Covered Raise

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

You surprise me gingerbas, I though it would have taken longer than 2 hours.

 

Looked into the stitcher, never would have guessed it was an industrial version of a domestic machine from donkeys years ago. Does a good job but looking at the post again it looks like a round arm not a flat bed, thats why I asked what it was. Must be the reflections giving it a round appearance. Some very cheap ones going on ebay many of them under £40.

[ironplanet uk900]

Got any links Hugh

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

Just type in Singer 31K15 it should take you there.

Copied the links readt to past on here but lost em, god only knows where

I used to have one 35 years ago and sold it to the up and coming Asian clothing manufacturers as it took up too much room for the amount of work that I was able to do on it.

[elfman]

two hours about right for the job as for price they were as follows

standerd mico raise on top of origenal sole unit £16 for 1st inch and £6/7 for every inch or part of thereafter if covered add £5. coered cork raise is £64 for 1st inch and £23 for every inchor part of therafter .these prices were from april 2004 but the nhs supplies set the prices every april to a maximum the companye can charge a standered micro sole and heel is £16/17 rebuilding heels were £2/3 some shoes we repaired or adapted would be charged £150/200 .in the year that i last worked in the orthopeadic trade i myself turned out £136000 of shoe repairs and adaptions from april to april

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

Good insight into charges for those who want and are able to do this work to the required standard.

 

1 think puzzles me with surgical work and it has been at the back of my mind for as long as I can remember (that's long ).

Dont know what the term fro the problem is but the customer.. usually male has a pigeon toe where the indide of the toe area on the shoe faces inward, this inward toe is then dragged along the ground due to the disablement. This is where the puzzle bit enters, why do surgical makers put soft or fast wearing material on the toe area of the soles. This wears out in a matter of days and the poor chap has to pay a fortune in repair bills because the NHS cant get his boots done quick enough, 4 weeks wait was quite common. They dont have the luxury of other pairs that they can swap over for the period as those that do have a pair find that they too are worn out at the toe.

 

Last pair I saw when I was out and about in a town about 15 mile away the soles were made of Microcellular and had lasted 1 day only.

 

When I was repairing these boots I used 7mm Carbon Rubber that was used for Marathon Runners shoes. I had to charge a bit more due to the high cost of the material but it did give them an extra wear factor of around 2 months, and saved them a small fortune in repair bills that they could not afford as their disablement prevented them from earning a decent living.

 

Anuone else come accross this problem?

[Gingerbas]

Don't know what the problem is called, but we use a powder and catalyst that hardens like plastic and you can add colour to match the shoe, this we get from a local dentist supplier, but not at work and can't remember the name just now. I'll find out when I get back.

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

I was after something like that years ago for putting on Irish Dance shoes at the toe and heel to give the hollow sound effect, Normal Car Body filler was no use as it did not give the same sound as they were after.

 

Interesting. there may be a few who do the Irish Dance shoes, I think Lee does.

[elfman]

there are a number of questions here hugh i may be able to answer for you firsly the material used is what is requested by the orthotist that measures the patient for his shoesand once again this islaid down by nhs supplies

secondly nhs supplies also require a 5 day turn around on shoe repairs and adaptions the firm i worked for and supervised the shoe room got it down to a three day turn around childrens shoes were always given priortybut in most cases we were able to give the same day turn around if requested even on the covered raises

thirdly the nhs normally supply 2 pair of shoes in the first year of priscription and a further 1 pair every 2 years and they were then allowed 2 fre repairs per pair per year therafter but in some cases this could be increased if it was warrented

the material i prefered for excessive wear was deelite microwhich was as good as standerd rubber soling or 9 iron translite

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

Wow elfman you shure do provide a better service up there than they do down here, I hear horrendous tales all hearsay of course.

 

I'll try to get some factual stuff for next week as I have some questions to ask of current shoe repairers first.

 

I suspect the answers lie in the monetary kitty of the Area NHS Trust, ours semms to be devoid of cash at this present time.

[elfman]

well hugh when you say up here it depends on the the attitude of the workforce although the hospital orders were always dated for delivery by the hospital i would arrange the work in date order and insisted that the work was done in that order even when it came in on the friday and was wanted for the following monday and i can promise you that in 16 years i had never missed a delivery date we had contracts with hospitals from as far afield as cornwall tounton devon london carlisle manchester scotland devizes at one point i think we were providing a service for 18 trusts and 36 hospitals one contract was valyed at £250000 per year its a big industry and i am sure that some of the lads on this forum could do and benifit from the work if they could get it and save the nhs some money in the process

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

elfman I find your posts most interesting, the info that you give thows a completely new light on Surgical work. By the way when I mentioned up there and down here I was refering to Gingerbas. I am sorry to say my mind gets a bit confused at times, sorry.

 

I thought each region did its own alterations, you astound me now saying you get work from all over the UK.

[elfman]

yes hugh the hospitals can choose wherw they send tehre work under th best buy policy but i think the firm must be bsta regesterd (dristish surgical trades asso ) however these firms also provide the services of an orthotist and although the applience officer has the final say in where the work goes in most cases it goes to the company that provides the orthotist the rates for an ortotists service can vary £80 TO £130 per session each session being half day

[Gingerbas]

Hi Hugh that resin is called Redilon rapid repair, you should be able to get from any dental supplier.

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

What an interesting Topic, probably for one of the very few times in my life I'm amazed, pity this forum was not around 10 years ago.

 

On the back of these posts I can forsee a big specialised market emerging.

Now, do I come out of retirement and get my hands dirty of do I fund someone else, Mmmmmmmm.

[elfman]

the topic has always been interesting hugh and you are quite right as i said before its a big market if you can get in the only problem being is the training that you may need while i have no doubt that most on this forum could do the job they would still need on the technical side of the trade for example take a pair of heels that require adapting with one of or a combination of the following.

heel with float, heel with metal float, heel with 1/4 round single or double socket/ heel with stanmore socket /heel with wedge/crooked and elongated heel/half elongated full elongation /thomas heel /thomas heel to toe/torque heelto internaly or externaly rotate/socket with backstop/frontstop or both/scatch heel/rockerheel/ buttress heel

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

I agree with your sentiments entirely elfman but I've already trancended to another planet.

 

There is a potential spin off from this and I can see ££££££ signs spinning around on a National basis, maybe International.

I'll bet that Lee has not twigged on yet.

 

Two ideas you have given me, both for the same project.

1 The Machine to make the Straps.(or to have them made in bulk)

2 The Material from the Dentists.

 

Plus a service that virtually no-one advertises and even less provide and could be done from an outbuilding/garage/shed at home.

[Gingerbas]

the machine to make the straps: A very sharp knife and a good rule, the ones that keeps the old tips of the fingers oot the way.

[elfman]

sorry to have to tell you hugh but the idea for strps is already in force by a few companys as for the dentists material it is not realy practical but if you want a money spinner the peaple in the trade will all tell you the same and that is threr are generly five departments in the orthopeadic trade and in money making terms they go in this order insoles , plastics .shoe repairs .metal .leather.. for example one pair flatinsoles with valgus pad make as follows strip of bontex 1 pair valgus pads cover with chamy or alcantara price £11 one moulded insole £60 to £80 or £120 to£160 per pair time to make moulded insoles about 1 hour

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

Gingerbas... I was thinking more on the double sided knife for the Atom Press. Cutting by hand using a Clicking knife is not cost effective. They would all be the same width, just trimmed to length according to size of shoe.

 

Elfman... & Ginger, I did say I was on another Planet.......The idea has nothing whatsoever to do with Surgical or Orthotics.

 

There is a demand (or was) for a service in almost every town both for the adation of new shoes and the continual repair of the ones adapted.

I was looking for the answers to this problem some years before I retired but the very few folk who knew the secret ingredients would not give them up (cant blame them as they have a niche market).

[Gingerbas]

I know what you mean Hugh we do have one of those , but as each paitient requirments are different we tend to do it by knife and rule. This has been a great topic cheers for the feed back guys..

[ironplanet uk900]

You deserved all the credit you got ginge, was a wonderfull post

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

I know what you mean Hugh we do have one of those , but as each paitient requirments are different we tend to do it by knife and rule. This has been a great topic cheers for the feed back guys..

 

Every shoe for the project in mind is the same gingerbas, just differnt lengths of Strap for the sizes. An oversize Knife would mean they could be trimmed to length easily. Needs to be a double edged oneas there would have to be a section in the shape of a tapered Half Moon so I could stick the strap to the left/right shoe before stitching to secure as these straps would be replacable due to the fast deterioration in a type of Industrial wear.

 

I just love the stitching you guys do on the caliper leathers, what size needles and thread thickness are you using?

[Gingerbas]

singer 16x257 and size 40 thread.