Punching the boots - DIY?

[BlueB]

Any one done this at home?

Suggestions? (Do not suggest bootfitter, please - these particular boots were cheaper than the bill would be, and I wan't to experiment)

Hairdryer good enough or heat gun?

How do you "punch" out - using your foot in the liner, or something (stick, plank, fist)?

Boris

[Jrobb]

Take this for what it is and I am in no way claiming any professionalism. On ZipFit's website for do it yourself liner fitting, they mention how to heat the shells at home...boiling (or rather hot water in a large pot). Immerse them then they become pliable and from there do what you will with them.

see here: http://www.zipfit.com/oneminutefit.htm

how to punch...you're guess is as good as mine. I'd guess maybe a round rod (round end bout the size of your thumb) to hold against the shell where it needs to be punched out while it cools. Various sized ball peen hammers come to mind.

J

[Blue Bird]

Boiling your shell works if you can find a tub big enough to do this.

for working with punching out a small area a heat gun is needed. when i had the toes punched out of my Raichles the boot fitter noticed how much extra time it took to heat up the toe to a temperature that was workable, it sounds like the hard part is going to be putting the pressure in the correct spots inside the shell.

sounds like fun

[Steve Dold]

Widening would be easier than lengthening. Is that all you need? I widened my right AF-600 using a device I made to push from the inside while heating with a heat gun from the outside. It worked fine and I got about almost 1/4" of extra room. The trick is making something to push fairly hard from the inside. Mine was a couple of shaped wooden blocks with a threaded rod between them that pushed the blocks apart when turned. I'm pretty sure I've seen shop tools that do this on the internet. I'd suggest a bootfitter for a nice pair but for an old pair that cost next to nothing, why not? I don't know if a hair drier would have worked, it might have but you have to be pretty patient since it takes a while to heat up the boot. It might help to heat the whole thing up to maybe 150F in an oven first, then pull it out and hit the spot with the heat gun right away.

[Fastskiguy]

Could you take a pic of this device? I'd love to be able to get a little more space in a few places in my next pair of boots without going to the shop. I like the shop but it usually takes 3 visits to dial them in and they're 75 minutes away (if I speed...usually takes longer)

Widening would be easier than lengthening. Is that all you need? I widened my right AF-600 using a device I made to push from the inside while heating with a heat gun from the outside. It worked fine and I got about almost 1/4" of extra room. The trick is making something to push fairly hard from the inside. Mine was a couple of shaped wooden blocks with a threaded rod between them that pushed the blocks apart when turned. I'm pretty sure I've seen shop tools that do this on the internet. I'd suggest a bootfitter for a nice pair but for an old pair that cost next to nothing, why not? I don't know if a hair drier would have worked, it might have but you have to be pretty patient since it takes a while to heat up the boot. It might help to heat the whole thing up to maybe 150F in an oven first, then pull it out and hit the spot with the heat gun right away.

[bjvircks]

Would it help to make friends with a shoe repair guy? They often stretch shoes to make room for goofy foot problems. A good shop will have the gizmos required.

Speaking from no experience... I wonder about the wisdom of heating an entire boot shell, annealing and perhaps deforming or weakening the 'sole-plate' structures we depend on for strength and durability. Do top-of-the-line bootfitters locally warm the desired region or the whole shell?

This sounds like a fun DIY project. Keep us posted!

Brad

[Guest dragon fly jones]

Bad advice - cannot stretch hard/plastic boots. Who cares what the gobotron from dicks boots says. You WIDEN sides of the boot, preferably one side at a time with specific tools that apply pressure where you want it after heating then letting it cure and then refitting and if it is off you need to do it again.

I applaud the moxie to want to do this. However this is specialized work. I know I do it still. A Heat Gun and a shoe tree with an expansion joint/extender would work but you need to find one wide enough to work in a ski/hard boot. (wood $, metal $$$) and have the patience to do trial and error. And make sure you turn the gun off when not in use and know that you will scorch a wooden shoe tree it pretty quick. This is a learned thing at the boot of a master, pro's use metal with precision handles to micro adjust and still wreck boots even cheap practice ones.

One more thing to consider DO NOT ride those boots after your playing with them, I have seen how if it is over done it can change how a boot flexes in the snowboard binding,( hey i did it to myself once) the way the boot flexes can be be changed to deflect it a way that could cause the lever to pop. No SH**(*(. if you guys are ever in denver or the west I know people that can teach you. Just no one in Canada right now. Good luck.

[Dave*]

Ola Boris

I seen heat guns in Canadian Tire a few weeks ago for about 12.99 or something like that ( one of the old 70 percent markdowns in the flyer) I should have bought one but.....

Next time you are in whistler, stop by Fanatyko at a non busy time, ask for Scott (scotty) "G" he is their resident hardboot guy and boot fitter for HBers, he might be able to answer a few of your questions.

Likely see you on hill this W/E

Dave*

[Guest dragon fly jones]

Ugly American (on my part). I am all about experiementing. I think, when I re-read all of that, that it came across as know it all, busy body, demanding to be heard so I will take this moment to apologize to you if you or anyone else was offended or was taken aback. My sincere apology.

DFJ -dla - Chuck B