Rebuild/resole Possibility

[steve hansl]

It is unbelievable how much paper and cardboard is used in the majority of footwear these days and at least 70% are made not to be repaired.

[amuckart]

It is unbelievable how much paper and cardboard is used in the majority of footwear these days and at least 70% are made not to be repaired.

Yep, that's one of the things that is driving me to learn how to make my own. It's also why I wear NZ$500 dress shoes to work. People's eyes bug out of their heads when they hear that, but in 10 years I'll still be wearing those shoes and they'll have spent more than that on cheap Chinese crap, and y'know, when my English-made brogues are 10 years old they'll still look better than a brand new pair of $90, or even $200 Chinese-made shoes.

[Leatherimages]

I went and talked to him and he said the heel supports? ( The cardboard type piece inside) was all bent and they were not salvageable. He said that even if he attempted to do it and spent 100 dollars they'd never feel the same and that I was better off buying new ones. He's been doing it for 30 yrs so I trust his judgement even if I hate it. Feels like losing a best friend. Thank you for your help just the same.

This sounds like what I would have told you.

These kind of boots should be sold as unrepairable, aka disposable.

[Art]

Hey Steve,

The other two ingredients are plastic and glue. New Equations:

Plastic/Composite + Paper/Cardboard + Glue == Shoe (Inexpensive, maybe) > 95%

Leather + Gemming + Cork + Thread + Nails (Heels) + Glue == Shoe (Expensive) < 4%

Leather + Thread + Pegs + Glue + Brass Nails(Optional) == Shoe (Priceless) < 1%

And the only reason the Expensive shoes are repairable is because the Factory provides that service, if they didn't have to repair them, they would never be made that way.

With the emphasis on price, the propensity of the public to buy new kicks regularly (they really have to the things they are selling are crap), and this bullcrud about the new world order, they moved a huge industry to the third world never to return.

I guess you get what you pay for.

Art

It is unbelievable how much paper and cardboard is used in the majority of footwear these days and at least 70% are made not to be repaired.

[Indiana Robinson]

Those boots are hardly "unrepairable"... Just an expensive rebuild, probably close to $100. In the 20 years I owned and operated a shoe shop we often saw worse. Much of the problem here is that the original parts are missing and I assume discarded so it is hard to be sure of exactly what they looked like and sizing is a little harder without them. They tell the story of the thickness of the sole and things like heel height/shape. I don't see any markings from a wood, fiberglass or steel shank which also indicates a unit sole was likely. It appears that the original was a unit sole or at least a cemented welt process. Some of those molded unit soles can be hard to acquire in the needed sizes. There are usually other options though.

Heel seats "can" be replaced and normally a leather counter can be sewn in as well to get away from the sagging there.

If someone built something to start with it can usually be rebuilt. Note though that it is sometimes impossible to rebuild "exactly" like it was originally especially if the unit sole was injection molded directly onto the upper.

Any "good" shoe repair shop can do this job but you might not want to pay for it.

I'll probably make somebody mad here but just because someone has done something for a living for 30 years that does not always mean that they are worth a rats behind at it. I have known a lot of tradesmen over the years that were barely "adequate" at their job but survived by turning down all of the difficult stuff to avoid looking bad. At least the smarter ones know their limitations and take on work accordingly.

After I retired from my shop (and sold most of my equipment to a highly skilled custom boot maker) my son took a pair of heavy work boots to a shop in a mall at a nearby town for new soles and heels. Fancy shiny place... Fortunately I had kept all of my handtools and was able to put them back together for him after they literally fell apart within a few weeks. They obviously had no understanding of what was required to hold them together. He considered taking them back but figured that since they had no clue the first time that a second try would be no better.

Good "old school" shoe repair shops are getting hard to locate.

[hosscomp]

Those boots are hardly "unrepairable"...

I hope the moderators will let me know if this improper and if I should have started a new topic, but I was searching for boot repair answers and thought this would be a good place to ask my question. I dropped my bike, nothing serious, but tore a gash across leather on the steel toe area of one of my Wolverine boots. I just looks like an ugly scuff, the grain part of the leather scraped off. Since I am a newbie at leather work I was wondering it it can be patched up to look decent, or should I just think about getting better boots. I don't think I can afford those Wesco boots. I can send a picture if it will help. I was sort of thinking about gluing some matching leather over the toe area of both boots, but don't know if it would hold and I don't know how to get it to form in the right shape.

Thanks,

Ron

[Art]

Hi Ron,

I guess a pic would help. If it is just a scuff, buff off the uglies with some 300-400 grit sandpaper (lightly, only the edges of the scuff), put a good coat of Pecard's all over, let dry overnight or longer till the Pecard's is soaked in completely, then polish, buff, etc. If it is a big ole nasty gash all the way down to the steel toe, you will have to get a curved awl (like for bottoming insoles), wet the leather some, punch some holes, and tie in a football stitch pulling the two pieces together.

Real shoe repair guys are hard to find on this board, and I ain't one, but that is what I would do.

Art

I hope the moderators will let me know if this improper and if I should have started a new topic, but I was searching for boot repair answers and thought this would be a good place to ask my question. I dropped my bike, nothing serious, but tore a gash across leather on the steel toe area of one of my Wolverine boots. I just looks like an ugly scuff, the grain part of the leather scraped off. Since I am a newbie at leather work I was wondering it it can be patched up to look decent, or should I just think about getting better boots. I don't think I can afford those Wesco boots. I can send a picture if it will help. I was sort of thinking about gluing some matching leather over the toe area of both boots, but don't know if it would hold and I don't know how to get it to form in the right shape.

Thanks,

Ron

[hosscomp]

Thanks, Art. I will have to look up Pecard's. Some pics are attached. On one of them I pulled the leather up and you can see the steel toe cover.

Hi Ron,

I guess a pic would help. If it is just a scuff, buff off the uglies with some 300-400 grit sandpaper (lightly, only the edges of the scuff), put a good coat of Pecard's all over, let dry overnight or longer till the Pecard's is soaked in completely, then polish, buff, etc. If it is a big ole nasty gash all the way down to the steel toe, you will have to get a curved awl (like for bottoming insoles), wet the leather some, punch some holes, and tie in a football stitch pulling the two pieces together.

Real shoe repair guys are hard to find on this board, and I ain't one, but that is what I would do.

Art

[Art]

Ron,

Glue down anything you can lift up. Those just look like battle scars, and putting a patch in with the steel toe is way beyond where you might want to go.

Art

Thanks, Art. I will have to look up Pecard's. Some pics are attached. On one of them I pulled the leather up and you can see the steel toe cover.