour here and there on the lathe and doing stuff around the house:

  1. I had to fix a dishwasher leak and do some painting in the kitchen – still hate plumbing
  2. We did some re-arranging, so I had to fill some nail holes and then make new ones.
  3. Glued a cutting board back together after it split – craptastic glue didn’t hold, so it is back in the to-fix pile and will get some dowels this time
  4. Made a pot lid handle out of some scrap cherry.
  5. Tackled the jungle that was once my yard – twice
  6. Sharpened the lawnmower blade
  7. Turned the compost
  8. I bought a sheet of plywood and built a DVD shelf and a 8′ bookshelf for the lending library we run.
  9. There was been an oak log in my shop for months so I cut it in half and made a couple of stools for my office.
  10. Our puppies play a game called “run away from Mommy” when she takes them out, so I built two small fences to keep them in the back yard and away from the front gate.

I have do a few things in the shop just for organization and am working on a couple of little projects:

  1. We got a huge free wardrobe that I put in the GROP to organize non-tool/shop related items like climbing gear and life jackets
  2. My battery operated tools need a home, so I put together an organization center for them that mounts on the French cleat board
  3. I hung up my 6 heavy panel clamps to get them out of the way
  4. Made a Lathe chuck and tail-stock tool organizer for the French cleat organizer
  5. With a bonus from my J-O-B, I bought a few more molding planes, but they arrived in sad shape. I spent 6+ hours one Saturday cleaning, sharpening and fixing them.
  6. Started work on a blanket chest rebuild: cut here, snip there, new runners and new feet. Will get new milk paint finish when complete.
  7. Working on a copyist lectern rebuild. I made the base, pillar and other bits from some scrap beech left over from the bench build.
  8. Built a wooded top for the puppy Kennel so it blends better with the furniture in the Living Room.
  9. Putting together a 6-board chest for molding plane storage.  Will get re-purposed forged hardware and a Barn Red milk paint finish.

Matt Talley - Projects 2015_06 Matt Talley - Projects 2015_11 IMG_3410 Oak stool 23-2015 (2) Matt Talley - Projects 2015_24 Matt Talley - Projects 2015_22 Matt Talley - Projects 2015_23 Matt Talley - Projects 2015_25 Matt Talley - Projects 2015_17 Matt Talley - Projects 2015_18 Matt Talley _ Drill Organizer _ 2015

My workbench is DONE!!

I am about a month late in posting this – life and my J-O-B got in the way – but the Cornebarrieu Bench is done. Completely done! All bells and whistles added. It seems like it took me forever, but it fits perfectly in the shop and I started using the bench even before it was finished. I am very happy with the outcome and am currently working on projects that have been piling up all winter. Just in case you haven’t been following along for the past year and a half or so:

My GROP (garage and shop combo) in Seattle was too small for a proper joiner’s bench. I made due with a slim, high, wall-mounted work counter, a bolted on machinist-vise, Quick Clamps, and the top of my table saw. It worked – mostly/sort of – but was a pain in the ass a good bit of the time: I never once planed a board on a stable, solid surface. My GROP here in France is roughly the same size as the one in Seattle, but is absent the huge cast iron machines and saws. I have some room to move and finally have the space for a big, heavy, proper work bench as well as some time to build one – or so I thought.

It is an amalgamation of benches by M. Roubo, Roy Underhill, Chris Schwartz, and Bill Schenher. I am calling it the “Cornebarrieu Bench” after the small village in southern France where we live, where the lumber has been sourced, and where the bench was made and first used.

For anyone interested, here is a documented build process, build notes, and step by step guide – 115 steps – to build this beast.

Cornebarrieu Bench 2015  (30)_sm - Copy

Cornebarrieu Bench 2015  (31)_sm

Cornebarrieu Bench 2015  (29)_sm - Copy

Matt Talley’s Quick and Dirty Guide to Paris

I get asked all the time (friends, colleagues, family, friends of friends, some girl on the interwebs who read a post on this site, Instagram, or Tumblr…) about a visit to Paris. Logistics: where to stay, what should they do or see in 3-5 days, what should they avoid… I have written 8 e-mails about the subject in the last 6 months alone. I have been to Paris maybe 30 times in the last 15 years, no joke, and have been to all of the sites that you can think of. I am not an expert, but I do have some experience to share that might be helpful. I decided to collect all my “wisdom” and opinions in one document and just put it out there. So, here is Matt Talley’s Quick and Dirty Guide to Paris.