What do you wear on your feet?

[mel]

scrit
LOL
it may suprise some of you to know :shock:
the legislation actually says about STOUT footwear not saftey boots.
there are a lot of different descriptions as to what we call saftey boots
and it is normally the company that you work for that stippulates steel toe cap boots , normally in company policy

hope im not getting a reputation here. as im just a humble foreman joiner :roll:

 

[DaveL]

My friend wears wooden cloggs alot of the time but he has recently worn a hole in the bottom, so he is going to make them either platform clogs (with hardwood) or we are going to shoe him like a horse (although we are artist blacksmiths and not farriers I recon we should get away with this shoeing!)

My footwear of choice is clogs. English clogs, shod with rubber that needs replacing when it wears down to the wood. Traditionally clogs had iron rails on then, just like horse shoes, still used by clog dancers outside as they sound better and on the right surface spark nicely. However they shred carpet and don't do a lot for wooden floors, but for wearing in a smithy they should be ideal.

 

[Anonymous]

My friend wears wooden cloggs alot of the time but he has recently worn a hole in the bottom, so he is going to make them either platform clogs (with hardwood) or we are going to shoe him like a horse (although we are artist blacksmiths and not farriers I recon we should get away with this shoeing!

Its a shame your mate let his clogs go as they are basicaly ruined now, not much you can do with them
Apart from the fact that clogs are superbly comfortable all year round, I also like the fact that you can re-sole them your self. They need careful and regular maintaenace as the wood wears out fast if it's unprotected. I got mine for £45 in 1996, they have been re shod at next to no cost using recycled material's 5 or 6 times. If I'd bought 5 or 6 pair of fairy slipper "safety boot's" :roll: I'd have paid maybe £100+ not to mention the wasted manufactured material's and energy, carbon emissions from the factorys/transport, filling up the landfill, encoraging yet more crappy import's etc :roll: :lol:
I use old conveyor belt or industrial matting; I have used flexible floortile adhesive, 2 pack DGU sealant, evo stick; All of these work well; all were glued then nailed with 1 inch round wires (snipped down from 2 inch nail's to get a fatter nail with a bigger head) it's fine as long as the wood sole is white-clean and also bone dry when you do the shodding. I dont have a last, but instead used a 4x2 resting on the floor and held upright in the post vice to get a firm surface to nail against.

 

[Scrit]

I'd agree with you on the recycled bit, Mr. Spanton. Mine (working clogs) are currently "hors de combat" awaiting so leatherwork repairs (hence the safety boots). In fact they've been out of commission 2 months now (come back, Rick!). Only problem I find with irons or segs is that they can be a bit slippy on concrete floors, whilst the rubbers don't seem to last. any solution?

Scrit

 

[Anonymous]

I did try iron shod's initially but same as you I found they were just too slippy on factory concrete floors. When I use the rubber soles I cover the entire area from toe to instep, not just the area at the outer 1 inch or so as with the walkley rubber shod's.
I tried this industrial hard nylon type plastic on the heels once.....lethal mistake as they went like skates :roll: :shock: sharp removed them! Another thing that didnt work (as a glue) was DGU bitumen, it creeps after a while and the sole comes away. The rubber does wear out wahtever method I use to glue them on, but then its only a 1/2 hour job to redo them for nowt, and its satisfying as well.
Might be feasible to get old soles from itshide/vibram boots etc and nail them on? I have a pair of karrimor KSB boots I got in 1990 they wear very well tough as old boots :roll: :lol: still going strong.

PS what does hors de combat mean?