Do you add shoe taps to rubber soles?

dieselman89 · Sep 20, 2011

Archy said:
i bought a few dozen plastic taps on ebay and put them on everything I can, otherwise I can round a heel edge in a few wearings.

I found that Plumbers Goop works well on clean rubber heels without nails. Never had one fall off. I clean the heel with alcohol or naptha before gluing.

Now I am using Barge contact cement on rubber and combo heels, mainly for dress shoes. I use tacks when I can but the glue alone seems to hold. The taps I have are of the Peel and Stick variety-- "Guard" brand.

Jury is still out on the Barge cement...lets see what cold and wet does this winter. Plumbers Goop is well tested to my satisfaction.

Yes that my problem! I round them out and I've only worn them 2-3 times. It only cost $5-$10 at my local shoe man. I will request no nails, using glue some type of stick sounds like a great idea.

nice profile pic btw

DWFII · Sep 20, 2011

Agatha Crusty said:
Yes. I know they are officially 'Cordwainers', but since bespoke shoe/boot-making became a much smaller industry lots of those Cordwainers and apprentices ended up mending more shoes than making them - like the old Turkish man who fixed my father's shoes.

This is why I put "...'possibly' make shoes".

Not all...in fact, by definition, none...shoe repairmen/cobblers make shoes.

But all cordwainers repair shoes...if only the ones they make.

Of course no one wants to repair shoes if they could be making them. Which, I suspect, is why Traditional techniques evolved the way they did--to forestall having to repair a shoe for as long as possible, without ruining the basic structure in the meantime.

stevent · Sep 20, 2011

What type of soles exactly? I have the Lombards with the executive sole and it's wearing down unexpectedly fast.

dieselman89 · Sep 24, 2011

Just got taps added to my rubber soled AE. Cobbler said a glue type app. would work but would not last very long.

dieselman89 · Sep 24, 2011

stevent said:
What type of soles exactly? I have the Lombards with the executive sole and it's wearing down unexpectedly fast.

I have the Van Ness and the back soles wore down very quickly. I chose to get taps. I am very surprised...

KObalto · Sep 24, 2011

dieselman89 said:
I have the Van Ness and the back soles wore down very quickly. I chose to get taps. I am very surprised...

Do you mean the heels? Are we talking about heel taps or or toe taps?

dieselman89 · Sep 25, 2011

KObalto said:
Do you mean the heels? Are we talking about heel taps or or toe taps?

I had the taps added to the heels, my bad.

KObalto · Sep 25, 2011

dieselman89 said:
I had the taps added to the heels, my bad.

Nails would have been fine.

dieselman89 · Sep 28, 2011

KObalto said:
Nails would have been fine.

Sounds great. So another similar but slightly off-topic question. I purchased a pair of strands. I plan on wearing these shoes outside a lot. My shoe repairman has suggested to remove the leather soles and replace it with a goodyear rubber sole. Has anyone had any experience doing this?

Winston S. · Sep 28, 2011

I would get them Topy'd, but there are purists that think you should just wear the leather souls out. In the long run, if you Topy they will last longer and you won't need to resole (app. $100 - $150) just re-Topy ($30 - $40). Some will argue that Topying will restrict the leather from breathing, but I'm not sure if I believe that.

dieselman89 · Sep 28, 2011

Winston S. said:
I would get them Topy'd, but there are purists that think you should just wear the leather souls out. In the long run, if you Topy they will last longer and you won't need to resole (app. $100 - $150) just re-Topy ($30 - $40). Some will argue that Topying will restrict the leather from breathing, but I'm not sure if I believe that.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll probably do it with topy. I'm thinking for the price of recrafting you can purchase a pair of seconds on sale.

KObalto · Oct 2, 2011

dieselman89 said:
Sounds great. So another similar but slightly off-topic question. I purchased a pair of strands. I plan on wearing these shoes outside a lot. My shoe repairman has suggested to remove the leather soles and replace it with a goodyear rubber sole. Has anyone had any experience doing this?

If your cobbler is suggesting that you replace brand new leather soles with rubber soles, you need a new cobbler. If he is suggesting you replace them with rubber when they wear out, that is different.

Winston S. · Oct 3, 2011

Pics of my topy'ed shoes in this thread:

http://www.styleforum.net/t/240245/b-nelson-does-a-great-job/50_50#post_4856211

dieselman89 · Oct 4, 2011

KObalto said:
If your cobbler is suggesting that you replace brand new leather soles with rubber soles, you need a new cobbler. If he is suggesting you replace them with rubber when they wear out, that is different.

They are a very reputable cobbler in the area. What's done is done I guess

Do you add shoe taps to rubber soles?

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