How to make a silicone mold of boot soles

FettFanatic

Active Hunter
Well I thought I would ask for assistance in this little project since it will be the first time for me to try to mold and cast anything. I have a pair of bedford stu boots that have the accurate sole for Jango boots. They have never been worn. I am wanting to mold the soles before I wear them so that I can make replacement soles whenever these wear out (and they will because the rubber they used is very soft).

I don't want to remove the sole from the boot for fear of totally messing the boot up beyond repair, so I was thinking of casting them while still on the boot. I have the silicone recommended by smoothon and release spray.

I need help from this point on. (Yeah the toughest parts.) How do I create a mold that captures all the details of the bottom and sides of the sole? Any help in this project would be appreciated. :cheers
 
How often do you plan to troop in these boots that you need to mold spare parts. Even the softest of rubber soles will last two years of daily wear. If you troop 10X/year, you should be able to use those boots for 73 years.

Onto your question: You must creat a 2 piece mold, and the second piece is going to be complicated, and I might not be able to describe it all here.

The first half is a mold of the bottom of the sole. You would need to make a parting line at the top of the sole, where it meets the upper. It will needs keys added so that it will locate the second half. Once you have poured silicone and it has cured, remove the shoe and you have a mold of the bottom of the sole.

Now here is the harder part, you need to build a sole inside the mold. That's right, you need to have the thickness built up to equal your new boot sole. Now pour your send half of the mold, let cure and when you open the mold and remove the clay, you will have your sole mold.

Keep in mind that you walk on you feet all day, and if you scew up the sole, you can damage you back, knees, and feet.
 
Thanks for the advice so far. You would be amazed at how soft they are. The thing I don't want to happen is for them to look worn down. I guess I am just being OC about them, but I have seen some of these same boots look really worn down with just a few uses.
 
I admire your dedication. I have given shoe making a lot of thought and would like to try it as well. The amount of time investment and equipment investment makes it prohibitive for now.

In my desires to create an accurate clone boot, I would need my own custom sole. I am able to make my own molds and do my own casting. I have a bit of practice at that. In my research, I was unable to identify a castable white urethane. Most will darken over time. Real sneaker tennies are a heat injected into aluminum molds under a lot of pressure. Not totally out of the realm of OCD possibilities, but not right now. The only way to get a white is to buy clear, and tint it white.

If you find a way to make a white rubber, please share.
 
I was thinking about pouring a layer of silicone in the bottom of the box then let it dry. I could then lay the sole down on that and pour around it. Would the two different pours of silicone fuse together, or would it just weaken the mold and always be two distinct layers? I am just trying to ensure I capture all the details without the sole sinking to the bottom and touching the wood box. Is there a better way to accomplish this?
 
I admire your dedication. I have given shoe making a lot of thought and would like to try it as well. The amount of time investment and equipment investment makes it prohibitive for now.

In my desires to create an accurate clone boot, I would need my own custom sole. I am able to make my own molds and do my own casting. I have a bit of practice at that. In my research, I was unable to identify a castable white urethane. Most will darken over time. Real sneaker tennies are a heat injected into aluminum molds under a lot of pressure. Not totally out of the realm of OCD possibilities, but not right now. The only way to get a white is to buy clear, and tint it white.

If you find a way to make a white rubber, please share.

I think I found a site that has some pretty promising stuff for white rubber.

Here is the main link.

http://www.solidconcepts.com/materials-cast-urethanes.html

I was looking at E1080AB. It is opaque white. I know that they do prototyping and machine work, but there may be a way to find what it is that they use.
 
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