_G

H

I

J

Fig. G: Draw a plan view for your shoe over your foot tracing. Fig. H: Place the template on the topside of one of the glued-up stacks. Fig. I: Mark the hole on your profile template according to your shoe size.

 

view for your shoe over the tracing (Figure G).
Smooth out little bumps and create a nice toe
and heel shape. You can make any shape you’d like
— experiment with round, pointed, and square toes.

 

3c. This is now your plan template. Cut it out and place your foot on it again. Stick your pencil in the crotch between your big toe and second toe, and draw a little mark. This is the thong hole location. Using a sharp pencil, poke a hole in the template there.

 

3d. Unclamp your glued dowel stacks. Place the template on the topside of one of the glued-up stacks, aligning the back of the heel with the back of the dowels, and the right side of the template with the right side of the dowels (Figure H). Trace the plan onto the dowels, and mark the location of the thong hole.

 

3e. Turn your template over, and repeat the previous step on the other glue-up, mirroring the alignments with the back and left side of the left shoe.

4. Drill the holes.

4a. Using a sharp pencil, poke a hole in the center

K

L

Fig. J: Drill a hole into the side of your shoe. Fig. K: Drill the thong hole perpendicularly through the top of the shoe. Fig. L: Drill a hole with the Forstner bit partway into the bottom of the shoe.

 

of the “hole location” on your profile template according to your shoe size. Mark this hole location on the left side of the left shoe, and the right side of the right shoe (Figure I).

 

4b. Install the 2" bit in the drill press. Placing a shoe on its side, with the hole location facing up, drill a hole (Figure J). Your drill press may only be able to drill a couple of inches deep, which is fine. Drill as far as you can. Repeat with the other shoe.

4c. If the drill press doesn’t drill all the way through, place the 2" bit into a hand drill, and drill the hole farther in. The hole you drilled earlier will keep you going in the correct direction. You may still not be able to drill all the way through the 5" dowel stack. That’s fine, too — 3½" deep should be plenty to go all the way through the heel when the shoe is cut out.

 

4d. Install the 1" bit into the drill press. Hold the shoe firmly so the thong hole location will be drilled perpendicularly through the top of the shoe (the shoe will be rocked forward toward the toe, as shown in Figure K). Drill all the way through the shoe. Repeat with the other shoe.