The Lever-and-Stirrup Bootjack: One Pull Holds Toe and Heel

"The construction is as follows, A is the stand on which the foot is placed, B is the sliding heel gripper, which has play backward and forward in the slot C, the stirrup D extends below the stand forming in connection with the handle staff E a lever, having the fulcrum at F, and is connected with the heel gripper by the connecting rod G." "It will be seen that the heel-gripper may be made stationary and the connecting rod G dispensed with, and the foot placed upon the stand and drawn back against the heel-gripper, and the stirrup operated as above described; but I prefer the movable gripper and connecting rod as making a more perfect apparatus."

**Stand.** Saw a board 45 × 12 cm from hardwood board. Rout or saw a slot 1 cm wide and 12 cm long down its middle, starting 15 cm from the back end. Screw a block across the back end as the rest for the other foot. **Heel gripper.** Cut a hardwood block 10 × 6 × 4 cm, cut a curved notch in its front for the heel, and hold it on the stand with a bolt through the slot so it slides. **Stirrup and lever.** Bend 40 cm of 25 × 3 mm mild steel flat bar into a U wide enough to pass over a boot's toe. Bolt its two ends to the sides of the stand's front end so it swings: that is the fulcrum. Bolt 80 cm of wooden dowel to the top of the U as the handle. **Rod.** Join the U, 5 cm below its pivot, to the gripper's bolt with 35 cm of steel rod, bent into an eye at each end, so drawing the handle back pulls the stirrup over the toe and pushes the gripper forward. **Test.** Wearing a rubber boot, put it on the stand and draw the handle back; hook the spring scale to the handle once to read your pull. Time taking the boot off, and compare with a plain boot jack.

**Sardis Thomson** of Hartsville, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, received US 8,865, dated 6 April 1852. The lever was thrown forward at about sixty degrees to start, the other foot rested on a projection at the back, and he noted that the gripper could be made fixed if simplicity mattered more than grip. His claims cover the heel gripper and stirrup worked by the lever, and the movable gripper with its connecting rod. **Honest limits.** Board, flat bar, dowel and steel rod stand in for his cast stand, stirrup and staff. The notebook ignores friction and the rod's angle; its pull and lengths are examples. Your times are the result.