steel toe work boots

To start with I am diabetic so cheap work boots are out. I wear blue steel riggers and they are the most comfortable I have ever had but as a carpenter I wear the toes out fairly rapidly.

Today I got told ( politely I might add} that as the steel was exposed (approx 20 sq mm ) they are deemed unsafe.

I still have about 3 or 4 months wear before the soles become bald so I don't want to buy another pair yet.

I'm not good at doing searches and all I have found under ' toe caps ' are slip on steelcaps.

Does any one know of leather caps to repair scuffed toes that can be glued on.

Thanking you in advance for any help.

:hmm: Maybe you could use a bike tire repair kit? :shrug: Or just contact adhesive a patch of leather or rubber on? :think: (Why can't diabetics use cheap boots? :? )

Tea lady, it's to do with the loss of blood circulation to the fine capillaries to the extremities which affects the nerve endings. They die off and in my case were sending messages to the brain that my feet were burning so the brain sends more fluid to the feet and they swell up

I had thought to glue a piece of leather to the toe but I want it to look like it was part of the
original shoe. Not a patch up which is what it would look like if I did it.http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/images...ctions/doh.gif

rat52, from what you are saying, your feet need really good care and attention. I think it is time for you to bite the bullet and get a new pair of good fitting safety boots, rather than wait until the ones you have give up the ghost.

From the sound of it, they are well and truly at the end of their life, and you cannot risk using dodgy shoes on a work site, esp with poor grip, and esp with all this wet weather around

My 2 bob's worth :wink:

I find with mine the inner sole and all the cusioning wears out long before they run out of tread. I have also had the problem with the toes wearing out in the past too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rat52

To start with I am diabetic so cheap work boots are out. I wear blue steel riggers and they are the most comfortable I have ever had but as a carpenter I wear the toes out fairly rapidly.

Today I got told ( politely I might add} that as the steel was exposed (approx 20 sq mm ) they are deemed unsafe.

I still have about 3 or 4 months wear before the soles become bald so I don't want to buy another pair yet.

I'm not good at doing searches and all I have found under ' toe caps ' are slip on steelcaps.

Does any one know of leather caps to repair scuffed toes that can be glued on.

Thanking you in advance for any help.

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Not knowing the cost of your boots, but could you look at buying two pair and breaking them in so as you have a spare pair? I have had bosses in the past do the same thing that has happened to you, deeming foot wear unsafe because of worn toes. Unfortunately the owner has had to bit the bullet and get new boots to stay on site.

[QUOTE=rat52;1090793]To start with I am diabetic so cheap work boots are out. I wear blue steel riggers and they are the most comfortable I have ever had but as a carpenter I wear the toes out fairly rapidly.

Today I got told ( politely I might add} that as the steel was exposed (approx 20 sq mm ) they are deemed unsafe.

I still have about 3 or 4 months wear before the soles become bald so I don't want to buy another pair yet.

I'm not good at doing searches and all I have found under ' toe caps ' are slip on steelcaps.
Does any one know of leather caps to repair scuffed toes that can be glued on. "


Was it the owner of the business or the OH&S people who made the decision. If it was the owner then ask why they are unsale. A missing bit of leather over the steel would not IMHO make them unsafe. If it was an outside OH&S officer then buy new boots wear them on the day of inspection and then go back to your old boots. Alternate if necessary and if challanged by him when wearing the old boots cry sore feet while breaking in the new ones.
I don't know the industry so if I am talking rubbish just ignore an ill informed old fool.
John

]

Maybe time for a new pair of Steel Blues. Try Ebay -- I've bought some from there at a good price.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rat52

Tea lady, it's to do with the loss of blood circulation to the fine capillaries to the extremities which affects the nerve endings. They die off and in my case were sending messages to the brain that my feet were burning so the brain sends more fluid to the feet and they swell up
http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http:/...ctions/doh.gif

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Ooooooh! Well I think you should get some new ones. And I reckon you need two pairs on the go so you can air one while the other is being worn. :cool:

Hi,
Have you heard of a product called Shoe Goo?
It is principally a sneaker repair product but is quite good enough to provide a tough outer skin for your boots.

If its just a matter of a bit of cover over the steelcap it should provide a good protection.

A bit of black spray and your PITA safety guy won't know the difference.

I am a diabetic as well and wear blue dogs as well and they are the best boots I have ever worn.

Shoe goo should protect ypur brand new boots as well if your in o kicking stuff -I know what you on about as I do it too- a bad habit on my part- but i have been doing it for thirty or forty years.
Last time I had to buy it in mid 2009 it was about $20 from the shoe shop but Mr Minit might have it as well.

Cheers

Grahame

That is made to "resole" the wearing soles of footwear.... You know when the soles wear out way before the uppers start to fall apart.

I know why as a WELDOR that worn toes are a big NO NO - on steel cap boots, it's because ELECTRICALLY SPEAKING, the bare steel in contact with the outside world, is also in contact with your sometimes wet-ish and steamy socks and feet - thus significantly LOWERING the resistance of the electrical path through the end of the toe of the boots - and up through your hands etc; as compared to a boots with a goodly amount of leather on the caps.

Think WELDOR kneeling on a large steel plate, think earth lead hooked up to plate, think weldor changing electrodes with gloveless hands.....

Think - shocked or dead.

In general terms of safety and compliance - while I have NOT looked up the act on this - so it's an educated guess; In order for the boots to comply with the Australian Standards on safety footware; the safety of the boot may mean that the ENTIRE boot in the complete state - without the worn through leather on the toe.

That is sort of like a bald tyre on a car... it still performs as a way to get the car around but it is not in the AS designed state.

Again another assumption: The leather on the toe cap, may actually perform a function of retaining or assisting the retention of the steel toe cap - in a particular position when being crushed.

OR it may have something to do with electrical safety;

Or there may be other compliance issues that are grounded in case law;

OR.... in order to be in compliance with the act - as a slight side step; for example a welding helmet may have metal parts in it, provided that they are not able to contact the wearer or are not LIKELY to be able to contact the wearer....

So IF you were to read up on that section of the AS / OHAS acts/ standards, there may be room to manouver on the position of applying a well fitted leather or rubber patch.

But there may not be.

OR there could be a lesson in applying a leather or rubber wear patch to the toes of NEW boots. :;


Some 1/4" thick rubber sheet or some strips of leather from belts from the opp shop - and some quick grip...

Just stuck over the actual wear points on the boot = an almost indefinite life - compliance speaking.

Shoe Goo - just ground up rubber in a rubber based contact type glue (hint) used to be available from Selley's in tubes, so a quick check around the Selley's display at an old fashioned hardware store may be the go.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rat52

as a carpenter I wear the toes out fairly rapidly.

Today I got told ( politely I might add} that as the steel was exposed
[*]approx 20 sq mm
they are deemed unsafe.

---

Hammahead
He is a carpenter-not likely that he does a lot of welding.
He is wearing riggers safety shoes-like a sneaker
which have a 20mm square section missing leather-ie. postage stamp size.
Shoo goo,in my opinion, would not conduct electricity-not like ,say,wet leather.

I googled it today, it even comes in black now and I could not find any Selleys brand on it.

I would not suggest for a moment that any one do anything contrary to what would keep them safe.

At the same time I have experience with a "book learned" Safety Officer who didn't know his rrs from his elbow and behaved like a jumped up Hitler when some common sense solution not in the book is mentioned.


The same person had no knowledge of trichloroethelene dye check sprays and their effects from welding arcs - these effects can kill.

At the other end of the scale some of shop hands did not have the common sense of a brain damaged baboon and did have to be challenged ,at times,over PPE in poor condition.

I have seen a pair of steel caps sample in the shop and they are stamped in such a way as to be return back a small way under the foot and are retained by the moulded sole.
The same B/d baboon mentioned above had gaps btween the leather and steel caps where you could see his sock.Hot slag through the gap would didisable him long before he got a shock As a leading hand I could not allow him on the job untill safe boots where worn.

In the end safety is a personal responsibility and each of us has to make his own assessment as to the risk we are prepared to take.

Grahame

Take a look at a product called Work Boot Doctor there web site is www.workbootdoctor.com they sell a do it yourself work boot repair kit. I have had them on my boots for over a year now and they are still holding up. The kit comes with two pre-formed leather toe caps that glue onto the boot, the caps were not that noticable after I installed them. Hope this helps, Tim.

if you want to have a go at a repair yourself, leather glues very well if it is relativly clean.

forget the shoegoo...I've played with it and it is not at all durable and peels and pisses about.

All you will need is some scrap leather..and preferably some epoxy, but even decent PVA will glue leather.

Hop into the worn part of the toe with some sand paper say 80gritt and clean up the area arround the repair...do the same to the back of the patch.....apply the epoxy and hold it firmly in place with adhesive tape.....let the epoxy go off well and feather in the edge of the patch with a bit of 120 gritt.

If you want to get fancy..go up a few grits to say 240 and hitt it with some pollish.

Or you could just make up a stiff batch of marine epoxy with lots of filler and plaster it on.

cheers

Where I work we are always being reminded about the possibility of Workcover doing audits of work sites.

If I were you I'd give Workcover an anonymous ring and ask what they think about the repairs you are considering.

I know work boots/shoes can be expensive and the risk of an audit fairly low but I wouldn't risk a hefty fine just to get a couple extra months use out of a pair of boots.

Kev

I would agree that electrical safety might be the major concern here. I personally have worked building on sites at least a inch deep in water (of course we kept the plugs out of the water and used RCD's . ) But having a hole in you boot provides little if any insulation?

Interesting...in the distant past when steel toes first came in the steel caps were on the outside...of course some of them got pollished.

I believe in the US there arre some heavy duty steel cap boots that still have external steel caps....but they also have a steel channel to protect the whole top of your foot too.

cheers