Dilemma with Heel Tip Pin Solved

raincat · 14th December 2007, 14:04

I found a simple solution which may be of interest to anyone who has a similar problem. My wife has a pair of Delicious (Made in China) Oxfords w/5" stiletto heels. A few days ago, the heeltip on the right shoe simply came loose and fell out. Nothing broken, but when the pin was placed back inside the tube, it was too loose to ever keep the heeltip secured. Problem solved by cutting a piece of paper (not as wide as the pin, but roughly 2X the length of it). I placed the paper over the tube in such manner that when pushing the pin back into it, the paper wedged up alongside 2 sides of the pin. It worked! But, the pin was still a bit loose. Resolved this by finding a magazine with slightly thicker paper on the coversheet and doing it over. The slick, heavy paper as per a magazine cover seemed to work best. Will the solution turn out to be permanent? I don't know yet. If the tube is ruptured, the pin will mostl likely loosen up again. Time will tell.

Dr. Shoe · 14th December 2007, 14:23

Actually that's a pretty standard way to do it...

Just watch it doesn't fall out, most cobblers put a dap of glue on both the pin and the paper. It means that they can get the top piece out if they need to but it shouldn't fall out.

Nigel · 14th December 2007, 20:37

I was going to say 'watch your step' as these things have a habit of breaking loose.

thanks Doc, Yes, a small dab of glue, nothing to hard, but something flexable should keep it from going walkies on its own.

nigel

raincat · 15th December 2007, 02:28

Thank you, Dr. Shoe, for letting me know that I stumbled onto a solution that seems to already have been found to work. Your suggestion about the glue seems like a good one, also. For those of us who don't often encounter them, it's good to have a place here on the forum where we can share solutions to common problems.

Excellent suggestion from you, Nigel, that I keep an eye on her when she's wearing that particular pair of shoes. (Any excuse will do!) I hope to have a "report from the field" (as they say) in a few days. hehehe

Dr. Shoe · 16th December 2007, 11:46

LOL ! Who needs an excuse?!

raincat · 17th December 2007, 14:01

Some followup on the paper-wedge heel tip repair: The wife and I went out to dinner a few nights ago. She wore the aforementioned black oxfords with the newly repaired heel-tip. Going to dinner involved the normal amount of walking on asphalt and concrete to and from the car, and of course, inside the restaurant. All accomplished with no problems from the shoes whatsoever. The repair appears to be holding.

shoerepairer · 2nd June 2008, 13:30

Raincat, I’m glade your repair held out, BUT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Shoe

most cobblers put a dap of glue on both the pin and the paper. It means that they can get the top piece out if they need to but it shouldn't fall out.

Dr. Shoe! This simply isn’t true! I have never heard of a cobbler who’s done this! Shame on you!

The pins have a knurled grip on them when they are manufactured, if they do work loss then we either use a flattening technique or an alloy flexible sprung tube insert.
I would never use paper or glue, it only leads to problems further down the line. No stiletto heel should be or would need to be glued.

Lee

raincat · 3rd June 2008, 14:18

Thank you, Lee, for being glad that my repair held out, and also for the further information on this type of problem. As a further update on the situation, what you said proved true. The repair to the heel-pin lasted only for a few wearings, and then it loosened up again. I have not yet re-addressed the problem. Perhaps a slight "flattening" of the heel-pin? Thank you for all of the helpful information you've been providing us here on the forum.

shoerepairer · 4th June 2008, 12:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by raincat

Perhaps a slight "flattening" of the heel-pin?

The tube that is in the shoe isn't solid, they have a seam running down them & are in fact sprung. flattening the pin is only a term, not a literal.

Lightly flatten or fractionally bend the pin at a right angle to the seam in the barrel that way it will open it up slightly giving better grip.

Although ( I would say this!) why not save yourself the hassle & take it into your cobbler, it will only cost a few dollars/pounds to get completely new heels fitted.....

Lee

fastfreddy2 · 5th June 2008, 02:33

I recently had cause to remove the (worn) tips from a pair of boots.

Much to my disappointment the tips were so tight in their respective tubes, the tube left the heel when I tried to (gently) see-saw the tip out of the tube. The locking pin that goes deep inside the heel came out too. These pins were plain (thin) bar.

I had no problem getting the tubes back in the heels, with pins opening up the (split) tubes, and locking them back in place.

I'm no cobbler, more of an engineer. I'd have had no problem using araldite to keep the tubes back in place if necessary. In fact I almost dropped a blob of the stuff inside the heels before the tubes were inserted, in an attempt to lock the tubes in permanently. But they felt fairly secure without additional bonding.

As long as the tip end of the tube can expand for a new tip to be inserted, I can't see there being a problem?

Having re-read the original post, I'd suggest someone has fitted the wrong size tip? It costs £5 around here for a pair to be replaced, money well spent if it saves the heels from further problems? Seems to be a bit of risky solution being discussed here, in what I would be tempted to call a "bodge"

Get the right sized tips fitted? Losing a tip while walking on asphalt could ruin the heel on a shoe, and I doubt Timpson's keep replacement 5" stiletto heels in stock, if at all.

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