Sunken Toe Plates or Nails?

[DCFO]

I live in Hong Kong and now is summer to autumn times. I have several pairs of brand new shoes with sunken metal toe plates installed by different people and some factory installed. 2/3 of them were found to be rusting. This involves Carmina, Vass, Meermin etc. This is to my surprise!

While I am convinced of the practical use of the metal toe plates, the rusting issue does bother me. I am now trying plated ones to see if this will make a difference.

 

[Nick V.]



Thanks, yes, it does appear that the nails do not really help prevent against the wearing of the toe - I think the biggest problem with the wearing is that it also has an effect on the appearance of the sole in the front. I don't have time to shine it, or put sole edge dressing all the time. Thanks for the piece of advice! How do you tell if they are brass plated screws? I suppose asking wouldn't hurt. Are these brass plated screws?

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

No, they are not. Of course, brass plated will have a dull gold-ish color to them. You can always ask to see the screws. If they are not plated it's not the end of the world as long as you are dealing with a reputable shop. Rather, it's just my preference.... Instead of slotted screw heads we prefer the hexed ones. IMO they allow you to tighten them better and more evenly. Slotted are fine though, that's what you mostly see.

 

[chogall]



Whether or not you make a sound depends entirely on the surface on which you are walking. And on whether or not you wish to be mistaken for an incoming construction worker complete with steel capped protective boots.

But please, be my guest, along with your fine sense of humour...

Mr ballet dancer, my shoes barely make any sound even on marbled floors or polished concrete floors.

p.s., sunken/flushed metal toe plates is not the same as the usual nailed on toe plates.

 

[chogall]



I live in Hong Kong and now is summer to autumn times. I have several pairs of brand new shoes with sunken metal toe plates installed by different people and some factory installed. 2/3 of them were found to be rusting. This involves Carmina, Vass, Meermin etc. This is to my surprise!

While I am convinced of the practical use of the metal toe plates, the rusting issue does bother me. I am now trying plated ones to see if this will make a difference.

Very interesting. I travel to Taiwan, HK, Shenzhen regularly, soaked couple of my shoes from monsoon several times, and none of them rust.

Did the rust appear at the toe plates? Or the brass coated screws?

 

[DCFO]

This surprised me as well.

The rust appeared all over the plate and screw, and the rusting appeared even I did not wear them, nor polish them.

I believe humidity is the major factor but not actual contact with water SOLELY.

 

[chogall]

There were stories where a ******s bespoke shoes molded.

Never happened to me tho. California is a desert and in Asia I tend to live in heavily ACed rooms where humidity isn't even an issue indoors.

Pretty sure stainless still doesn't rust or only rusts very minimally. Could it be something else?

p.s., sand out the rust, cover the stainless steel part in cooking oil or those oil used to store carbon steel blades.

 

[jonathanS]

This surprised me as well.

The rust appeared all over the plate and screw, and the rusting appeared even I did not wear them, nor polish them.

I believe humidity is the major factor but not actual contact with water SOLELY.

What kind of conditions do you store your shoes in? I have some sunken toe plates (I guess my question really referred to the performance of the nails, which is not very good), and, while I only recently had them installed a few months ago, I do not have any problems with the toe plates rusting yet. I am in the Washington DC area & I do not know how that compares in terms of humidity to HK - being from California originally, it is rather humid for my standards. I keep my shoes in my apt and shoe treed when not in use with the AC on as needed.

 

[DCFO]

I store in the shoe boxes and put in my home and office, both of them rusted to certain extent.

 

[DCFO]

IME the metal toe plates did not produce any sound issue on virtually all types of floor I have encountered so far.

 

[Nick V.]

I guess this begs the question....What type of metal are they using? Is it metal, stainless, a knock-off? I dunno....
All I can say is it's rare to find rust on medal toe plates that we use. And yes, occasionally a screw will pop out. But, that stuff is rare as well.
If you are storing your shoes in anything sealed such as plastic boxes that would keep moisture in and would not only enhance a rusting process but also suffocate the uppers ability to breathe.

 

[DCFO]

I am unsure of the material of the metal toe plates.

Attached is my pair of Vass with factory installed toe plates that became rusted subsequently.

 

[SW1Y]

By Rubber, do you mean dainite rubber soles? If not, what are you referring to?

No, I mean rubber toe tips instead of the metal sunken plates you are referring to. I have seen quite a few guys come around with badly placed rubber toe tips instead of metal toe tips, and they were terrible. Water would leak into the shoe left right and centre because a cobbler can't finish the sole to the same extent as with a metal plate. Avoid a rubber tip at all costs.

 

[jonathanS]

 



By Rubber, do you mean dainite rubber soles? If not, what are you referring to?

No, I mean rubber toe tips instead of the metal sunken plates you are referring to. I have seen quite a few guys come around with badly placed rubber toe tips instead of metal toe tips, and they were terrible. Water would leak into the shoe left right and centre because a cobbler can't finish the sole to the same extent as with a metal plate. Avoid a rubber tip at all costs.

Disgusting. Those people should be ashamed of themselves. That's an abuse of shoes. And the cobblers shouldn't install those. even worse if someone installs them on greens, lobbs, g&gs, etc.

I am, however a fan of Dainite rubber but I am not sure how quickly it wears down. I haven't gotten there yet.

 

[DCFO]

I attach a picture of my Meermin shoe brand new untreated been stored for a month around. See the rust even after I have done some sanding on the metal toe plate!