Firefox Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 I got a few pair of the Dewey style from Baratts which fitted my feet great in a 41. These had 4" heels tapering to 1" square or so. On one pair I fitted a pair of 3.75" heeels 2" square, from an old split pair of plastic PV boots. This was rather more chunky for a different look. I did this by chiseling through the heel nails with a hammer and screwdriver, and then screwing on the replacement heel with 2 inch self-tapping chipboard screws. A slight shank alteration completed a succesful job. I'll be posting pictures in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevew Posted January 20, 2002 Share Posted January 20, 2002 sounds fun, would like to see the pictures. perhaps this is a way i can obtain chunky heels for an outdoor excursion (i am uk12) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IHeels Posted February 7, 2002 Share Posted February 7, 2002 I don't think I could do that, anyhow I once heard of someone who bent the shank to enable a higher heel to be fitted. 1. I wouldn,t (probably couldn't) do that. 2. Wouldn't it affect the lay of the leather, seems to me the leather is cut to fit the last. It's amazing what you guy's get up to. :eek: Inga <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: IHeels on 2002-02-07 09:21 ]</font> <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: IHeels on 2002-02-07 09:22 ]</font> HEELS are POWER the HIGHER the BETTER. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox Posted February 8, 2002 Author Share Posted February 8, 2002 It does affect the leather round the vamp, so you can't really add more than about an inch, and even that is pushing it with some styles. 1/2 to 3/4 is fine though, abd as we all know, there is a world of differenc betwen 3 1/4 and 4" heels so you can really alter the styling. Also shank bending on a cheap pair sometimes doesn't work. The shank becomes loose and needs to be repaired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shoe Posted February 16, 2002 Share Posted February 16, 2002 As aprofessional, I abhorr the idea of bending shanks and adding to the heel. The problem isn't the shank, the problem is the fact that this would change the pitch of the shoe and cause the heel to "kick out" which is dangerous. Years ago, cobblers used to offer a heel lowering service for high heels. This is now actually outlawed because a lot of ladies were getting injured in falls because their heels were "kicking under" with the stresses being focused on the back of the heel instead of the seat of the heel. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox Posted February 17, 2002 Author Share Posted February 17, 2002 I'm also a professional, a structural engineer, and I'm capable of calculating the stresses in the fixings and all the load paths if I so desire. There are actually 3 or 4 British standards on this as you probably know Anyway the alteration of 4" down to 3.75" is quite feasible. Anything up to 1/2" difference usually works very well depending on the shank construction, the vamp flexibility, and the general quality of the shoe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texboots Posted May 4, 2002 Share Posted May 4, 2002 I had the honor and pleasure of studying bootmaking under one of the most respected bootmakers in the US, and I can tell that Dr. Shoe comes from a very "shoe" focused background. There are significant differences between shoe and boot construction...from the insole, shank construction, heel construction, welting, etc. I think this explains some of the discrepencies between Dr. Shoe's instructions and the experiences of others of us with raising heels and altering shanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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