To shoe repairers: Installing Metal Toe Tips for Pointy Toes

[neatshoes200]

Hi, I bought a bunch of these metal toe protectors for pointy toed shoes off of eBay. They have three prongs that stick into the sole of the toe of a pointy toe to prevent wear. The question I have (sadly obvious to others probably) is how do I put these on? I mean how do I hammer these in? Or what should I put in the toes of the shoes so that I could hammer these in? Also should I use glue as well, or is glue not needed? Thanks a bunch for a pretty novice question. NeatShoes

[shoerepairer]

"normally" you would hammer them on against a last, this would then clench the tip of the points over, stopping them going in your foot & gripping the sole at the same time, no glue required. DIY with out a last I don't know! only ever used a last! but I'm sure someone here will have the DIY answer....... I HATE these things! all the do it put holes in the soles, chew up the insoles & compared to a resin toe piece repair reduce the life cycle Lee

[Guy N. Heels]

Some sort of last or back-up is required. For DIY you can try to improvise with a small hammer, or perhaps a wrench, or some kind of steel object that can be inserted and withdrawn from the shoe. In the absence of a last a bench vise is a must as that will hold whatever you use to improvise for a last as you pound the tips in place. If you don't have a bench vise then a trip to yer local cobbler is recomended.