felixmc Posted February 9, 2007 Posted February 9, 2007 Hi there, are there any boots (ankle- or kneehigh, or even higher!) made out of metal in some kind? i remember seeing some images of metalboots on the net, but its way back :/
Dr. Shoe Posted February 9, 2007 Posted February 9, 2007 They would be very difficult to engineer because boots are designed to flex in all sorts of directions as you walk. This is why it's so hard to walk in dressage boots, it's because they're so stiff but they do give a little. When I was a kid, I knew this guy who was into scrambling (motocross) and he had a pair of fibre-glass boots with some complicated hinges going on. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects.
geo_t Posted February 11, 2007 Posted February 11, 2007 Rigid boots are something I have wondered about from time to time. I thought about molding some knee-high boots out of some kind of composite material. They'd be complely rigid, which would make walking near impossible, so for more mobility I thought about adding a platform sole that curves up from the ball of the foot to the toe (like the pink Vivienne Westwood shoes at the bottom of this page). You'd still have no ankle movement but you'd probably be able to walk in short steps as you roll forward on the platform. Not that I suspect you'd be walking far...
Dr. Shoe Posted February 13, 2007 Posted February 13, 2007 ...and how would you get them on and secure them so that you don't walk out of them? As soon as you start putting in openings they're no longer rigid. The idea I had would be something like the boot part on a suit of armour but even in those cases they were invariably like kind of overshoes that were open at the back. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects.
geo_t Posted February 14, 2007 Posted February 14, 2007 Well... in my idea a large part of the back would be detatchable, to allow the foot to enter, then fixed back in place using rigid fastners - thinking of motocross or ski boot style over center closures. If the boots are molded from a composite material, you could build in locating bumps and places to attach the closures. Having said that, I'm not sure the best way to start something like this. The actual lay-up of fiberglass or carbon fiber wouldn't be too hard. Getting the last/female mold would be somewhat tricky, short of taking an existing pair of boots and filling them with a molding agent, then laying composite cloth/resin over that.
xlheel Posted February 14, 2007 Posted February 14, 2007 The shoes/sandals here: http://www.orientvisual.com/6inchforever/gallery2.htm may be of inspiration
Dr. Shoe Posted February 14, 2007 Posted February 14, 2007 What I would probably do is to get a pair of lasts and then make a mould of your lower leg with "modroc" or similar and cut it in half. Then put clingfilm inside the two halfs and bung the lasts on the bottom and fill with plaster and then you have the mould you need. I would design it exactly like a ski boot just as you say but you know how hard they are to walk in and a high heel one will be even harder... Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects.
geo_t Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 What I would probably do is to get a pair of lasts and then make a mould of your lower leg with "modroc" or similar and cut it in half. Then put clingfilm inside the two halfs and bung the lasts on the bottom and fill with plaster and then you have the mould you need. That sounds like a plan. Maybe one day I'll have the time to turn fantasy into reality. Maybe I've watched too much anime, but a pair of shiny carbon fiber knee "boots" teamed with a carbon fibre breastplate... I would design it exactly like a ski boot just as you say but you know how hard they are to walk in and a high heel one will be even harder... Who said anything about walking?
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