Making a Waxed End (Winding Linen Around a Boar Bristle)

May 7, 2011 - I had been asked a while ago if there was any tutorial on making a waxed end - that is, the double ended stitching cord used by cordwainers to sew a shoe. There were several pictures on the The Crispin Colloquy - Bristling demonstrating the process, but as you have to dig a bit to get to them, I thought that I would put together a quick tutorial so that the information is in one place. Note that each shoemaker has their own special techniques on this, so don't think that this method is the "end-all." Additionally, this technique differs somewhat from Garsault's method in that he suggests splitting the boar bristle and "braiding" the waxed end with the linen. However, I have had 99% success with this method; possibly, if one were to use only a small number of linen strands, braiding might secure the ends better. If you're keen on this method, there is a video available at Al Muckart's Blog.

Making a waxed end is truly more of an art than a science - don't be discouraged if you only get a few stitches on your first waxed ends. It takes some time to get the technique right! It also takes time - it takes me about fifteen minutes to make a stitching cord with two waxed ends (since your stitch is typically a double-running stitch, both ends need to have a waxed end). I may end up putting a video up here of the process since it really is better shown than explained. Marc Carlson also has a good tutorial - scroll down to ensure that you see both the making up of the thread as well as threading the bristle: http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/leather/thread.html#MT.

Further, there is also a Youtube video put out by the Musee de la Chaussure in Lausanne, Switzerland. I've used this method, and it produces excellent results with a bristles that can be split. If you're using nylon fishing line, it will be more difficult. You can find the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoBrQ0QKjBQ or search for "making a waxed end lausanne."

Start off with measuring out your linen strands. For me, lengths of about three yards tends to work the best. Otherwise, it is unwieldy to pull all the material through your hole and to pull the stitch tight. Start off by aligning all of your ends together as shown.

Take a dull-ish knife and, wrapping the linen threads around one of your fingers to keep them aligned, scrape at them until you form a taper at one end. Ideally, you want to get them all of staggered lengths so that they gradually form a very fine tip at the point. The finer the tip, the better your bristle will hold on.

I align the linen threads in such a way so that they all lay flat, kind of like a ribbon. Use your wax to wax the threads until they form a nice tapered ribbon, as shown. Note that the wax here is a synthetic wax - an "authentic" coad made from pine pitch, rosin and fat (beeswax/tallow) would probably work even better. Wax the linen for about 8 inches from the tip of the taper to the threads. It will take a bit of playing around to get them to lay flat and form the ribbon, but the flatter your ribbon is, the better waxed end it will make.

Grab a nice, stout boar bristle from your stash. If you don't have any, get in touch with me, and I will be happy to send you some =) Be sure to wax your bristle! This is key, and ensures that the linen taper will adhere well to the bristle. Note that the "tip" of the bristle is the sturdy, robust end with the follicle on it (left side in this picture), not the bushy end (which cannot be seen because I've already waxed the bristle, making them adhere together).

As if this wasn't interesting enough, here is the fun part =). You will "pinch" the tip of the taper at about the first third of the tip of the bristle, lightly adhering them. Then, you lay the end of the waxed taper as shown in the picture, and wind the taper up along the boar bristle, twisting the bristle in both hands. Once I get one or two winds done, I typically put the long end of threads in between my knees to give the taper tension for a nice tight fit to the bristle. Additionally, I have always wound the bristle away from me (meaning the taper of the linen lays on top of the bristle, as shown in the picture) since it allows me to see how it is rolling up, as opposed to it being hidden on the other side of the bristle.

Once you have wound the taper up the bristle by about half an inch, you reverse direction, winding over the initial windings to lock the thread on the bristle. The idea here is to angle the bristle as you wind so that the linen taper (as it gets thicker and thicker) does not overlap itself, but lays neatly next to each other. As the taper gets much thicker, you will find that you have to angle the bristle quick significantly in order to get the ribbon (no longer a taper!) to lay flat on the bristle.

Keep winding and winding until you've basically wound the entire length down the bristle. Then, grab your coad and wax up the end (towards the tip of the bristle). This will get everything nicely aligned and sticky.

Almost done - the next step is to put a locking stitch into your bristle to prevent it from unwinding too easily. Using your straight awl, pierce a hole towards the bottom of the bristle, where it is the thickest. You want to include part of the bristle as well as all of the linen threads in when you pierce, and try to pierce it in as much of the middle as possible.

Lastly, insert the tip of the bristle into the hole that you pierced, and pull it all the way through. Make sure to wax your end a couple of times after you've pulled it through.

You're done! Now, the only thing left to do is to wax your threads nearly all the way (leave about 12" unwaxed) to the other side to ensure that there are no gaps in the thread. Then, repeat the process to make a waxed end on the other side. The completed double-waxed end is sometimes called a "hank," though I'm uncertain of the provenance of the term.


Shortcut Bar

 Tapering the Threads.
Waxing and Winding.
Piercing the Waxed End.
The finished Waxed End.

Comments on: Making a Waxed End


By: raisedheels

In reply to keith gray. Yes, indeed - in fact, you can check both Etsy and Ebay for "shoemaker boar bristle." My listing will come up for 7-8" bristles. And yes, I agree completely - the bristle technique really is superior in every way to stitching awls and such. Plus, it is a historical practice.

By: keith gray

I have run out of natural boars bristle and have had to use the nylon filament type( not good) as thread does not stick so well.I do not have a source to get the boar's bristle. I note in the text that you are kin enough offer some ( I am willing to pay for them). I doubt that I will be doing much more shoe hand sewing, having started in about 1947 my stash is down to 1 ball of fine white flax which I make up to 4to 7 strands as needed. I have tried the automatic awl( which I made up myself) similar to the Osborne No. 413. but it only gives you a single lock on each thread, whereas on the twin bristle you can performs a double lock stitch on every stitch if you so need.If there is ever a break in the stitching then that way it cannot " run" or allow stitches either side to loosen. Most important the bristle way give you evenly tensioned stitches

By: raisedheels

In reply to sercher 70. Indeed - it's just as you've said it. I mix up my own wax with pine tar (since I can't get the good pine pitch anymore) which makes it nice and sticky, but not so much that it sticks to everything.

By: sercher 70

raisedheels The confusion here is the thread being made here is to fix onto a nylon or pig/boar bristle. The hole is made with an awl that does not have an eye which the thread is passed through. The tapered thread is whipped onto the bristles. The hole is then made by the awl the thread is then passed through the hole from either side, then pulled tight. Every so many stitches some do a lock stitch either double or single. Just before you pull it tight you pass each end through the loop of the stitch ,then pull tight. The thread also has a component added to it to make it sticky. A form of tar is added to the mix when making the wax. \commercial wax is no longer available and most users make their own

By: raisedheels

In reply to William de Wyke. I think a lot of it has to do with the coad used - I think you need real sticky stuff when you use this technique. In terms of plying the threads, I'm not exactly certain whatyou mean. Once all 7 threads (which are already individual strands - I use a 1 ply linen thread) are attached to waxed ends on both sides, I will roll each waxed end on my leg and twist it up (twisting the entire stitching cord) so it forms more of a rope than a ribbon and slides through the awl hole better, but that may not be what you're asking. =)

By: William de Wyke

This is really interesting to me for being a technique that is both very different to mine and that I've never managed to make work. At what point in the process do you ply up the threads? It seems from what you've written that you'd put a bristle on each end and then ply up the cord? Thanks.

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