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Wading shoe felt replacement

3K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  Olyfly 
#1 ·
Can anyone recommend a good shoe repair shop, in the puget sound, that is experienced at replacing wore out felts on studded wading shoes?

Trying to be frugal and I just do not feel like forking out $$$$ for new shoes when the felt is the only thing worn-out.

Any help would be great. Thanks.

Terry D.
 
#2 ·
Terry,

If you buy the replacement soles and take them to the shoe repair shop, virtually any sho repairer could do it. However, hey not do it yourself. It is not hard to do at all. Simply remove the old studded felts and glue the replacements studded soles to the wading shoes. Stuff the wading shoes with newspaper to stiffen them and apply the glue to the felt and the sole of the wading shoe. Then tape them fast with good old duct tape by wrapping the duct tape around the sole and the shoe, Cover the whole sole with the duct tape wraps and let it sit over night.

I've replaced the soles on several pairs of wading shoes over the years. It is not diffficult at all. Yes, it takes about an hour to an hour and a half to do it; but you get to use wading shoes that are fine escept for the worn out felt.
 
#3 ·
Having been there, done that only ONE type of glue

to use to apply the new felts: BARGE CEMENT. Period, end of story.

You can get this stuff at any shoe repair shop. A large part of the Space Needle was built using this stuff as the primary 'glue,' and it's still together. Great stuff; manufacture got it right the first time.

Second suggestion, but will cost you a hundred and change, is to go for a set of Chota boots. Jim Jones (J D Jones on the board) put me on to these things. "Studs" are tungsten sheet metal screws that go in like golf cleats. If, and if ever, you ware them out just back them out with a screw driver and put in another set.

Very cool, very good, and very effective on "whooooa bottom" rivers. "Felt" material is also made from some product I've not seen before; wares like iron.
fae
 
#4 ·
Terry,

Northgate Shoe Repair (just inside the mall on the West center entrance. I belive Jim is the guy you want. Older guy with grey hair. He used to work downtown at the either the Bon shoe repair store and is well known for fixing up new felts.

I have tried Flytyers suggestions myself a couple of times and maybe it is me but have never had them hold worth a damn.

The Chotas that Fred is talking about are nice but the screws where out fairly quickly and they don't hold as well as spikes. I got mine in August and I am already on the second set of screws and nearing the need for a third. Figure I have maybe 30 days on them is all. Also one of the heel felts is coming off and needs to be reglued. Hard to beat them for comfort and ease of on/off though.

Duggan
 
#5 ·
Wow Duggan, the 'studs' on my set are waring like iron.

At the risk of asking a silly question, what kind of river bottoms are you walking on? Or do you do a lot of hiking that would grind them down. (Around here little 'hiking' required, other than 'cast, cast, step down, etc.)

Lots of river time on mine and they still look like they just got screwed into the bottom of the boots.

:confused:
 
#6 ·
Fred,

I do a fair amount of walking on the rocks to reach some out of the way spots but I was noticing mine wearing after just a few days out. Talked to a friend at one of the local shops and while he also was a fan of the Chota's, said he was selling a lot of the replacement screws.

fyi: Rather than buck up the $7 for 28 replacement screws, I paid $2.30 at Home Depot and got a 100 sheet metal screws in the same size. The surprising thing is that they have worn just as well as the special case-hardened ones that came with the boots. I have a buddy that works at a "large local airplane manufacturer" that is looking for some stainless screws so we can see if they wear better.

Duggan
 
#8 ·
The 1/4 head ones appear to be exactly the same size, etc., as the tung. ones that come with the boots.
Fred,

The mystery may be solved if you in fact have tungsten screws in your boots. The ones I got from Choata were simply case-hardened steel. If they have changed to tungsten then no wonder yours are not wearing down.

sinktip
 
#9 ·
Well, what ever they're made of they're harder

than the gates of he.. The part (head) that sticks out from the boot bottom hasn't even started to 'round off' yet. And they see quite a bit of rock crunching during a day's fishing.

Suspect your right about the tung. part.
fae
 
#11 ·
I recently replaced the felt on my Danner's and they're working out great. Saved a bundle in the process to boot ( ...ba ba bing)
as Danner wannted something like 75 cold ones to refurb and resole. I even added removable studs by inserting T nuts into the felt prior to gluing onto the base of the boot. You can hit up any hardware store for replacement studs (screws) with various head styles and material.

Here's a couple links to do it yourself directions. I used the first one, but the second has a good point about hammering out the air pockets to help ensue good adhesion.

http://www.iffa.org.uk/addingstuds.htm

http://www.santiamflycasters.com/Articles/FeltSoleRepair.htm

good luck

- Oly
 
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