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This little do-hickey is for helping you take off your riding boots..Holding the end with the hole on the floor with one foot… place the heel of your riding boot in the Y section and pull.. off comes the boot… simple…
A close friend brought his do-hickey over for repairs.. he has had it for near on forever but just the other day the dog decided to have a bit of a chew on it..
It was originally bought from Peal and Co. Hunting and Military Bootmakers. Oxford St. London…who closed their doors in 1965..The link will take you to W.S. Foster and a brief history of Peal and Co.
Unsure of the exact timber , and after such a long life being used all over, hard to tell…Maybe Mahogany…
I was asked to replace the pivot section… I used Camphor Laurel…
I figured while I had it I might as well make a few for a few friends.. I had some Camphor left over from another project and then thought… a template for the Torque would not go astay…
Just in case the local Saddlery was interested in buying a few… Pic 5 shows an MDF sample .. ready to cut the template jig. Check here for more info on making a template for the Torque.
BTW this is an example of their boots.
Hope you enjoy the history lesson… and the do-hickey…

Gallery

Comments

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Nice work I am having a little trouble with following the concept though. Can you take pics of it in use. You will have to excuse this Yank for not understanding. Thanks Larry

Rick
 

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On this side of the world they are known as a "Boot Jack".
 

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My grandparents also had a do-hickey…. and called it such. I am sure they got it in London… probably in the 30's…
 

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SWEET!!!
 

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Nice boot jack, they look great, not sure I would want to mar it by stepping on it.
Thanks for sharing
 

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Nice job Larry. Being from Texas, I'm familiar with these. If you can imagine using the toe of one foot to push down on the heel of the other foot to remove a shoe, you can use a boot jack. Instead of putting the bottom of one boot on the leather heel of the other to kick it off, you put one foot on top of the boot jack and use it as a lever by putting the heel of the other foot in the heel-shaped part of the boot jack. Hope that helps. If not, maybe Larry will post a picture.

Best,
 

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Thanks for sharing. I know a couple of horse folks in Minnesota who could sure use one or two of these. I may be makin' some for 'em.
 

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Nice job Larry. The web page link of the shoe makers was very interesting.
 

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cool work… maybe a future project for my in-laws as they ride a lot… thanks for the inspiration…
 

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Good Idea Larry. Instead of boot jacks you make "Boot Larrys"
 

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Cool idea.
 

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I thought people had kids to do this?!?

Nice job, Larry!

Lew
 

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You stuck your foot in it this time! No frills or laces on this one. Its better than the TS blog, you took a real tongue lashing over that one! Not to be a heel but you deserved it! I do have to say you put some real soul into this project! LOL Great work Larry
 

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Wow! Larry. Do ya'll actually have boots in Australia like we do here in Texas?
What do you ride-Kangaroos?

Nice job by the way.
 

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Kent, Outputter,
You might try it on your cowboy hats also.
Bend over and stick the brim under it.
 

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Kent, I think someone has state jealousy, huh? Paul, we can't all live in Texas but, don't worry. If you fill out the forms properly, we may allow you to move here.


Larry, you've already proven you are Texas material what with freehanding on the table saw and all so, you can skip the forms but, we may require one of those fancy router thingies as a show of good faith.
 

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When you've been out working all day, your feet/socks are wet, it takes more than the trusty ol' boot jack to get those things off your feet!
Paul, if you decide to visit us here in Texas, you should know that boots are the National Footware of Texas!
 

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An elderly neighbor gave me one of these when I was a kid. He had been in the US Calvary just prior to WWI. Being a kid and not having use for a boot jack I used it as a sling shot. Unfortunately, I ruined virtually everything else he gave me.
 

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Good story Gary!
 
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