step, rattle, step, rattle, step.....

Ionic · 10th August 2005, 18:03

I've had a neat pair of sensible lace-ups with a plain 2.5" block heel for ages but there's a 'foreign body' inside the right heel which irritates me no end as it rattles with every alternate step.

I guess the heel tip will have to come off, won't it?
But what is the chance of getting the old tip back on again completely accurately, or does this most likely mean a fresh set on both shoes?

I'm not the first member here to report this nuissance, see sscotty 1st post at:
http://www.hhplace.org/hhboard/viewt...t=4219&start=0

/I

Dr. Shoe · 10th August 2005, 19:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ionic

I've had a neat pair of sensible lace-ups with a plain 2.5" block heel for ages but there's a 'foreign body' inside the right heel which irritates me no end as it rattles with every alternate step.

I guess the heel tip will have to come off, won't it?
But what is the chance of getting the old tip back on again completely accurately, or does this most likely mean a fresh set on both shoes?

I'm not the first member here to report this nuissance, see sscotty 1st post at:
http://www.hhplace.org/hhboard/viewt...t=4219&start=0

/I

I suspect it could be one of the tacks has gone right through the top of the heel and has fallen inside the hollow honeycombe inside.

You can probably take the top piece (bottom of the heel) off and replace it at will as these are normally produced with some kind of locator to allow accurate placement in the factory.

Ionic · 11th August 2005, 01:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Shoe

You can probably take the top piece (bottom of the heel) off and replace it at will as these are normally produced with some kind of locator to allow accurate placement in the factory.

ease it off with a broad flat chisel into the joint, do you reckon? can't think of another way of minimizing damage to both sides.

(they were probably seconds which ended up on eBay)

/I

Dr. Shoe · 11th August 2005, 22:10

Or a butter knife...

Dawn HH · 12th August 2005, 04:15

If you are afraid of damaging the heel in trying to repair them yourself, get a professional shoe repairman to do the job for you. If they are noisy heel lifts, this would be a good time to solve both problems with a set of rubber heel lifts.
Cheers---

Dawn HH

Ionic · 12th August 2005, 15:23

I have got quite enough business lined up for the professionals, I just want to get the skills to do the realy basic stuff like the heel tips.

/I

Dawn HH · 13th August 2005, 05:02

Ionics:-)

Congrats! Go to it then and learn a new skill.
Cheers---

Dawn HH

hart88 · 15th August 2005, 23:59

Sorry, I have been nursing some illlneses, so I didn't get a chance to reply from the shoemakers perspective. I hope I will give you your money's worth.

Many of the plastic Heels are hollow and some are extremely hollow.
Like Dr Shoe mentioned, either a nail, or a piece of plastic might be broken off and ratteling for you!

If you take a flat prying devise, like a non sharp knife, or wide screw driver, go to the front part of the heel (the part of the heel that faces the toes of your shoe). We call that the Breasting. If you scratch the heel, it won't be as noticable in this place.

Be careful while prying the heel off. Sometimes heels (the piece that is nailed to the bottom of your heel - many of them are plastic also and a corner might break off) Also, many of the heel lifts have molded tips that fit like "tinker toys" into the heel block. If you damage even one of them to the point where you can't push it back into the heel block for a tight fit, then you are in trouble and you may trip on it, and actually pull it off and damage it completely or lose it on the street somewhere! Even walking on that hollow heel for one day can damage it severly enough that we have to cut both heels down to the same level and nail new heel lifts on.

When You have opened up the heel, shake the shoe and the offending piece of plastic or nail will be freed to bother you no more. Some heels have a wall in the middle or many walls, so you may have to remove the heel lift completely so you can find that rattler! Like I said, be careful when reinserting the tabs back into the holes.

If you damage any of those pegs, then you may have to go to a shoe repairer and have them repair the heels. Many of us use a wood dowel to tightly fit into the holes, and then we have to nail into those pegs only, otherwise, we will be back to where we started, shaking, ratteling and rolling around the room in a fit of anger......

I used to work for a shoeman, who filled the hollow heel with some glue, and then nailed away. He figured the glue would catch and hold any piece of nail that missed, or any piece of plastic that might break off.
I think that is cheating ?! Sometimes when we get an extremely hollow heel, we use an industrial grade super glue to just glue the heel lift on, so we don't get Rattled! It really works! I use that method when everything else fails.

Dr. Shoe · 16th August 2005, 19:02

Indeed.

Ionic · 19th August 2005, 18:30

thanks again Hart for your advice, see the other thread alongside for the full note of appreciation:

I expect those power stapling guns are likely to shoot a nail right through into the hollow at the factory.

1] a good tip about prising the tip off from the front (breasting) of the heel - a glaziers putty knife might be another good tool for this.

2] thanks for background info and warning about the locating pegs - I'll know to look out for them as a possibility.

3] I think I only half understand the wooden dowel tip but I do get the idea that if the side walls of the heel are too thin it can be too risky to try to nail there so some extra material like dowel would help with that problem.

ta/