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Jeff Mandel

@bikeshoe.bsky.social

Custom shoe maker in Portland, Oregon. https://www.exitshoes.com/latest/

31 Followers  |  7 Following  |  16 Posts  |  Joined: 06.01.2025  |  1.702

Latest posts by bikeshoe.bsky.social on Bluesky

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Materials and Upper Making - ExIT Shoes Shoemaking workshop: learn how to cut, skive, sew, finish edges, manage seams, and determine order of assembly for a fully lined shoe uppers.

Saturday October 18
www.exitshoes.com/jcm/2025/09/...

20.09.2025 20:33 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Footwear Design and Pattern Making - ExIT Shoes Shoemaking workshop: introduction to shoe design and pattern making. Learn the basics of drawing footwear designs and pattern making.

Learn the basics of footwear design and pattern making. August 29- 30 (2 days).

In this class I will teach analog and digital techniques that I use for footwear design and rapid prototyping.

www.exitshoes.com/jcm/2025/07/...

07.08.2025 00:04 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Foot measurements, lasts, and design.

Foot measurements, lasts, and design.

Free talk Saturday August 2 at 11am at Tandy Leather's flagship store in Portland. I willΒ  discuss the process of custom shoes, from lasts and measurement to design and making. The talk is free to attend, but please register at Tandy:Β 
tandyleather.com/pages/Tandy-...
#shoemaking

17.07.2025 17:43 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Shoe sketch with text reading Shoemaking: Design and Patterns, a workshop by Jeff Mandel -- May 30 to June 1.

Shoe sketch with text reading Shoemaking: Design and Patterns, a workshop by Jeff Mandel -- May 30 to June 1.

In this class I will teach analog and digital techniques that I use for footwear design and rapid prototyping.

Space is limited.
Details and registration:
exitshoes.com/workshops

#shoemaking

14.05.2025 20:07 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Shoe lasts on foot print.
3D foot scan in CAD last model.

Shoe lasts on foot print. 3D foot scan in CAD last model.

Saturday May 24, 2025, learn about lasts and sizing. Discover the relationships between the last and fit, function, and style.

Space is limited.
Details and registration:
exitshoes.com/workshops

#shoemaking

11.05.2025 00:10 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Green pump with seams for fit check.

Green pump with seams for fit check.

Piecing scraps to make test shoes almost always leads to interesting results.

This was for testing the fit.

#shoemaking

07.05.2025 01:28 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Hand sanding edge of custom shoes.

Hand sanding edge of custom shoes.

Saturday May 10 at 11am I'm giving a free talk about how I make custom shoes. This will happen at Tandy Leather's new flagship store in downtown Portland. Space is limited, please register with Tandy. tandyleather.com/pages/tandy-...

#shoemaking

04.05.2025 18:15 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Wooden shoe lasts shaped by hand.

Wooden shoe lasts shaped by hand.

Scrapping, scrapping. I'm practicing making lasts from scratch. Really scratch as the wood is glued together of what I had on hand. Two lefts and a right. Poplar, fir and some kind of pine.

#shoemaking

25.04.2025 22:25 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Pine last with original

Pine last with original

Last making using documented geometric techniques was high on my list of things to do on my trip to the Netherlands in February and March. If you're interested, I wrote more about this on my site. www.exitshoes.com/jcm/2025/04/...

04.04.2025 04:23 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Button monk. This has been on my mind for a while. I wanted to do a button shoe, but not too many buttons. I wanted to make a monk, so I made this Button Monk. They are welted and the vegetable tanned upper leather is Pull Up from the Italian tannery Solaris.

04.04.2025 04:03 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The Netherlands is a place where you can see amazing waterworks. Long out of service after pumping out the lake where I'm working on shoes and home to Schiphol airport, this pump was turned on while we were visiting the Cruquius. All arms move up and down at the same time.

03.03.2025 17:32 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Knee high custom leather boots.

Knee high custom leather boots.

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Knee high custom leather boots. Made from Italian vegetable tanned leather. The liner is fabric for the shaft and leather below.
I was under a bit of deadline pressure to finish these, but they are done and on the street now!
#shoemaking

17.02.2025 23:41 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Basalt fiber talk flyer

Basalt fiber talk flyer

On February 12 at 3pm, I'm giving a talk on the performance properties of basalt fiber as part of the shoe materials show in Portland. The talk and the show are free to attend, but you have to register at americanevents.com

09.02.2025 05:47 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Two eyelet ankle boots. Importantly, the design was by my client. He had a very clear idea of what he wanted.

The boots are welted construction with basalt fiber shanks, leather midsoles, and Vibram Bologna soles. The upper is vegetable tanned leather "Pull-up" from Conceria Solaris.

28.01.2025 05:05 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Two new shoemaking workshop dates: Jan 18, 2025 for Lasts and Feb 7-9 for Design.

Two new shoemaking workshop dates: Jan 18, 2025 for Lasts and Feb 7-9 for Design.

Two new shoemaking workshop dates: Jan 18, 2025 for Lasts and Feb 7-9 for Design. exitshoes.com/workshops for details.

06.01.2025 04:10 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

What an incredible great fortune you had to learn and work with those guys. I've met quite a few amazing shoemakers and am going to snoop about in Northampton before attending the shoemakers conference in Northallerton in February. It will be my first time to England to meet shoemakers.

06.01.2025 04:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

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