For bespoke shoemakers or aspiring ones, there’s a constant hunt for good tools. The fact that many of the best quality ones were made decades ago makes this even more difficult. Luckily, there’s a few good places to turn to, one of them is the online shop Shoemaker’s Toolmakers which sell vintage tools and shoemaking materials.
Back four-five decades and further, the quality of the tools for making shoes by hand were incredible, with great metal and wood used and loads of types and versions were made. The reason of course was that there were many more using them, so it was a much bigger business, hence more companies put in more effort in it. You can still get great new tools made today, but there’s much fewer who do them, and selection is more sparse.
Of course tools from the legendary Swedish company E.A. Berg is represented on Shoemakers’ Toolmakers.
One place that shoemakers can find these old tools and also things like threads, waxes etc. is from the site Shoemaker’s Toolmakers. The man behind is the British bespoke shoemaker William Efe Laborde, who is a vintage enthusiast in general and who turned his gathering of vintage tools into a small business on the side of the shoemaking. The webshop is very basic, with all currently available products listed on the start page.
Fine edge irons, a set made by various French companies in the 1930-1940s.
The old used tools are all refurbished, there’s also some new old stock ones. You can also find an archive of what has been offered previously but already sold, but which gives an idea of the wide range that passes through here. A great thing is that all things have good descriptions and photos, so much easier to know what one is looking at than what often is the case browsing Ebay or similar. Prices are from what I can judge reasonable even if not cheap. This is a site that those looking for shoemaking tools and equipment should keep coming back to regularly to not miss when the best stuff one is after turn up on the site.
Not all things are old, this is newly made fine linen thread.
Lovely stitch marker, by the French company Blanchard. Pictures: Shoemakers’ Toolmakers
As shoemakers, the hunt for the best tools is an obsessive one, particularly with the added appeal of the well-researched back stories and expertise that Will provides.
We too sell refurbished vintage tools in our Supplies Shop, well-finished but with room for buyers to finesse the finish to suit their making, as they would with new tools too. We’re also working with a number of tool makers to develop and refine new tools, with edge irons and fudge wheels being a particular focus.
We’re looking more to Etsy now for good quality tools, and have bought from French resellers as well as Takumi Tools and Vintage & Wood in the past.
Deborah Carre: Yeah don’t think I’ve ever met a maker who hasn’t been obsessed with the tools 🙂 All possibilities to get a hold of good ones are great!