What do shoe repair shops do these days??

[Shoeiee]

This afternoon I had a most frustrating visit to a 'shoe repair' shop for two of my FAVORITE pairs of boots...The heels have worked their way loose at the top of the heels and I REFUSE to toss them because they're real leather and fit like gloves. SO...I go to a shop that ONLY DOES SHOE REPAIRS and inquire about getting this fixed...WELL...The reply?? "WE DON'T REPAIR HEELS LIKE THIS" They'll do the tips...Or cowboy boots...Or 3-4" heels...But they wouldn't TOUCH my 5" stiletto boots!! If this is the new wave of shoe repair shops, we're ALL in trouble!! I'll let you all know if I find ANYWHERE that's willing to do the repairs and what they decided to charge for this currently unusual repair... Unhappy heeling for me today... Shoeiee

[Francis]

It really is a sad state of affairs when you can't get the service you expect. In your case, it's like asking a garage to tune your engine and them saying that they don't do diesels! A heel is a heel whether it be 3" or 6". Why should that matter? Our local cobblers undertake any work you give them, however, the chain store cobblers won't. To them anything above 4" requires additional machinery that they are not equipped with. Remember that they are only trained how to do things with these machines and nothing by hand, but it is stupid that you can't get shoes repaired in a shoe repair shop. They should cater for all styles.

[Firefox]

The moral of the story is, do your own shoe repairs. The loose heel is generally easy to fix with a few steel chipboard self tapping screws about 1 1/2" long. A pilot hole may need to be drilled as the plastic heel is usually very hard. If the cardboard plus stiffening has become worn and loose around the original heel fastening, a thin steel plate plus the screws to clamp down on the original plate and shank often works wonders.

[Shoeiee]

Well, I found a shop today to do the repairs...They'll be done professionally and will be finished tomorrow by lunch time. And the great thing about it...Total bill is $20. He's going to re-mount both heels and retip them on both pair of boots for that price. Firefox, I like the idea of screws instead of the tiny nails. When they come loose again, I'll replace the nails with some little wood screws. Will tell you all how the repairs go tomorrow. Happier Heeling today than yesterday... Shoeiee

[Firefox]

I'm glad you found what you wanted there Shoiee, and $20 seems like a fair price. When it comes to it, shoes do not have a great value and often the cost of doing extensive repairs is not justified in terms of labour chages in relation to the value of the repaired shoes. If you are using screws, make sure they are not too long as regards the heel shape, or you can get small bulges in the plastic.

[ShockQueen]

I had a good experience with a shoe repair place here in Denver. I have a pair of leather 4" stiletto boots that I wore out the heel tips on, and didn't want to damage them beyond repair, so I took them in to be re-tipped. 48 hours and $7.50 later, they have better tips on them than they originally had! Nice work!

[Shoeiee]

I've done heel tips many times and they're easy...The trick is finding them for sale without the shoe repairman insisting on doing them himself. And they're so cheap too! This guy that has my boots right now was in a local mall and moved. About 2 years ago I bought tips from him for like $1.00 each. I've gone through them and will be buying more tomorrow when I pick my boots up from him. Also while there, I found a nice pair of 2 1/2" heel all real leather knee high boots for my wife. They're sized as Euro 41 and look to be rather high quality boots. We're getting them for $20. My wife will go in with me to try them on first but they're on hold for now. So a tip...Another good place to look for shoes is shoe repair shops...If the customer doesn't pay, they're for sale Happier Heeling today...And hopefully REAL happy heeling tomorrow Shoeiee

[Dr. Shoe]

On 2002-05-29 19:26, Firefox wrote:

The moral of the story is, do your own shoe repairs. The loose heel is generally easy to fix with a few steel chipboard self tapping screws about 1 1/2" long. A pilot hole may need to be drilled as the plastic heel is usually very hard. If the cardboard plus stiffening has become worn and loose around the original heel fastening, a thin steel plate plus the screws to clamp down on the original plate and shank often works wonders.

Why do you keep doing this to me?!

You scare me to death sometimes Will!

It is quite dangerous to use screws on heels as I have found out by personal experience. Fortunately, I was near the bottom of the steps so I didn't have so far to fall when the heel collapsed! If I had been at the top then I probably wouldn't be here now. It is on stairs that a dodgy heel will make its presence known.

[Shoeiee]

Dr. Shoe, What's wrong with using screws in place of the usual nails to hold the heels firmly in place?? I have found that in woodwork, nails come loose when forces are applied to them in other than a directly parallel manner but screws won't. I would think that the same can be said for heels. And since the forces on a heel vary constantly, they would be better for longevity. Thanks for the info, Happy Heeling again Shoeiee

[Dr. Shoe]

The tacks used for securing heels are called eclipse nails and are shot in at high speed so that the friction actually melts the plastic slightly so that when it cools (a millisecond later) it reforms around the little ridges that go around the spike of the nail (separate ridges and not a helix like a screw). The only way to remove the heel is to pass a high resistance voltage across the head of the tack causing it to heat up thus melting the plasic again. A screw will easily work its way loose because the screw thread will wear a slightly slack helical groove as you put it in, this will allow microscopic movements allowing the metal of the screw to cause even more wear along the length of the helix until eventually the heel will come loose. However, as the plastic has not bonded with the screw as it would have done with an eclipse tack.

[Firefox]

My screws never work loose. They don't cut a "slightly slack" thread, they cut a tight thread on the outside of a precise pilot hole. The hole is left short so the last part of the screw cuts through completly virgin plastic requiring massive torque which I often supply with a spanner mounted on the screw driver shank. The friction generated is so huge that no vibration forces of normal walking will ever shift the screw and indeed it is almost impossible to extract using the leverered screw driver.

It's all a question of using the right tools and knowing what you are doing to get an effecient job.

[azraelle]

Alternatively, you could drive the screws in, after drilling the pilot hole somewhat smaller than the screw, with a hi-torque drill-driver, eg 12-18V cordless. This heats up the screw quite nicely, quite probably enough to momentarily melt the plastic.

[Dr. Shoe]

Just don't say I never warned you...