[::. HANDMADE COWBOY BOOTS .::]

CUSTOM COWBOY BOOTS

CLASSIC AMERICAN DESIGNS

WELCOME!

There is little better than a good looking, good fitting new pair of boots. Cowboy boots fit especially well because the bootmaker modifies the last so the measures and shape modifies our foot. Combine this customization with the better quality materials and unique top design, and there is a winning combination that makes heads turn in admiration.

Always a shoe and boot fan, I was especially fond of western gear, especially cowboy boots. My first pair were black cherry, bought when still in high school, worn daily with Levi 505's back in the 1970s. Why is the site named RexKelly? The name was on all the bags used to ship a recent order of vintage Nocona-style cowboy boot lasts. These were the primary materials that let me start this business.

More information on how I started to make cowboy boots is on the Bootmaker page. Welcome to the site, as so far as I know, I am the only single woman boot maker in New York State.

Now, after more than 15 years of technical work, I decided the antidote was something artistic, hands-on-creative and useful or wearable. So, in 2003, I took a western cowboy boot making class Denver, Colorado. Since then, I have been collecting shoemaking machines, tools, books, lasts and leather, and hope to open a shop where women can order the what they can't find elsewhere.

This site lists some of my extra personal last inventory, some sources for materials and eventually some research on the art and technology of shoe and boot and last design and production. Cowboy boots last details can be found on the LASTS page. For technical information on how to make footwear, please check the BOOKS link (still being updated); and for small quantities of shoemaking materials for making shoes, please visit my colleague Georgene McKim's web site at www.shoedo.com. Thanks to Montana Leather for their newsletter!

Please send email if there is anything that interests you, or you have questions about the site.

gilman

Gilman Lathe
All footwear is made by first, being stitchedtogether flat, and then being formed around a shape that gives the shoe it's size, style and sole and heel attachment. This form is called a "last" and the word came from the original cordwainer-shoemakers in England. Lasts are cut by lathe machines, and have been for more than 250 years. A model is created, and the machine will turn both a right and left last. The hinge is for removal when boot is completed, and it is put in before the last is cut. I bought Gilman Lathe in 2004 from a cabinetmaker who was making with lasts and riding boots. Above is a roper-style boot model ready for duplicating on a Gilman last lathe. Back in 1895, this wood turning machine was patented by Gilman&Son, in Springfield, Vermont. This lathe was used by model makers to create models during the last design process. The Gilman is set-up to cut a right hand last, but if you take the main belt, and put a twist in it to turn all gears in reverse and cut a left hand last. Bulk lasts were cut four at a time on a Reed duplicating lathe. Furniture grade, rock-hard maple was the material lasts were made from until about 1960 when they switched to plastic. Old wooden lasts are often thought to have better style, and classic lines, but the last comes first!
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