AT THE FRONT Low quarter rough outs - help w/ look & polishing

[cmjordan77]

Hi,

I just purchased a pair of Rough out AT THE FRONT Low quarter (non double buckle) boots. They are very nice, and a "CAMEL" color. I am curious, is this the actual color of the boots then? In Henri Enjames book, the boots do not appear CAMEL Color. I know those have aged for 60+ years.

But I am wondering are these the true color of the originals? Also, I wanted to see if anyone has any photos of them polished up? I am wanting to polish them, but I am not going to until I see how someone else did it.

 

Can you guys help me figure out the best way to polish these bad boys and what the finished product looks like?

 

I love the boots as they are very comfortable. I just want to make sure I do things correctly with the polishing.

 

Thank you to all who can help!

 

I am posting a photo of the new boots untouched.

 

I hope alot of you will post your photos of these, heck even the 2 buckle would work okay.

 

Thanks!

CJ

[37thguy]

Suede is NOT a good candidate for polish. My Dad was issued 2 buckles during the Korean War and was told to make 'em shine. He said the closest they came was to use boot polish, BLACK, then burn off the nap and repeat. Best they got was dull shine.

 

Good luck.

[Armed 2 tha Teeth]

http://90thidpg.us/Equipment/Projects/Dubbing/index.html

[UPNATM]

Cj, I know we have covered this in a post on here before, but I sure cant find it.

 

Upon issue the first thing a soldier would do would be to dub his boots. Follow the

90th's instructions and your boots should turn out fine. And yes, after they are dubbed,

you can put a coat of polish on them. I heard somewhere of a vet taking a coke bottle and

rubbing the crap out of the boots after dubbing them to make them more smooth, so they would

polish up better.

 

Here is a period pic of some boys dubbing up there newly issed double buckles....

 

 

I dont have a pic right now of my low quarters, but here is a pic of my double buckles. Dont mind the farby laces, I have since added original ones.

Also, they could

use another coat of dubbing and polish.....

 

[KTRIP]

I used Pecard's leather treatment on mine and they look great. Darkens them like the double buckles in the post above.

[cmjordan77]

What about some waterproofing stuff??

I have MINK OIL, but nothing else

Any idea's? I dont have access to Snow Seal (I have no clue where to buy that stuff).

 

Thank you!

[UPNATM]

What about some waterproofing stuff??

I have MINK OIL, but nothing else

Any idea's? I dont have access to Snow Seal (I have no clue where to buy that stuff).

 

Thank you!

 

 

Available at Wally World. This is what I use.......

 

[Steve B.]

I use Sno-Seal. They will darken a little bit immediately, but will after some wear and exposure to sunlight & dirt they will darken more. Real period dubbing is out there, too with a little looking.

[cmjordan77]

I have heard that I can still use World War 2 DUBBING Cans for shoe protectant. Not the Shoe impregate, but actual shoe dubbing.

I am a little leary, but i guess if it worked well then, maybe it would now??

I have seen numerous posts stating to use original WW2 Dubbing.

What do you all think?

 

Also, does anyone have the low quarter Roughout boots? I know the double buckel are the same with just the cuff, but I was just curious.

Or any other double buckle owners with the "NAP" leather? Anyone else have any luck?

I am thinking about trying that Walley mart stuff. It looks good to me.

 

Also, Anyone use Mink Oil??

I have a can, but I have not tried it yet.

 

Thanks

[FNG]

Not to get off topic but didn't original rough outs use white thread?

I wonder why they missed such a simple detail. :think:

[cco23i]

I would use sno seal, and as for wanting to polish them, my dad's buddy who wads in the 504 said they "shaved" the boots and then polished the crap out of them. The problem came when General Gavin showed up to inspect and complimented the OIC on his troops and then told him to have them rough out their boots again! Well they spent the rest of the day with a steel brush roughing out their boots.

 

Scott

[Dirteater101]

Mink oil works just fine, used them this week for our training weekend in a snow filled FT. Wayne detroit. They are a dark shade now. And they will be smooth after a few seasons of this...

 

The only catch is that you need to retreat the boots before going out into the field for the weekend. My feet stayed dry yet cold the whole weekend...

[mpguy80/08]

I too use Kiwi Wet-Pruf on mine. I've had them about a year, and hust applied another coat of Wet Pruf last night. Attached are photos... These are the size 9D ATF US Service Shoe, Reverse Uppers (Roughout) as evidenced by the interior stamping in the side view. These have been worn maybe three or four times, and have a nice dark color to them. I just ordered a pair of the Double Buckles and can't wair to see how they look. Once I get them and get em dubbed, I'll post pics of them as well. Hope this helps...

 

Wayne

[mpguy80/08]

Okay, I just got my ATF Double buckles today... The first picture is of the boots, straight from the box, laces removed. The second and third pictures are of one boot worked over with Kiwi Wet Pruf applied with an old Army brown t shirt, just as if you were applying regular polish. It should be said here that Wet Pruf is a lot softer than normal polish. The roughout portions of the boot was worked over, applying a two finger swipe of wet pruf and rubbing it in really good. This was done in about an hour. After I get one coat on both, I'll evaluate and see if a little brown polish might be in order. I DO know that I'm going to apply a few coats of brown to the upper cuff, followed by a coat or two of black to darken it a bit. The low roughouts in the first pics I posted are straight Wet Pruf.

[mpguy80/08]

Side view for contrast with untreated boot. The ATF boots DO have the white stitching.... It will take time, and a lot of elbow grease to get any pair of boots looking good... that goes for moderm boots too!

 

Hope this helps...

 

Wayne

[mpguy80/08]

And the finished product. Keep in mind, this is one coar of Kiwi Wet Pruf, 24 hours later, one coat of Brown Kiwi Polish. Under a bit more polish, I could feasibly spit shine them. I will be touching up the seams, nooks and crannies and such with more polish today. I know this was a pair of Double buckle boots, but the same procedure can be used with your Service Shoes, Reverse Uppers (Roughouts). To recap, here is the list of what you will need:

 

One can of Kiwi Wet Pruf

One can of Kiwi Brown Polish

A Tee Shirt works well for applying the wet pruf AND the polish

Foam wedge shaped make up applicators (optional... used to get the wet pruf and polish into crevices and seams. The Tee Shirt can also be used for this)

Patience. This part is important because its not a quick job. Each boot takes about an hour to do to apply the wet pruf, then let them sit for 24 hours to dry, then about an hour per boot for the polish. Additional coats of either should be 24 hours between coats for each coat to dry.

 

If the color of the boot isnt dark enough, you can add coats of black over the brown to darken things up a bit.

 

I hope this helps. This is just the way I do it, others might have another way. Good Luck!

 

Wayne

[doyler]

CJ

 

Here is an excellent thread started by Craig on the buckle boots.Also if you search the forum using buckle boots or two buckle boots about 7 pages turn up and all have very good information and various pictures of boots and styles.I just re-looked through several and never get tired of the threads on boots.Hope this helps a little.Good luck

 

I do have some original tins of dubbing and US issue saddle soap if intrested.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...hl=buckle+boots

 

RON

[2ndID]

Very nice.

[docdean64]

A super product is "HUBERDS SHOE GREASE" I use that on all my WW2 leather items, original and repro. I would avoid the period "dubbing" and "impregnite". Huberds contains no silicone or animal fats or tallows. All those things break leather down. In the past I have lightly pumice stoned roughouts to "smooth" them but you should do so with care!

[mpguy80/08]

When I got my roughouts, I had picked up a can of period Dubbing... Eager to get my boots dubbed, I opened the can, looked inside, and thought there was no way I was putting that on my boots... I went out and got a can of Kiwi Wet-Pruf that day and I haven't been sorry. The double buckles here received one coat of wet-pruf and after that dried, a single coat of Kiwi Brown. I'm not sorry I did it the way I did. I think they look great. I'll add additional coats of brown to the upper cuff to darken it, and to the lowers as needed.

 

Wayne

[JRB]

Wayne, I think you did a great job on the boots. Thanks for sharing this.

Jack

[DesertRatTom]

What about some waterproofing stuff??

I have MINK OIL, but nothing else

Any idea's? I dont have access to Snow Seal (I have no clue where to buy that stuff).

 

Thank you!

 

If you're near an Army Surplus store, try to locate Boot Dubbing, smells terrible, but works. Snow Seal is a staple at most box stores- KMart, Target, &tc. You can home brew it if you want, it's pretty straight forward: Mink Oil, Neatsfoot Oil & paraffin (additional waterproofing, and is a thickener). These oils & fumes are highly volatile when heated- use/rig a double boiler when mixing. Any waterproofing will soak in quicker & deeper if you pre-heat the leather a bit- oven set at very low, boots on oven door until they start to feel warm. That's when you apply the medium; get all seams sloppy wet, pay attention to the exposed leather edges & where leather attaches to the sole, as you're trying to seal 2-3 full layers of leather. Do this 2, maybe 4 times, and you'll be set. You'll have reasonably well water proofed boots, and be on the road to getting them darkened.

 

Tom