makin shoes noisier! - Page 2

flavio · 26th November 2005, 02:34

hart88 I'll talk as an engineer, not shoe repairer what I'm not.

Aluminium is more expensive then steel. An Audi A8 car has the body aluminium made, what makes the car lightweight, but a lot more expensive. Who buys a car like that doesn't care about the price.

I really don't see any advantage of using aluminium against steel in the heels, since the quantity of aluminium spent will be the same as steel the cost will be a bit higher, the weight loss is just 1g or 2g and the resistance of bending is better in steel.

Well, a question for heel makers...

Shafted · 26th November 2005, 03:16

To some, the elasticity of steel heel spikes is unnerving to walk in. Aluminum would probably feel much more stable to those. As a person who rides both steel and aluminum bicycles, aluminum is certainly a far more rigid material Aluminum gives a very rough ride, while steel provides a much more smoother ride.

flavio · 26th November 2005, 13:03

Good point Shafted, that must be it!
Aluminiun tends to bend easier then steel but steel is much more elastic!
Springs are made of steel because of it.
Aluminium, once deformed, tends to stay like that.

Interesting, I don't know if my heels built in metal are aluminium or steel...

chris100575 · 27th November 2005, 17:16

I've had several pairs of my stilettos re-heeled with metal tips with no problems. I've just asked for metal tips when I handed them over, because you do tend to get plastic by default.

Chris

hart88 · 29th November 2005, 00:58

Dr Shoe, and Chris100575
Where do they get the metal tips?(the shoe repairer?)

As I mentioned, I have only seen one pair that a lady brought in that Lived in Florida. She thought she got them from NY?
"Now you know why I have people pre-pay...They can't remember where they even got their shoes, let alone repaired!! "

I have had a few customers ask about the metal tips, and I have always had to say, maybe in NY or over in Europe, but I haven't had one person tell me where to get them....
My brain tells me that they wouldn't fit very nicely. Rubber tips you can trim to fit the heel, although I have see some shoe heel tips that the shoe repairer didn't trim to the shape of the heel (To me, what is worse, the customer didn't notice....)

HHwornbare · 30th November 2005, 00:58

For some of you that have thicker of chunky high heels and the soles of the shoes are not rubber or plastic, can I suggest going to a dancewear store and getting tap dancing taps and put them on your heels. I have two pair of high heel sandals, one of them with a 1 inch plat sole that i installed the taps on them. They are fun to walk in around the house. Very Very loud.

chris100575 · 30th November 2005, 11:29

Hart88: Sorry, I never thought to ask where they got the metal tips. I've been to three different shoe repair shops fairly recently, as I usually pick whichever's most convenient depending on work etc. and they've always had metal tips the right size for my heels. I just assumed that they were commonplace. All the ones I've had done have had the standard D shaped stiletto heel, I don't know if it would be harder to get metal tips in different shapes. That said the heel on my Faith boots is circular, and they had metal tips when I bought them.

Chris

Zorro_Eric · 1st December 2005, 00:18

I by steeltips from a local cobbler, I even produce zorro-tips and BZ-tips.

http://www.stiletto-heel-tips.co.uk/index.htm

http://s03.imagehost.org/0762/steeltips.jpg

More zorro-tips in needleheels groups in Yahoo
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/needleheels4/files/

Regards

Zorro_Eric

Sweden

hart88 · 13th December 2005, 00:25

Thanks for the pictures, and the Links...I appreciate this very much, as I always try to know as much about these things as possible. You can never know too much.
I see by the pictures, the ones that I had seen before, Were the rounded ones. You must have round heel tips, so that means you don't have to worry about fitting the piece to the heel tip, it is already round.

Here in Minnesota, you could cause severe damage to yourself trying to wear them on our streets! LOL

Gene