Anne_Louise Posted March 11, 2004 Posted March 11, 2004 I wonder if anyone can help me to find a shoe repairer who will replace or repair a broken heel. I have the most beautiful pair of red pointed toe stilettos with cut-outs and little silver rivets accross the vamp. I must have bought them fifteen or twenty years ago and wore them a lot until one of the heels broke. My local shoe repairer was reluctant to glue it in case it broke again and caused me to be injured (this litigious society!) so they've been lurking in the back of a cupboard ever since. They are lower than I usually wear - 41/2" - but they are so lovely I'd wear them a lot if I could. There are no reapirers near me, so it would have to be by mail-order. Help please!! Anne Louise
Dr. Shoe Posted March 11, 2004 Posted March 11, 2004 Achilles would be your man. He trades under the name of "Craftsman" in Well Street, London E9. If you want help or more details let me know. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects.
Anne_Louise Posted March 12, 2004 Author Posted March 12, 2004 Thank you Doctor! The husband of a friend, who used to work in London years ago, took several pairs for me from time to time to a Greek cobbler. It would be too much of a coincidence if this is the same one! Could you please e-mail me with details? Anne Louise
Firefox Posted March 12, 2004 Posted March 12, 2004 Where is the break? Is it in the metal rod in the stiletto or where the shoe attaches to the heel?
Dr. Shoe Posted March 12, 2004 Posted March 12, 2004 I think you'll find they're all Greek LOL! It doesn't matter where the break is, the only way to rectify the problem is to throw the old one away and fit a new one. Achilles will probably replace both so that they'll match. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects.
Firefox Posted March 13, 2004 Posted March 13, 2004 Not true. If is has come off at the heel/shoe it can be often fixed by drilling deep holes and inserting screws. I guarantee a repair done this way will be stonger than the original and I can prove it by calculation If the tube has broken, the heel will need to be replaced.
Dr. Shoe Posted March 13, 2004 Posted March 13, 2004 Not true. If is has come off at the heel/shoe it can be often fixed by drilling deep holes and inserting screws. I guarantee a repair done this way will be stonger than the original and I can prove it by calculation If the tube has broken, the heel will need to be replaced. You are right but the gist of the original post was the fact that the "repairer wouldn't glue it", if the heel had come off, then he would have nailed them as a matter of course. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects.
Firefox Posted March 16, 2004 Posted March 16, 2004 Yes, also the nails seem very difficult to force in to the hard nylon material of the heel without a specialist power tool. That's why I use screws for home repairs..
Skirted-UK Posted March 16, 2004 Posted March 16, 2004 Not true. If is has come off at the heel/shoe it can be often fixed by drilling deep holes and inserting screws. I guarantee a repair done this way will be stonger than the original and I can prove it by calculation If the tube has broken, the heel will need to be replaced. I have repaired 4" heels that have come off the shoe by using screws and high power Araldite, and as you say it is much stronger than the original nail fixing. "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave ! " The Eagles, "Hotel California"
Dr. Shoe Posted March 16, 2004 Posted March 16, 2004 Yes, also the nails seem very difficult to force in to the hard nylon material of the heel without a specialist power tool. That's why I use screws for home repairs.. They need to be eclipse nails too. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects.
bigj3650 Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 would it be far out to ask if you were doing the firefox screw technique would it not bee also a good idea to using a bit of fiberglass resin in the whole before you put the screw in...since glassfiber (or fiberglass, as modelers know it) is in a sence plastic would it not hold the screw in and keep it secure? what do u think?? J
Dr. Shoe Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 It all depends, if you use an incompatible plastic the new one could act as a solvent on the other and make the problem worse. I would think that glasfibre resin would be OK though. Normally, heels are made from nylon but sometimes they can be polyethelene. To get nails in heat them over a gas flame and just push them in with pliers. I still recommend taking them to a cobbler or shoemaker. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects.
JeffM Posted June 3, 2004 Posted June 3, 2004 Hi Anne Louise To use an English phrase, did you get your heel sorted? Jeff
Anne_Louise Posted June 3, 2004 Author Posted June 3, 2004 Jeff, hello. No I haven't done any more about the repair - I need someone who can do it by post as I am unlikely to get to London in the near future. I do want to get them done sometime - they are lower than I usually wear, but a really classic style, and despite not being high, they are quite an eyecatcher! Anne Louise
JeffM Posted June 4, 2004 Posted June 4, 2004 Anne Louise Here in Oz we have Post Packs that have a 24 hour delivery city to city. If you have an equivalent then why not buy two from your local Post Office. Address one to the person Dr Shoe suggested (Achilles) and the other to your self. That way he can send them back to you after he has finished repairing them. Jeff
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