Unconventional 8 oz leather soles. Tanned deer (from Tandy). Waxed artificial sinew thread. Traced my foot and cut a plywood form for the hard soles. NOTE: the plywood is just a mold to make the sole the same shape as my feet. The leather was cut 1/4" wider than mold and turned up for a sewing lip. Punched holes with and awl and wet formed soles to mold. Welcome tandy deer hide uppers (my own tanned buckskin was too hard to come by to chance ruining on first pair of mocs). Hand sewing. Finished they feel like an extra layer of skin. Perfect fit. My sewing had improved by the 2nd moc. Maybe the next pair will be even better.
Where are yours? Thanks. This is my first pair. These would be just a bit large. Exact fit for me is between 10.5 and 11. Thanks.
Very nice work, Semo. I'm glad you clarified about the plywood just being a template because it sure didn't read like that. I was thinking you wrapped the plywood in leather to make it easier to attach to the upper. Definitely a hard sole! I remember reading somewhere that a fellow used that dipping rubber you put on tool handles to coat his leather soles. It wore out rather quickly, but protected the leather from wear. He put on several coats, allowing each to dry before he scratched it up to grab the next coat. He was wearing his mocs on a regular basis, though, and wearing through the leather was a weekly occurrence.
You should! And post up pics. These are not going to be daily wear, but I made them hard sole to last longer. Guess I should take that plywood pic out of the op. A couple have been misled by that. Some guys sew two and three layers of soles on soft Mocs because of wear issues.
I've been looking to make some as well and I really like this construction method. I saw a thread somewhere and they used Shoe Goop, apparently not the same as Shoe Goo, and added bits of chopped up rubber for a bit of traction and to increase durability.
There is some stuff i found not too long ago that is a paint on that is designed to armor up leather shoes. Cant think of it right now but that would be an option as well. Was gonna use it for my mukluk project. Toe armor or something maybe?