Wood for pattens to avoid splitting?

[Sean Powell]

Hello, I'm lending some of my period shoes to a friend for a Cot30 deed at Gulf Wars because a boot merchant dropped the ball. Since I want them to come back in decent shape I decided to get off my ass and build the patents I'd been planning on for a few years. I went with the quick and dirty leather hing style based on 0 research and 0 experimentation. I swung through the local big-box hardware store for wood and then had to go to a second one because selection was crap. I wanted to avoid pine and poplar for durability reasons but this may have been a mistake. Red-Oak splits easily so that left maple. I found a fantastic board with great ray markings because it was almost quarter-sawn! I was tempted to put it back for someone else but figured no one else looking at it would appreciate it.

(like the left and right style here: http://home.comcast.net/~meisterdru/pattens3.jpg )

Long story short, while nailing the leather in place with carpet tacks I split both of then from the hinge back toward the arch of the foot on the big toe side. They are now gluing up in a clamp with a shorter dummy-head tack where the one that split it was. Looking at this I mak have made 3 mistakes.

1: No idea what type of wood was used in period. I'm fairly certain Maple is mostly a new-world wood.
2: Quarter-sawn means that the tendency to split SHOULD be in the plane of the board but perpendicular is also bad. I'm wondering if growth rings at 45 would have been better.
3: carpet tacks are square shanks with sloppy points and I'm wondering if the chisel shape made the cracking worse.

So, what did they use and what should I use next time and how should I avoid this cracking in the future? (Predrill?)

Thanks,
Sean

[James B.]

Alder was the wood of choice in period.

My first question is did you pre-drill the holes or just try and nail right into the wood? I have split all sorts of wood projects from lack of pre-drilling.


I think the problem we have as modern folks have with splitting while walking on them is not just wood selection but thickness. Most pattens are over an inch in thickness many are like 3 or 4 inches with the cut outs at the bottom. I have see even pine pattens made with 3 inch thick wood (4x4) last for ages.

Also as a big guy I don't do the hinged type, they will split if you step on a large rock because of the weight I am putting on it.

[Jeff J]

Ya - I use alder. Light, split and water resistant. US material isn't quite the same species as European.

Carpet tacks are just going to pull out. Use tremont rose-head (small) nails and pre-drill.

[Mac]

Sean,

If you have to go with what is available at the Home Despot, use maple. I have had pretty good luck with it. No. It's not the wood they would have used. Yes. There are European maples. (It's the "sugar" or "rock" maple that's peculiar to NA, but that's not what you will find at the HD)

I use "ring shank" nails, and I predrill. For the nails that hold the hinges, I usually cut the nail so they will come through the wood about 1/4" and grind the last 3/8" or so off at a very shallow angle. The amount the protrudes will curl back into the wood when it strikes the anvil. Carpet tacks will work for the hinges, provided they are the right length to clinch up.

Theoretically, if you started with green wood, you could nail it up without predrilling. Good luck with that.

Mac

[Karl Helweg]

http://books.google.com/books?id=xQU3AQ ... es&f=false

I recall some some 18th century reenactors talking about using eastern cottonwood aka sycamore since it has a such a curly grain and resist splitting.

[Johann Lederer]

I would ask around and see if there is a small sawmill in the area. The one I deal with has some odd stuff sometimes. If an "odd" tree gets in the mill, it goes cheaper. I bought some sassafras for next to nothing because it wasn't what they dealt in regularly.

[Destichado]

(green) Sycamore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8yShISGZKw

[Mac]

(green) Sycamore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8yShISGZKw

Brilliant!

Cheers!
Mac

[Keegan Ingrassia]

Oooh, nice! And we've got good Sycamore in this area, too. Thanks for the tip!

[Sean Powell]

It's always wonderful posting questions here because of the depth of the answers.

I've been looking around for a local sawmill and local seems to be lumber-yards that think 'sawmill' in the name will set them apart from the big-box stores. There are a few but they seem to specialize in mulch or timber-framed houses which means exotic woods are unlikely. I miss Hearne Hardwoods in PA. They don't carry Alder but do cary Sycamore and that's better then most places I know.

Based mostly on Mac's advice I'm going to finish these for practice. The carpet tacks are specificly NOT long enough to go through and be turned into clench nails because I was looking for nails short enough to not go through because I misunderstood the purpose. Once I get a basic set of beaters in maple for my wife and daughter (I think I have enough wood left if I re-use the piece I made a mistake on) then I will go on to phase 2 of getting the right damn wood. I'm going to call around to some of the tree removal companies to get a quote on 3-4 cords for next winter and if they have any green Alder. Sycamore and eastern cottonwood are pretty rare up here. Then I can work it green with hand-tools.

I'll go through the video to see what grain direction he uses for the clogs. I need to swing by the library today and get "Shoes and Pattens" on ILL but I doubt a book on London excavations covers 14th and 15th cent France. Does anyone know if "Stepping through Time" includes anything on pattens as well? Specificlay fron 14-15C France?

Thanks for the advice!
Sean

[James B.]

I'll go through the video to see what grain direction he uses for the clogs. I need to swing by the library today and get "Shoes and Pattens" on ILL but I doubt a book on London excavations covers 14th and 15th cent France. Does anyone know if "Stepping through Time" includes anything on pattens as well? Specificlay fron 14-15C France?

"Stepping through Time" is mostly Dutch with some reference to German and the London finds. However it has good info on pattens too especially strapping styles.

[Mac]

Oooh, nice! And we've got good Sycamore in this area, too. Thanks for the tip!

At the risk of sounding like a broken recording.... Beware of trees with the same name. The European sycamore is Acer pseudoplatanus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_pseudoplatanus It is a different genus than the sycamores of North America http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platanus.

That said, I do not know how the woods compare to one another. I have worked with European sycamore, and it behaves like a soft maple; which is no surprise, since that's what it is. I have never used any or the American sycamores.

Mac

[Sean Powell]

Well if green soft maple will work then I'm set. Tons of it around. I think some even on my property. It's mostly that and white oak in this area. My hope is to drop a few trees when we add a garage and try a simple bench or stool and then a box working from green wood to finished product. The pattens are just to work out the tool kinks.

Honestly, for non-daily use I suspect a number of woods would work. "Best" and "Good Enough" are pretty equal when you wear them maybe 10-15 days/year... but I'm glad I split a piece of store-bought maple not hand-felled, hand-split, hand-planed, hand cut maple. I'd be pissed!

Sean

[Tom B.]

Also keep in mind that you could make stacked / layered leather pattens if you can't get the wood you need.
James B.'s Page with some info & photos

[Frank Anthony]

Wouldn't poplar be a good choice too? Modern, Dutch wooden shoes are made from poplar.

[Steerpike]

There's documentary evidence for the use of aspen for pattens in the 15th C (European aspen isn't the same species as US aspen, but they're closely related)
US sycamore/buttonwood is UK plane and vice versa as Mac points out (different genera which aren't actually very closely related at all, despite their similar leaf shape!)
+1 to working it green- the old men worked a lot of stuff green- far more than we do today.

[Johann ColdIron]

Do not make the mistake an unnamed Laurel made back in the 90's and get Hard Maple. Got some cast offs from him and never finished them as it was like walking on ball bearings! Worse than hobnails on asphalt

I should use them as fire wood but ...still sitting in a box:lol:

[Keegan Ingrassia]

(American) Aspen isn't a bad choice, actually...at least as far as its working properties. You can also probably find aspen at your local Lowe's, which is another plus...a 1"x6"x4' aspen board runs less than $9 here. But, you would definitely want to seal it...it doesn't handle being wet all that well, and rots easily.

[Sean Powell]

Do not make the mistake an unnamed Laurel made back in the 90's and get Hard Maple. Got some cast offs from him and never finished them as it was like walking on ball bearings! Worse than hobnails on asphalt

I should use them as fire wood but ...still sitting in a box:lol:

Given how hard this stuff is to sand I'm going to guess I made that exact sme mistake. Oh well, they are just a practice piece now. The sooner they crack and break the sooner I un-ass myself and build better versions.

Sean