It's that time again — time to get working on your Calgary Mail-in shoe. There were some really great shoes turned in last year and you’ll find this year’s entry form on pages 84 and 85.

This year you only have one shoe to forge instead of two. But be warned. When I saw the drawing, my first thought was, “What an easy-looking shoe.”  But it’s a little deceptive. It’s not as easy to make as the picture might make you think.

I was on a tight deadline, so I had to really get moving to get this shoe on paper and in pictures. The shoe in most of the beginning pictures is my second attempt. I made another for the last pictures and the bar. Hopefully I can point out the mistakes I made and save you the trouble of having to make them for yourself.

The Calgary Shoe

This shoe is made from 3/8-by-3/4- inch stock and measures 140 mm by 140 mm, or about 5 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches. Most square shoes are a little hard to make because they don’t look quite right. This one is no exception. I kept wanting to make it a little narrower and longer.

My first attempt was made from 12 inches of stock. It took too much stretching to make it the right size and the shoe ended up looking a little wispy. I tried 12 1/2 inches of stock on the last shoe and that proved to be…