Rope gun resoles

05/19/2017

Climbing shoe Anatomy for those looking to get a resole.
We do not patch shoes we repair them.

These two pictures show the two typical shoe styles we repair.
The first is a flat shoe. there is a smaller rand and a full sole. We remove the front half of the sole, and the rand. Colored lines indicate the usual spot of intersection of the repair of the rand and sole.
The second is an aggressive style. With this type of shoe we typically change the whole rand and the whole 1/2 sole. We remove the upper rubber and re-install after the rand has been replaced and the same for any mid sole under the sole. We do not charge extra to do this. No patches or intersection of materials if at all possible.

As with all repairs, 3.5mm Stealth C4 is used on the sole and 2.5mm Stealth rubber for the rand. It is possible to put thicker rubber on the sole and rand upon request. I carry 5.5 Stealth C4, but have access to all 5.10 rubber. C4 is a middle rubber, stiff but supple. I can get harder or softer rubber upon request.

Some brands require a rand replace even if they do not need it. Cheap rand rubber used on these shoes oversees makes adhesion impossible for the new sole. 90% of shoes that come to my shop will receive a new rand.

If any questions still remain please feel free to contact me :)

05/19/2017

New pictures of latest and greatest. NO MORE TOE CAPS!!
All rand repairs will not be patched, they will be replaced.
Soles are not ground away, they are replaced.
Fixed right, looking right.

03/30/2017

I want to talk about failure.
It is frustrating and irritating. It causes sleepless nights and stress. Failure is part of the scientific method and isn't always a bad thing. It creates a wall that must be broken, a fear that must be swallowed and a fire that must be quenched.

A while back I captured the impression of a few people's feet using tape, cut it off, peeled it back and taped it back together. This gave me a shaped container to fill with sand cement. I was trying to create a solid last to fill the space in the shoe during pressing. It failed. Miserably. The mould didn't fit the shoe, there were spaces and pockets inside the shoe... Fail.

Back to the drawing board. Lots of research and development.

All major brands refused any sale of proprietary lasts... even if they are outdated or discontinued. Most professional lasts are made of some kind of resin. This is rather expensive material so prices for these lasts are as well. These end up being out of the realm of possibility anyhow... What would I do buy a couple of sizes of each shoe, brand and gender? A small buisness could never afford that expenditure. Resoling shoes doesn't make all that much income, it would take forever to make that a viable purchase.

Using concrete and plaster in different stages I now sculpt a shape to fit the shoe, replicating best I can to the lasts in the manufacturer's factories. Almost every shoe I do, I make a last. It takes 4-5 hours to make but the results are obvious. I use a pneumatic bladder press. It squeezes around the newly glued shoe with lots of pressure. The last shape I use will determine the shape of the shoe.

This new innovation in my process has allowed me to keep the original shape or change it. Want some downturn on your flat shoes, I can do that. Need a bit more room for that big toe, I can do that. Additionally when the shoes have need of resole, I have your shoe last and turn around time is much less.

So obviously creating lasts for each shoe has been labor intensive. My wife often asks "how many of those are you going to make?" I've now amassed a library of lasts. Big thanks for the team at Junction climbing Centre for the donation of shoe boxes to keep me organized!

The first two pictures in this post are of the failures. The last three are examples of the lasts I've made and are in use. The lasts pictured are from a La Sportiva men's Muira.

03/30/2017

I have the Solution!!!
After much agony, toil and research it's clear now most La Sportiva rand rubber is cheap mass production garbage. It is much to blame for bad adhesion of new rubber soles.
I have a list of shoes that WILL NOT be able to be resoled without replacing the rand. This extends into other brands as well. Curiously most high end shoes are made with this rubber. The glues they use for these shoes are specialty made and not readily available in North America. It comes from Asia Pacific area and is probably so toxic and smelly, it wouldn't even be allowed in the country. It also must be purchased in barrel form to even be made... so that's out for now.
Solution?! (pun intended), replace the rand. As you can see from the pictures below, I've replaced all the rand rubber that comes in contact with the sole. As always I replace the whole 1/2 sole on these shoes, no mend line.
Not really pictured is the "luv bump" or scooped area (depending how you look at it) under the shoe, on the toe area. With my new upgraded press and solid custom lasts, this is easily replicated and remains after the new sole is applied.
These shoes have a large wrap rand and I didn't want to get rid of the air holes. On most shoes that need new rands, if the entire rand can be easily changed it will... I hate the look of cheap resole toe caps anyways. The bit more of rubber needed also ensures I won't grind through the sides of the shoe when final grinding the sole. By replacing the entire rand or keeping the seam at the middle of the shoe It also ensures no snags will happen on seam lines once the shoes have been put though it's paces outside and beaten on in the gym.
I will continually strive to improve and refine the shoe resoling I do.

03/19/2017

I have not posted anything in a while. My family grew by one more January 16th with the arrival of my daughter Luna.
New baby and a 4 yr old have been keeping my wife and I busy!
I am also happy to announce I have successfully upgraded my press, doubling it's working pressure to 80psi. This also meant raising the safety of the operator (me). Much time was spent redesigning components stronger and doubling safety measures.
No I cannot share pics of the press, but I'm very proud of it.
It's been a long road of R&D. I'm not an engineer, a professional welder or a millwright but I do all right.
Big thanks to my new friend Dave in Kentucky for the new bladder!
If you have kids you know my challenges. Balance of family and our full time work (Drifting Concepts) and finding time to repair shoes and rebuild the press has been difficult.
I enjoy repairing shoes for climbers and will continue to do my best to continually improve the shoe resole process for you all.
In all honesty repairing shoes doesn't pay well. Hours spent labouring over smelly rubber will not make you rich.
Rope gun employs two people part time and It brings smiles to climbers who get their old shoe friends back looking fresh and new.
With outdoor season approaching fast I urge you all to stay safe your first time climbing outside this year and have fun!

12/15/2016

Update on escarpment climbing

This past October, the OAC launched a campaign to address proposed closures to Ontario climbing in the new Niagara Escarpment Plan. It is unclear when we will learn the outcome of our community’s efforts. It is vitally important that we as a climbing community continue to pressure relevant managemen...

12/04/2016

Ball Nuts you say? havn't heard of them? Me either, but i'm kinda new to trad. Here is a great review on these old marvels of rock climbing technology.

Ball nuts provide wider expansion range for small cracks with a higher strength, lower price, and nearly same weight of microcams. Are they on your rack?

12/04/2016

Great new auto locking carabiner from Grivel. Read all about it.
Moja Gear is a great site for climbers, check it out if you have not yet.

Have you ever forgotten to lock your carabiner? For more than a few reasons, auto-locking 'biners are well worth owning. But which one is the best?

11/29/2016

Crying laughing!

11/26/2016

Rope Gun Resoles update Nov 26 2016:

For those of you searching for resoles, Yes, we are still open for business. I had removed the drop box at Junction while I built a new press and improved the shoe process. The end results were great, but some sole peeling was happening prematurely. It's a very tricky process to glue something that sees SO much abuse.

In an effort to improve quality. I built a press allowing more pressure to be put on the shoe's sole. I've been working with a new glue company who has been helping me to improve the quality of the bond. I have also been building solid lasts for aggressive shoes with great success. In addition, I have hired help to wade through the overwhelming amount of shoes I had received over the summer.
We are mostly through the pile now... Thanks Sylvia!

It's a busy season for my wife and I. Christmas brings lots and lots of work for Drifting Concepts, our art business. In addition to all this, my wife, 3 year old daughter and I are expecting our next addition to the family soon after Christmas. Mom is doing well but is able to do less and less as time passes and the due date gets closer.

The drop box at Junction and full service will be returning in Feb-Mar, along with other gyms in the area I cannot mention yet... Once we have finalized these places we will let you know.

If you need work done, we are accepting shoes. I cannot guarantee timely return on shoes until we reopen in the new year. Contact me anytime or find me at The Junction.

11/26/2016

40$ La-Sportiva Nago size 36.5EU

women's size eu 36.5 or us 5.5 the shoes are in fine shape with only a bit of toe wear. almost new and ready for some more climbing! available to meet most places in london or burlington.