Making a Pair of Lasts for 1st Cen Calcei

[Neuraleanus]

I intend on making another pair of 1st century calcei, this time correcting some of the mistakes that I made on my first pair. Here is an original:
[attachment=7:b8fuvspf]<!-- ia7 calceus1st.jpg<!-- ia7 [/attachment:b8fuvspf]

Towards the goal of having the left and right boots more in agreement with each other, this time I want to construct the boots using more or less full sized lasts. These boots are actually somewhat higher than the lasts that I made, but since the boots are laced about the ankle that shouldn't matter. I start by making templates for the insole and for the side profile:
[attachment=6:b8fuvspf]<!-- ia6 lasttemplatesSmall.jpg<!-- ia6 [/attachment:b8fuvspf]

Notice how much wider the sole is compared to a caligae sole. The side profile is for my feet, anyone else would likely need to make their own.

I then cut six pieces for each last from 1x6 Swedish pine following the sole template and glued them together making sure the stack was square:[attachment=5:b8fuvspf]<!-- ia5 gluedstack2dSmall.jpg<!-- ia5 [/attachment:b8fuvspf]

Then after marking the side profile using the profile template I roughed-out the shape using a band saw:
[attachment=4:b8fuvspf]<!-- ia4 gluedstack3dSmall.jpg<!-- ia4 [/attachment:b8fuvspf]

The next step is to mark the peak line down the top of each last:
[attachment=3:b8fuvspf]<!-- ia3 markedpeaklineSmall.jpg<!-- ia3 [/attachment:b8fuvspf]

Next comes shaping. For this step I started out using a disc sander followed by curved wood rasps and finally hand sanding:
[attachment=2:b8fuvspf]<!-- ia2 shaped2Small.jpg<!-- ia2 [/attachment:b8fuvspf]
Another view:
[attachment=1:b8fuvspf]<!-- ia1 shapedSmall.jpg<!-- ia1 [/attachment:b8fuvspf]

The finished lasts are cut into two and held together with duck-tape:
[attachment=0:b8fuvspf]<!-- ia0 finishedlastsSmall.jpg<!-- ia0 [/attachment:b8fuvspf]

Now I need to revise my pattern for the upper and actually make the boots. Though intended for the making of modern shoes, I have found an interesting book on the subject. Many of the techniques appear to be applicable:
"Bespoke Shoemaking", Tim Skyrme, Artzend Publications, 2006.

[Magnus]

Pretty cool stuff Lee.

[M. Demetrius]

Size 10.5D. Medium arches. Send a pair right over, please.

Good work!

[Sutoris]

Nice job!
The band saw is ideal for this kind of work.
How long did it take to make the lasts?

[Neuraleanus]

Nice job!
The band saw is ideal for this kind of work.
How long did it take to make the lasts?

Not counting the week and half waiting for the band saw to arrive, I spent about a week making these lasts. It would of been much longer without access to a band saw.

The next step is adjusting the boot pattern. Following a technique from the Bespoke Shoemaking book, I'm going to cover the lasts in masking tape and compare the flattened-out pattern that results to my existing pattern to see where I need to make adjustments.