Sourcing rubber heel tip composite

[Ionic]

Does anyone have up to date sources of the rubber composite for replacing or adding to heel tips (or lifts as hart88 calls it in usa)? ~ ed: in the UK that is. A stallholder in my local car boot market does have a dusty bucket with an old stock of blanks shaped to notional heel shapes that don't match current and recent fashions. As the material is not used efficiently it's not a cheap solution and they are rather rigid and not terribly flat to begin with partly because it is helpfully quite quick. However I sense difficulty with getting a pleasing result. It's a bit like the thread on metal stiletto tips, and how in general to get hold of various repair/modification materials in small quantities for DIY use. I have a follow-up point, but let's address this first: /I

[Bubba136]

Hart88 is a shoe repairman. email him and I'm sure he will be able to help you. (just scroll down this thread until you find his name and you will be able to get his email address from his profile)

[Ionic]

: It seems I have largely answered my own question now. My second point was going to be about adhesives: I was experimenting with gluing a thin piece of cycle inner tube on some heel tips for a couple of purposes. The idea was for temporary protection of the manufacturers tip from wear until I could add a second more permanent layer and then also to quieten noisy tips as well. I used a top grade contact adhesive but it didn't hold the piece of rubber well at all. My next experiment was going to be to do a first coat of contact adhesive on the the old heel surface alone and then when dry, before 15mins, coat both surfaces with rubber cement for cycle inner tube repairs - hoping the second glue would stick to the first. But I went back to my local stall on Saturday and no more of those heel tip blanks (must have cleaned him out last time!) but he did have two interesting items. These were two grades of rubber material cut as blanks for a very large male sole - a decent enough sized chunk to cut several heel tips from. One type was reasonably thick at 5.2mm thick and the thinner one was 2.3mm. The thin one is handy for adding to an existing new/unworn tip without lifting the heel too much and affecting the toe-spring while the thick is fine for general replacement although not as thick as the 6mm some repairers use. Anyway, I can now skip the inner tube experiments which is good news. I've also searched around the net for Hart88's "Flash Black®" and it seems to be same adhesive as 'Loctite 410' or Loctite Prism 410. I can't locate that either here - it sounds a handy product. I got some brass pins again today (I already got some but can't find them ) and the store couldn't find the 410 glue in their suppliers catalogues although they did have another intersting Loctitie 2 part product aimed at difficult to glue plastics. It's called 'Loctite Super Plastix' claiming plastics and rubber ~ anyone played with this? /I

[Ionic]

actually brass pins aren't such a great idea - I bent as many as I knocked in but at least my feet won't rust.... what do the trade repairers use for black adhesive gap filler for hiding the joint? /I

[Ionic]

this is partly a reply to DawnHH in the step-rattle-step thread but better here continuing the theme above: After the brass pins I then got some finer moulding pins in steel, mind you they can also bend but are less likely to break out of the side of the heel which is a really mean trick the brass ones wanted to do. I've now done a few tip additions (not replacements) and they look generally successful. I've been hanging on to quite a handful of block heeled boots and shoes which I've not been out in and worn the edge off the tips. Most I've just put the thin 2mm rubber on, mainly to make them quieter and protect the originals. I also put a thick 5mm extra tip on a high tapered heel boot partly to improve the toe spring (design probably optimised for smaller size) and of course also make them higher! My choice to select from for outings is instantly much larger. /I

[Thighboots2]

Go to http://www.stiletto-heel-tips.co.uk they should have what you need.

Have used them myself, excellent service, and I need to go back for another set.

TB2

[Ionic]

Go to http://www.stiletto-heel-tips.co.uk they should have what you need.

Have used them myself, excellent service, and I need to go back for another set.

TB2

have bookmarked your site for future reference, thanks, but there is already a long topic on stiletto heel tips but that's is not what this thread is about so I quite intentionally didn't confuse the two. This was about rubber composite sheet for block and tapered heels rather than pre-formed tips for stilettos.

best to discuss them separately, I feel, cheers

/I

[Shafted]

Try the trade name Vibram, this soling material and is available in sheets. My local cobbler uses this for top lift replacement.

[hart88]

Most of the heel material we have is a composition material. The better materials are Vibram, and Topy the heel material that is used for pin lifts(stiletto) heels, is a hard urethane material these days and is hard enough to hold onto the metal pins that go into the tube of the stiletto heels. If we pound hard onto the stiletto heels, and the metal pin shows, that means we have a substandard heel material. We usually hand nail with blued (hardned) nails or use a brad tacker (like a stapler) to nail on the top lifts (heel material) If you do it by hand, you need an ice pick or steel awl to make a starter hole, so that the nail sets into the heel lift material, and when you hit the nail you hit the nail, not your thumb nail! You could use the leg of a metal chair to use as a jack last. you should use a piece of cardboard to protect the heel pad of the shoe. If you use Super glue instead, you don't need to worry about nails protruding out the side of the heels, or breaking, or bending. If you use super glue, make sure you have eye protection and nose filter because the super glue fumes bother some people/ have a rag and some Acetone avaliable to wipe your hands with in case you get some superglue on your hands. If you get superglue on your hands, use the rag and Acetone to clean your hands as much as possible. you may think about aborting the job until your hands are dry. The super glue will dry and peel off. Make sure you don't touch your eyes while wet. discard any rags into a box right away. make sure you don't touch the shoes while your hands are wet with glue. the glue will stick to the shoes and damage them I always use a piece of cardboard that I use under the shoes. I always have a few pieces of scrap leather, rubber, or cardboard that I use for an applicator and will discard after each use. You could use few pieces of cardboard, or popsicle stick to use as an applicator during the process. keep a box that you throw them into after each use, when you use one piece for a brush to apply the glue to the material, it gets hard and you can't use it again. I put the rubber material on the cardboard on the bench. I smooth the glue with the applicator across the entire heel material in one motion. Practice makes perfect. after I apply the glue, I throw the applicator away immediately into the box, makining sure I don't splash anything. Then I take the shoe (make sure not to touch the glue) and place the shoe holding it down onto the rubber material for about a minute. you could practice without the glue first to get the motion right. I usually line up the front of the heel (the part that faces the toes) so I don't have to trim that part. If you make the piece of rubber material too perfect you won't have any room for error. I would make it a bit big and trim the rest by hand or cutter, or tin snips or tree pruner. We have a tool that cuts it around and the machine trims it nicely. I hope this helps you understand that you may be able to do it, but maybe you will be more gratefull to the shoemaker who does this every day.

[Ionic]

thanks so much, Hart, for your long and detailed reply to my questions in both threads - you don't need to apologise for the time taken to respond, I knew you would find the questions eventually. sorry it took me a couple of days to acknowledge, the board server kept going down as I was preparing to draft my follow up points: 1] it would be good to find a source of Vibram/Topy or equivalent available from a web site on this side of the Atlantic. 2] hardened nails, now that's more like it - they won't start to drive sideways, will they! actually I've been using a high grade contact adhesive rather than super glue because it is a little more forgiving, but a few holding nails are probably worth doing too. 3] I was also going to ask what others use to improvise for an anvil (or, as Hart mentioned, a jack last) at home. the upturned handle of a second hammer is not entirely satisfactory. it's ok with lower heels but with a 4ins heel the angle is much steeper so the handle is less stable leading to more thumb being bashed! 4] finally your procedures and H&S advise for sticking the lifts with super-glue are extremely useful and worth printing out and keeping with my shoe repairs kit. You also mentioned the machine trim (I quickly improved with my own hand trimming after a couple of times); what I notice from the repair shop is the brushed finish to the lifts and the joint is hidden with matching colour filler, that is harder to reproduce in the home workshop. I found one US web site that would sell 'Flash Black' but the international mailing charge makes it not worthwhile for an order for a single pot or two. thanks again/

[Ionic]

I've found a product which I think will act as an alternative to hart's Flash Black. It's called Shoe GOO and should be available in the USA and Japan; a UK eBay trader is selling it too.

It comes in a rubberised black version and a clear one. more info at:

http://www.shoegoo.co.jp/lineup.html

I've just begun experimenting but it is supposed to be usable as an adhesive, for gap filling and I think just building up a tough rubbery layer.

I'll report back on performance anon.