From: bobh@fuji.hwr.arizona.edu (Bob Harrington)
Newsgroups: rec.climbing
Subject: Re: how easy is resoling shoes?
Date: 3 Oct 92 18:06:05 GMT
Organization: University of Arizona -- Tucson, AZ

I resoled climbing shoes (and three-pin boots, mountaineering
boots, hiking boots, penny loafers, Tony Lama's, etc.) for
several years. My glue sniffing days ended in '85, so I'm not
aquainted with problems specific to shoes that post date La
Sportiva Mariachers, but I can give you some general guide
lines.

Tools -
	 A sander is nice, but not essential. You can make do with
	 hand sanding or a clean wire brush. To trim the soles, you
	 need a sharp knife. Cobblers use a "lip knife" which you
	 can pick up from a shoe repair supply for a couple of bucks,
	 or maybe you local cobbler will sell you his. Make friends
	 with him and maybe he will let you use his sander. In addition
	 to Barge cement, see if you can get some Barge cement thinner,
	 because it is important that the cement not be too thick. You
	 can also use the thinner to prepare a cement primer of about
	 three parts thinner to one part cement. A heat lamp is useful
	 for both removing the old soles, and for reactivating cement
	 on the fresh soles prior to sticking them on the shoes. Good
	 ventilation may be desirable or not depending on your tastes
	 in mind altering substances.

Shoe prepartion -
     Remove the old soles by heating them with the heat lamp or by
	 sanding them off. Which is easier depends on your shoes. Try
	 to not mess up the rands.

Rubber preparation - 
	 Keep the suyfaces clean. Don't touch them with your fingers,
	 and always place the sanded side up on the table. Use a clean
	 whisk broom to remove any dust left behind by the sanding.
	 Apply a primer coat, let it dry completely (half hour plus),
	 then apply a coat of not too thick cement, and let that dry
	 completely. Reactivate with the heat lamp; don't cook them,
	 just get the glue tacky again, warm, but not hot. If the glue
	 turns brown because it got too hot, start over. Reactivate
	 the glue on the shoes also.

Resoling -
	 Put the soles flat on a table, and roll the shoe, heel to toe,
	 onto the sole. This is the step where you can inadvertently
	 change the shape and size of the shoe, so try to make sure you
	 you don't stretch or squish the shoe as you roll it onto the new
	 sole (unless you want to change the size of the shoe, but trying
	 to resize them is a gamble). Now take a hammer and pound the 
	 sole onto the shoe. Stuff the shoe tightly with something to
	 give it some shape before you do this. You don't have to pound
	 it hard, but pounding uniformly is important: hit every part
	 of the sole. When cobbler's do this, the shoe is on a "last
	 stand", a metal foot shaped thing on a pole. I have not found
	 a good substitute for one of these.

	 Now you need to press the sole. There are a bunch of ways to do
	 this. Cobblers use either a shoe press, which is sort of a vice
	 that presses the sole onto the shoe, or a power hammer, which
	 you can move around the shoe and smack the sole onto the shoe.
	 You're going to have to fake it somehow: you can park your car
	 on them, but this isn't really necessary, and may stretch the
	 sole on the shoe, resulting in either a bad glue bond or a
	 resized shoe, but I have seen this work. The best way is to
	 cut a bicycle inner tube so you have a long stip, and wrap this
	 around and around the shoe so it presses the sole onto the shoe.
	 It doesn't need to be super tight, but try for uniform pressure.
	 Leave them this way for at least 24 hours.

Trimming -
	 Use a sharp knife, and lubricate it frequently with water.

Each brand of shoe has its peculiarities. These mostly affect the
removing of the old soles: some are hard to get off, some have rands
that are easily damaged, etc. Any brand of Barge like glue is as good
as another, but having the thinner on hand is important.

Now my opinion -
	 Unless you consider you time worth almost nothing, and you don't
	 really care if you ruin you climbing shoes, send them to one of
	 the shops advertising in the climbing mags (that's what I do).
	 Believe me, they are not riping you off, and the ability to get
	 consistent results takes a certain empathy with stinky climbing 
	 shoes that only develops after years of glue sniffing. The problem
	 is'nt that it's impossible to do at home, it's that my Megas are
	 too dear to me to risk having them ruined by a bad resole job,
	 and consistent results are hard to get unless you resole shoes
	 everyday.

Bob Harrington
Newsgroups: rec.climbing