Boot Pull

[custard]

Every year I send a little gift to my best furniture clients, simple things made from off-cuts. It's a chance to remind them that I'm still here and showcase some of the highly figured timbers that I tend to specialise in. Previously I've done things like chopsticks, book ends, and cufflink boxes,

I was really struggling this year to come up with anything, so in desperation I decided on a "boot pull", the traditional device for helping you out of your wellington boots. This was a prototype, the final version I went with had the two "forks" slightly amended.

I wasn't particularly pleased with them as I thought they were a bit clunky, but I couldn't think of anything better, so over a couple of days I made about thirty of them, they each took a piece of scrap 450mm x 160mm x 20mm.

However, the response has been far beyond anything I expected. January isn't finished and I've already had two decent furniture commissions as a result, but even more surprising is that I've had eight recipients come back and ask to buy more boot pulls as gifts. I plucked a price randomly from thin air (standard accounting practise here in the Custard Atelier) and quoted £35. The irony is that given enough orders to batch them out this is actually more profitable than custom furniture making!

Anyhow, I know people on the forum are always on the lookout for little woodworking projects, so here's one you might want to try. I made a copy router template to produce them, but for one you could just as easily use a fret saw, the photos give all the information you need to draw out a design.

 

[Droogs]

how do they work Custard, I don't have wellies just an old pair of assault boots.

 

[MusicMan]

A generous offer (as usual) Custard, and they look neat. Glad it is working out for you commercially!

 

[bugbear]

I saw this long ago, sadly worm eaten, but a wonderful design; the knuckle joint forms the offset that makes the end clear the ground.

BugBear

 

[MrTeroo]

I see a thread on a forum in thirty years time with a photo of that and the title - What is this?

 

[Woody2Shoes]

A very nice take on a common design - I see that for a mere £75 I could buy a "personalised" one!

https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/theo ... -boot-jack

I've been tempted to make one (not personalised) for myself, but put off by the "second foot question". Namely, having got the first boot off, you need to apply your freshly-un-booted-sock-clad-foot to the back of the puller to anchor it, for the second boot to come off. In our house the problem is that by that stage, the back of the puller would be muddy (mucky might be a more accurate word!) from the first boot.

I see that some alternative designs incorporate a brush. I think that if I make one, it will have a small "walking stick" type post attached so that I can use a hand to apply the anchor pressure from above - and steady myself at the same time - avoiding the risk of a muddy sock. A little bit like this one:

https://www.coopersofstortford.co.uk/apparel/st10381i/

A boot rack like this one, which I have already made, gets admiration from visitors:

https://bootandsaw.co.uk/product-catego ... -rack-6pr/

Cheers, W2S

 

[dzj]

A.k.a. boot jack.

 

[woodbrains]

A very nice take on a common design - I see that for a mere £75 I could buy a "personalised" one!

https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/theo ... -boot-jack

Hello,

I made one of these exactly for the headmistress of the school holidays worked at a couple of years ago. She didn't tell me where the source material came from or, indeed, how much they cost. She just gave me a printout picture and asked could I do it for next week for a retirement present. Can't remember how much I charged, or even if I did, but I did have access to schools CNC router to do the lettering, come to think of it, I did the shape on CNC too with some hand finishing. I don't think there is as much work involved in these as Custard's design, even done by hand, without the lettering. £35 is a bargain to Custard's clients. In my case, it highlights the difficulty in making bespoke items; I'd guess the £100 000 salary of the headteacher still requires a search for a cheaper alternative!

Mike.

 

[custard]

I saw this long ago, sadly worm eaten, but a wonderful design; the knuckle joint forms the offset that makes the end clear the ground.



BugBear

Wow, and I thought mine was ugly!

 

[custard]

I see that for a mere £75 I could buy a "personalised" one!

https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/theo ... -boot-jack

I'm surprised that design actually works. I played around with a few cardboard templates before making one in wood, and then tweaked it further. What I found was unless there's a fair bit of wood behind the prongs I couldn't get the angle right, nor provide enough room to use your other foot to hold it all flat. But hey, maybe I'm wrong, I'm not the Chippendale of boot pull design!

 

[El Barto]

Very nice Custard. Also pleased to see the humble boot jack getting some love/recognition!

 

[MusicMan]

I've been tempted to make one (not personalised) for myself, but put off by the "second foot question". Namely, having got the first boot off, you need to apply your freshly-un-booted-sock-clad-foot to the back of the puller to anchor it, for the second boot to come off. In our house the problem is that by that stage, the back of the puller would be muddy (mucky might be a more accurate word!) from the first boot.

You make two. One for each foot. Then you can make them asymmetrical and handed, and leave people wowork out what the point of a left-foot boot puller is.

They'll find out when they use them.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Even Chippendale got it wrong quite a bit. Some of his chair designs evolved over quite a few versions.

My grandfather used to make them, from Elm mostly I think, but the "V" was basically just the two curves of a Gothic arch. The Custard design should stay cleaner (relatively speaking). The disappointment when I was little was that my wellies were too small for them to work - again +1 to Custard!

So who's to day trad designs can't be improved!

E.

 

[ro]

Very nice. That looks like a perfect evening project to give me practice with the coping saw, rasp and spokeshaves. Once I've finished the current batch of chairs I'll be shamelessly stealing your design!

 

[novocaine]

I've been tempted to make one (not personalised) for myself, but put off by the "second foot question". Namely, having got the first boot off, you need to apply your freshly-un-booted-sock-clad-foot to the back of the puller to anchor it, for the second boot to come off. In our house the problem is that by that stage, the back of the puller would be muddy (mucky might be a more accurate word!) from the first boot.

Erm, this might sound daft, but don't you only use it to lift your heal out, then swap feet to put the other (now mostly off) boot on the plate and do the other one before stepping out of them in to the house in stocking feet?

nice design Custard, this is something I normal use till it dies then make another out of what ever scrap is floating round the workshop, it lives outside so I tend to build a new one every year or so.

 

[Just4Fun]

I see that some alternative designs incorporate a brush. I think that if I make one, it will have a small "walking stick" type post attached so that I can use a hand to apply the anchor pressure from above - and steady myself at the same time - avoiding the risk of a muddy sock. A little bit like this one:

https://www.coopersofstortford.co.uk/apparel/st10381i/

That looks good & useful.
What do people here think about the price? I would expect it to cost more. Could you make and sell it for that money?

 

[dickm]

That looks good & useful.
What do people here think about the price? I would expect it to cost more. Could you make and sell it for that money?

Looks good, but no way could that be made for the price. Probably doesn't even cover cost of the materials in the UK.