Boot and Shoe Findings 87 
maple which is cut into small blocks before being fed to turn- 
ing machinery. The waste in turning amounts to 70 per cent 
or more on account of the deeply curved surfaces. This is 
apparently a line of work which might use to advantage clear 
maple blocks, the by-product from other industries. 
As seen in one factory the procedure is as follows: The 
raw material consists of rough hard maple, No. 1 Common, 
12 inches wide and 1-7/16 inches in thickness. The planks 
are sawed lengthwise into strips 214 inches wide, and these 
strips are then cut off into blocks of dimensions which will 
just enclose the largest size of heel. The diagram above illus- 
trates the plan on which the sawing is done, while figure 1 in 
the illustration shows the block immediately after it has been 
sawed. These blocks are taken one at a time by workmen and 
fed into a machine which quickly cuts out the curved surface 
of the front face of the heel, as shown in figure 2. The block 
is then fed to a second machine in which it passes before curved 
revolving knives. These produce the graceful curved surfaces 
of the rear side of the heel, leaving it with the usual narrow 
neck. This neck is a weak spot, and although care is taken to 
have the grain of the wood follow the most advantageous 
planes, there would not be sufficient strength to withstand the 
strains to which a heel is subjected if it were not for the addi- 
tional stiffness rendered by the dowel shown in figure 4. A 
hole is bored vertically through the heel, and the dowel dipped 
in glue and driven into the hole as shown in figure 5. Fol- 
lowing this process the bearing surface of the heel is sawed 
off, dowel and all, at the proper plane to meet the ground 
squarely in the act of walking, as illustrated in figure 6. In 
this stage the upper surface of the heel is flat, which would 
be uncomfortable to the foot of the wearer. Therefore it is 
passed through another machine which produces a suitable hol- 
low to receive the heel of the wearer as shown in figure 7. 
Figure 8 shows the small piece of sole leather which is used 
as a cap to receive the wear of the pavement and also aid in 
preventing splitting in the vertical plane. This is put in place 
and fastened securely with a screw and several nails. In 
