How hard would it be to put touring toes in my boots
- Thread starter caveman31
- Start date
Non_State_Actor
Active member
topic:caveman31 said:
What could possibly go wrong???
What are you hoping to do and what type of boots do you have?
toe-bang-gang
Member
tbh i didn’t even know it was possible to put aftermarket tech inserts in a boot, more the reason i would never try to do it myself
CatdickBojangles
Active member
It’s so easy a caveman can do it. You are in luck.
twinkle_toes
Member
Wtf. Wonder why they don’t make replaceable tech inserts for normal touring boots… once the holes are worn you have to drop another $900 for a pair of AT boots. Wack. What a stitch up. Maybe I’ll just buy these cast inserts and drill them in lollll
saucelars
Member
I did it myself at a shop using their tools. Good buddies with the techs and we took off my sole and looked at how we could best keep the integrity of the toe while taking off enough material to put in some tech toes I cut out of a pair of k2 touring boots. It can absolutely be done at home, just be as smart as possible about it, i used jb weld to finish it and seal from any water getting in and sanded down to smooth. I only use cast for touring, so only need the tech toe for touring up and would NEVER do this or trust it even with as careful and proper a process as i took to ski down in say kingpins
ill add photos of mine to this thread when i get home from school this weekend
**This post was edited on Feb 2nd 2022 at 1:18:25am
ill add photos of mine to this thread when i get home from school this weekend
**This post was edited on Feb 2nd 2022 at 1:18:25am
onenerdykid
Active member
Sounds like some of the youngins here need a history lesson regarding what can go wrong when brands don't do tech inserts properly. Google "Salomon Quest Tech Insert Failure".
Fun fact: proper tech inserts are one of the most expensive parts of a ski boot.
Fun fact: proper tech inserts are one of the most expensive parts of a ski boot.
onenerdykid
Active member
14391083:JAHn said:
Tech inserts that work properly normally look like this:
To my knowledge, only Dalbello is working with a 2-piece tech insert (in the Quantum boots), which is basically the above cut vertically down the middle.
Tech inserts are made by a process called investment casting or lost wax casting. It's an incredibly costly process that yields steel parts with a super high degree of accuracy, material hardness, and proper surface finishing. Fun Fact #2: it's the only way that Ferrari will build their engine blocks.
cydwhit
Active member
I would read a very long article, or listen to a very long podcast that was just you explaining everything that goes into putting a tech fitting in a boot.
14391239:onenerdykid said:Tech inserts that work properly normally look like this:
To my knowledge, only Dalbello is working with a 2-piece tech insert (in the Quantum boots), which is basically the above cut vertically down the middle.
Tech inserts are made by a process called investment casting or lost wax casting. It's an incredibly costly process that yields steel parts with a super high degree of accuracy, material hardness, and proper surface finishing. Fun Fact #2: it's the only way that Ferrari will build their engine blocks.
JAHn
Member
14391239:onenerdykid said:Tech inserts that work properly normally look like this:
To my knowledge, only Dalbello is working with a 2-piece tech insert (in the Quantum boots), which is basically the above cut vertically down the middle.
Tech inserts are made by a process called investment casting or lost wax casting. It's an incredibly costly process that yields steel parts with a super high degree of accuracy, material hardness, and proper surface finishing. Fun Fact #2: it's the only way that Ferrari will build their engine blocks.
Thanks for the info! I've toured a few investment cast facilities. It's definitely a very involved process.
I think a common misconception is that the tech inserts are just the little cup-like piece that the pins lock into, since that is the only outwardly visible piece. That's what I assumed anyway and also why it seems so easy to DIY.
Now that I see it, this looks like a pain in the ass to install.
Are they normally insert-molded into the shell?
onenerdykid
Active member
14391416:JAHn said:
Normally they are fixed into the mold and over-injected.
saucelars
Member
14391239:onenerdykid said:Tech inserts that work properly normally look like this:
To my knowledge, only Dalbello is working with a 2-piece tech insert (in the Quantum boots), which is basically the above cut vertically down the middle.
Tech inserts are made by a process called investment casting or lost wax casting. It's an incredibly costly process that yields steel parts with a super high degree of accuracy, material hardness, and proper surface finishing. Fun Fact #2: it's the only way that Ferrari will build their engine blocks.
This is exactly what the piece looked like that I put into my boots. Can confirm it’s an insanly high strength metal and I needed a proper machine shop just to drill two little holes in them that i needed for mounting