Our first excursion took us to one of Holland's main attractions: Hans Schans Historic Windmills. Here, our first stop was at a Wooden Shoe Factory (and shop, of course).
Wooden shoes need not be traditional and/or plain. They come in many different shapes and forms.
The artisan said it would take two days to create a pair of wooden shoes by hand, but that he would show us how to create a shoe in five minutes. He used a dual lathe with a template of a shoe on one side. He added a block of wood to the other side where the cutting was to take place. When he turned the lathe on, the machine followed the template to create an exact duplicate from the block of wood.

Next, he switched to a different machine. This time the template had the inside of the shoe cut out. After mounting the shoe that he had just turned on the lathe, he was able to cut out the interior of the new shoe.
The final touches were done using a blade that was mounted onto a cutting board.
When he was finished, he blew into the toe of the shoe. Sap came out in a stream from the other end. Obviously, the shoe would have to be dried for some time before moving to the next step.
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