Bad Quantum Reinforcement

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MJK
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Bad Quantum Reinforcement

Post by MJK » 30 Oct 2009 09:37

It looks like, for various reasons, I'm happening upon a pair of the old defective fall-apart Quantums. Given my current financial situation, it's a great blessing just to have footbag shoes at all. =)

Any ideas for reinforcing them pre-emptively? I was thinking about superglue around the sole, or extra pieces of fabric sewed onto the bottom inside of the sole and up into the clipper surface, but I'm no expert on such matters. The shoes will be here in about 3 days, so any advice would be very helpful.

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akalazou
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Post by akalazou » 30 Oct 2009 12:28

pics ??? we can help you if we know what you are talking about ...
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Johnny
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Post by Johnny » 30 Oct 2009 13:51

I know this is tedious and a little bit overkill, but what I had done when I saw that they started to fall apart was coat the exposed inner sole with shoe goo. I applied pressure to reset the upper portion of the shoe and let this dry. I unlaced and removed the sole to make this next step easier (which btw is the only step if you do this preemptively). Then I got a glovers needle and some strong upholstery thread and a small pair of pliers, and with the thread doubled, stitched along the upper sole contour all the way around the shoe. This means that you'll be sewing through the mesh and the sole - just a running stitch will do. In some areas you will also be sewing through layers of leather and plastic (specifically the toe and heel areas). A sharp needle and a conveniently sized pair of pliers are crucial and any effort without these two tools is futile!

This can be time consuming but for an otherwise great shoe the effort is worthwhile. Besides, I can't see any easier way of doing this...
Johnny Suderman

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MJK
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Post by MJK » 30 Oct 2009 21:20

akalazou wrote:pics ??? we can help you if we know what you are talking about ...
The question, basically, is what can I do to reinforce a pair of footbag shoes against wear and tear. There was a line of quantums (Freedom Footbags old shoe) which were defective and tended to fall apart, and I am about to have a pair. As I understand it, the main defect is a lack of glue bind the sole to the fabric.

Johnny, that's a great idea. How tight do you thing the stitches would have to be?

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Johnny
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Post by Johnny » 31 Oct 2009 16:04

Tight enough to set the stitch into the surface of the sole. That way when you scrape the side of the shoe the thread isn't actually contacting the surface you're scraping and the repair job will last longer.

If you're doubling upholstery thread you definitely don't need to worry about it breaking, just don't pull so tight that the thread cuts into the sole.

I'm sure you'll find a happy medium.
Johnny Suderman

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