new_look Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 yes times have changed. only a month ago i was here questioning how to make my block heels quiet. But after the london meet, i realised that quiet heels take away some of the fun. My stilettos have plastic heels which i usually replace. When the plastic wers away the metal rod throuogh the middle comes into contact with the ground and makes the very nise metal on concrete sound that i want, but i know that leaving it like this will damage it eventaully. Can you have the usual plastic tip replaced with something metal, or any homemade ideas? daz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ionic Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Firefox is your man for this one!! good to see you in the mods forum again, Daz. /I /I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirted-UK Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 If you can't get the proper steel heel tips I suggest that you use round head self-tapping stainless steel screws if the heel tips are small. Some years ago when heel tips were wider I made some 1" wide steel heel tips out of 1/4" steel flat rod. I glued and screwed them on with self-tapping screws, it was a lot of work making them but they outlasted the shoes. "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave ! " The Eagles, "Hotel California" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shoe Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Any traditional style shoe repairer will replace the plastic "top piece" with a metal one. One note, those boots I was wearing the other weekend have plastic tips and I once had Achilles try and replace them with metal tips but they the heels were in danger of breaking so we had to leave them as they are. Later I may get the entire heels replaced. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new_look Posted October 17, 2003 Author Share Posted October 17, 2003 Mm back in the mods forum indeed. i like to get around anyway... i remember my mum used to have metal heels on her old court shoes. she used to go to this old cobbler but hes shut now. by traditional do you mean the normal shoe repair shops wont do this? would walking on the metal rod of the heel damage it?? daz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris100575 Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 Eventually, yes. My ex g/f had a pair of boots that she continued to wear after the plastic heel tips came off, and it wrecked the heels. The plastic surrounding the steel core wore away, and the leather began to peel where it was hitting the ground at the back of the heel and not being protected by the tip. She did manage to get them repaired, but it was at the expense of 1/2" as the bottom damaged section had to be removed. My mum always used to have metal tips fitted when she had her shoes re-heeled and she just used to go to the local shoe repair place, so hopefully they're fairly easy to find. The plastic tips on my boots are showing signs of wear, and I plan to have metal tips fitted when they need replacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ionic Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Hi Caz, in my 'museum department', the handful of '80s stilettos mostly have metal tips but these alone don't solve all problems. I have one modest Faith 3.5" stiletto in a bright colour (one of the very few notional size8s I found in that period, a touch small still) where the metal tip has actually begun to drive itself through into plastic moulding of the right heel proper. And this didn't happen from walking outdoors at all either! I had access to a small factory at weekends and I expect this damage was caused by very limited walking about on the concrete floor there. _ As for making your block heels noiser, I've been working on that for you too! Collecting some eBay trophy boots from the heel bar (opposite the fancy French cheese shop that Jamie Oliver visited in one of his early programmes and the real reason for going 'up the hill' - gggggg) they had a rack with lots of shoe care stuff, laces, insoles, dyes, polish and for you a whole range of metal tips for toes and heels of different shapes and sizes for men and women. They go under the brand name of Blakey's shoe protectors and are made near you in Armley, Leeds. You tap them in yourself with a small hammer and will be really noisey on your block heels; they'll also save you £6 in the heel bar too, the outrageous price in London! On Saturday night, I went out to the Indian take-away in some 3.5" Gaucho style Brazilian boots, my current maximum for comfort. They made quite a clack amongst all the people going out for the evening, it was quite busy. I was glad it was dark and plenty of traffic about. My return journey had another couple walking in pace with me (she in her moderate 3.5" evening shoes) and I'm virtually certain she spotted me before I gained distance on them. I also flashed them a bit waiting in the take-away but no-one noticed me there. I rather enjoyed it all nevertheless. I've not braved the daylight in these yet. /I [P.S. visit Leatherworks and the posh French cheese shop on same trip!!! Same pricing policy too.... ] /I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gauze Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 discount pharmacy - http://www.bestrxpills.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorriette Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 Larger branches of Woolworths used to sell packs of replacement tips, complete with two different pins in about six fittings ie. 1/4,3/8 etc.maked as A,B etc., and with a shaded heel profile on the packet that you could use to pick the required pack[2 pair]. My local branch was refubished a couple of years back and don't seem to stock them now. Pity, I could do with some more A size! totter along into history Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hart88 Posted November 25, 2005 Share Posted November 25, 2005 we have a previous topic discussions on this heels question You who have said you want noisier heels, and you say you have found them? WHERE? in my 36 years of business, I have maybe seen 1 or two people who have had high heels with metal tips... Most of the stiletto heels come with a pin lift or Dowel pin lift or Peg lift. (different names I have heard.) there are different widths of the steel pin, and many sizes of rubber molded onto the pin. See Illustration below. A lot of the stiletto heels have a steel metal tube that is in the core of the heel and is usually the length of the heel block. The heels with the metal tube usually have a pin lift (a molded rubber compound that is molded onto a metal pin...) Some are hard plastic, some are a nylon rubber... They have to be somewhat hard, other wise you will ruin the heel immediately. Some heels have a long dowel pin heel that is as long as the heel is tall. (from one inch to 4 inches) The reason for that is for strength. Those used to be easier to repair if you wore them down too far, all we have to do is pinch off some of the plastic and pull the metal spike out and level the plastic heel, fix some of the damage to the heel cover, and drive a new spike into the heel and trim to fit. The shorter pins are different now, because some of the tubes are Aluminum, not steel. (to make them cheaper? or less weight?) To get around the difference in the aluminum not being as strong, they now insert a metal pin into the aluminum tube along with the pin lift. (most pin lifts are about a half inch long) So When you wear the lift off, and the metal stem (pin) is now worn into the tube, we pull out the heel pin, and level heel block.(lower) NOW, since there is that metal rod inside of the metal tube,We have less space to fit the pin lift... If you wear the heel too long, and we have to level the heel, There is Less Space to insert the new pin lift.... (unless we can pull the tube out, remove the metal rod, and reinsert the tube) Sometimes when we do this, the heel is shorter, and if there is a shape to the heel,(cone, bell bottom, etc) we are putting on a different size rubber heel. Then we trim the rubber heel to fit the heel block... Getting back to the steel heels.....How many sizes of plastic,(wood,etc) are there? To have metal heels made for each size would be expensive. We definately couldn't trim them to fit! IMAGINE IF WE HAVE TO HAVE STEEL HEELS IN ALL THESE SIZES? they would be expensive (to have all the different pin sizes, and all the heel sizes!) The only advantage in my mind is that steel is a neutral color and we don't have the decision whether or not to use a black or brown heel tip http://hartlandshoes.us/DowelsExample.jpg Picture of many kinds of spike (pin, peg, dowel-pin) heels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flavio Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 hart88 I'll talk as an engineer, not shoe repairer what I'm not. Aluminium is more expensive then steel. An Audi A8 car has the body aluminium made, what makes the car lightweight, but a lot more expensive. Who buys a car like that doesn't care about the price. I really don't see any advantage of using aluminium against steel in the heels, since the quantity of aluminium spent will be the same as steel the cost will be a bit higher, the weight loss is just 1g or 2g and the resistance of bending is better in steel. Well, a question for heel makers... Flavio - Brazilian heel lover, now in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shafted Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 To some, the elasticity of steel heel spikes is unnerving to walk in. Aluminum would probably feel much more stable to those. As a person who rides both steel and aluminum bicycles, aluminum is certainly a far more rigid material Aluminum gives a very rough ride, while steel provides a much more smoother ride. Shafted, the boots that is! View my gallery here http://www.hhplace.o...afteds-gallery/ or view my heeling thread here http://www.hhplace.org/topic/3850-new-pair-of-boots-starts-me-serious-street-heeling/ - Pm me if you want fashion advice or just need someone to talk to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flavio Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Good point Shafted, that must be it! Aluminiun tends to bend easier then steel but steel is much more elastic! Springs are made of steel because of it. Aluminium, once deformed, tends to stay like that. Interesting, I don't know if my heels built in metal are aluminium or steel... Flavio - Brazilian heel lover, now in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris100575 Posted November 27, 2005 Share Posted November 27, 2005 I've had several pairs of my stilettos re-heeled with metal tips with no problems. I've just asked for metal tips when I handed them over, because you do tend to get plastic by default. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hart88 Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Dr Shoe, and Chris100575 Where do they get the metal tips?(the shoe repairer?) As I mentioned, I have only seen one pair that a lady brought in that Lived in Florida. She thought she got them from NY? "Now you know why I have people pre-pay...They can't remember where they even got their shoes, let alone repaired!! " I have had a few customers ask about the metal tips, and I have always had to say, maybe in NY or over in Europe, but I haven't had one person tell me where to get them.... My brain tells me that they wouldn't fit very nicely. Rubber tips you can trim to fit the heel, although I have see some shoe heel tips that the shoe repairer didn't trim to the shape of the heel (To me, what is worse, the customer didn't notice....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HHwornbare Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 For some of you that have thicker of chunky high heels and the soles of the shoes are not rubber or plastic, can I suggest going to a dancewear store and getting tap dancing taps and put them on your heels. I have two pair of high heel sandals, one of them with a 1 inch plat sole that i installed the taps on them. They are fun to walk in around the house. Very Very loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris100575 Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Hart88: Sorry, I never thought to ask where they got the metal tips. I've been to three different shoe repair shops fairly recently, as I usually pick whichever's most convenient depending on work etc. and they've always had metal tips the right size for my heels. I just assumed that they were commonplace. All the ones I've had done have had the standard D shaped stiletto heel, I don't know if it would be harder to get metal tips in different shapes. That said the heel on my Faith boots is circular, and they had metal tips when I bought them. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorro_Eric Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 I by steeltips from a local cobbler, I even produce zorro-tips and BZ-tips. http://www.stiletto-heel-tips.co.uk/index.htm More zorro-tips in needleheels groups in Yahoo http://groups.yahoo.com/group/needleheels4/files/ Regards Zorro_Eric Sweden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hart88 Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 Thanks for the pictures, and the Links...I appreciate this very much, as I always try to know as much about these things as possible. You can never know too much. I see by the pictures, the ones that I had seen before, Were the rounded ones. You must have round heel tips, so that means you don't have to worry about fitting the piece to the heel tip, it is already round. Here in Minnesota, you could cause severe damage to yourself trying to wear them on our streets! LOL Gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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