jmc

differential

magazine

I would probably try it with wood. Most likely pine because it is a softer wood that is easier to shape. Since you are making a wedge heel, strength is not an overriding issue -- a solid block under your foot isn't going to go anywhere. (Were you making more of a stiletto type heel you would definitely want to run the grain vertically in the heel itself.) Some of the hardwoods get a little bit heavy too. If this were my project I would run the grain horizontally and I would make a little platform under the toe -- between 1/2" and 3/4" thickness. The heel would rise up from there and the entire shoe bottom would be one piece. With a belt sander one could roll off the toe quite nicely. I'd make the bottom one piece to support the toe of the original shoe upper. If one were to fashion a wedge heel and attach it to the back of an existing shoe, I can envision a lot of pulling stress at the joint between the original sole and the block heel as one walked. Once I had a shoe-bottom I was happy with, I would stain it to go with the upper and really douse it with a good polyurethane finish. I would do at least three coats for waterproofing. I would use an epoxy glue like J-B Weld to attach the shoe upper to the wooden bottom. It can be used to fill gaps between the upper and the bottom too. Oh, and one last tidbit -- inner-tube rubber makes dandy non-slip soles. Glue them on with a good rubber contact cement like Pliobond or DAP Weldwood Contact Cement. Hmmm -- almost talking myself into a project here. . .

Greetings Slingfan! I am certain that the majority of us can relate to the experiences you describe. "Yup, been there, done that" goes through my mind as I read your post. Look around here, look through some of the old threads and you will find plenty of commonality. Our love of heels manifests itself in different ways for each of us. Some of us go for flash while others like to keep it low-key. Some of us strut our stuff in stiletto platforms which cannot be ignored while others try to blend in with the crowd. I am in the second category -- I try to be a regular-looking guy as much as possible -- except one with joyful feet because he is wearing interesting shoes. I don't care if nobody knows -- in fact I'd rather have nobody notice. It's not wrong. It's not bad. It doesn't hurt anybody. (Note those of us with families have extra considerations here.) It probably even supports a segment of the world economy! It is just part of us. We can ignore it, we can shove it into a corner, we can keep a lid on it, but only for a while. Call it a fetish, call it an obsession, call it a hang-up but a heeler is going to be a heeler. You'll find a lot of support here.

bunny

Nice kitty, Gina! And you are beautiful as ever!

"Adventures in Heeling"

misty

Maybe an Internet glitch swallowed it?

hazy

There is an explanation here: http://www.hhplace.org/hhboard/viewtopic.php?t=4116 detailing what happened to Missy's site. It is unfortunate but understandable and I am certain we all wish them the best.

quick

Nothing at all wrong with them!

. . .

JMC---Congrats on your making your 400th post, and Shockqueen your 1000th post. Catch me if you can, guys.

. . .

Well, I'm workin' on it. This puts me past 500 now -- Wowee!

I think 3 inches is reasonable. For most of us the height starts to affect one's balance at that point.

jolts

RouT

Hey Sscotty, we are a community here and that's what communities do -- they support their members in times of need. Being an online community there's little we can offer outside of moral support and prayers but that alone can be very powerful!

. . . if THEIR minds were like roadways, they are just like old 2-lane hwys (hint:like old Rt 66, namely NARROW) . . .

More like an old rutted dirt two-track out in the woods! The kind where you have to find a place to pull off to make room if somebody else is coming the other way.

hamburger

tomato

Antipasto

. . . There's a reason size 13 heels sell out in less than half the time that size 10 heels do.

Actually I think there are two reasons:

1). They are in demand. We want 'em!

2). The manufacturers don't make enough of them because they are listening to a bunch of marketing gurus who are out-of-touch with reality.

comfort

oxide