Red Wing recondition and Dr. Sole SuperGrip sole and washer heel

The customer posted these worn-out Iron Rangers in, wanting to have them rebuilt and to be given a Dr. Sole SuperGrip Sole. He had found the factory Red Wing Nitrile sole and heel combo to be hard-wearing. However, he felt that he wanted to dress them up a bit and make them really rock solid in construction. After some discussion, we chose to strip everything back and start with a JR leather full sole as the base. First look, we can see that the boots themselves are in good condition and that all the stitching on the upper is intact and no cuts in the leather.

Our Process

1. We took all the original soling off the boot and used a JR leather full sole as the base.
2. After this, we fitted a Dr. Sole SuperGrip half-sole to the forefoot of the shoe.
3. We welt stitched the leather sole and the SuperGrip sole to the welt while the heel block was off. Thus making sure the construction was the same as the original.
4. Because of the amount of wear at the heel, we chose to alter the shape of how the boot rested under the heel. By making the leather heel block and Dr. Sole washer heel sit slightly higher, we were able to make sure the boot gave more support around the instep and base of the heel. We used stacks of leather to build the Dr. Sole washer heel and heel block. We used cinch nails to keep the heel in place. The cinch nails were captured by the washer heels and then the nail points turned over in the heel pad when they hit the metal foot that was inside the boot.
5. We ensured the stacks of leather of the heel block were symmetrical. Also, they support the base of the upper around where the heel would sit inside the boot. The slightly scalloped side profile of heel block and heel is called a Woodsman heel profile. It gives the higher heel block a sleeker profile and provides a good base of support. An extra feature is the steel nails fitted at the join between the rubber half-sole and leather sole.
6. Once we had finished on the bottom of the shoe we polished and conditioned the upper of the shoe. Using premium shoe care products from Saphir we were able to bring them back to life.