DIY Punching a ski boot

[@russelloppenheimer3970]

I built my own diy punch tool. A welding clamp from Amazon. Looks exactly like this expensive ski boot tool, except flat vice at clamp area. So I went to home depot, and got a large and small pvc pipe end cap, to use as the anvil and cup. Smallest size pvc end cap, 1/2", and larger one was, I think 1.5". Used a grinder to make the smaller one more ball shaped. I mounted these plastic ends, so they fit inside eachother, male to female, as clamp closed. Total cost around $30. To actually mount them to clamp I simply drilled holes, and used a couple of small bolts and nuts. I then used it punch ankle area on my brand new Lange RS130. I used heat gun, temp gun, both from Harbor Freight tools. I also used aluminum foil to cover rest of boot, to limit area exposed to heat. I was careful to heat slowly. Took quite a while. Came out perfect. Hardest part, finding exact spot to punch. There are various tehcniques. The outside tap as shown in video. Also the liner method. Wear inner boot liner by itself. Locate pain point, mark liner. Since its soft this is easy. Now put a small piece of tape on inside of liner, at spot that matches where you marked outside. This is also easy because you can feel where you are since liner soft. Now put liner into boot. Now one hand inside, find tape. Other hand outside, find matching spot outside. You can use punch tool to help here. Use hand to place anvil of punch tool over tape. Loosly close clamp, note where cup lands on outside of boot. Now remove liner and do heatgun thing.

[@Bigpictureskiing]

Awesome. Love the build your own method. I think this is a great option but not everyone has the skills or desire and so having a tool like this is nice to have. For me it means I don’t need to spend the money paying someone else to punch my own boots , friends and familys boots.

[@rinohals]

This video is just what i needed. Puncing DIY save me a lot of cash. And the best is that its mid summer here and i can spend a lot of time punching. Dang Tom, your feet is like a blueprint of mine 😮

[@Bigpictureskiing]

Awesome! That’s when I do a lot of work on my boots too. I take my time and experiment on older boots. My feet being not that skinny boot friendly is exactly the reason I started learning how to fit my own boots better! A blessing and a curse at the same time. Haha

[@nadirabaza9177]

Thank you for the video. I was wondering how many degrees do you set up your heat gun on, ie the one I have can be set from 50°C - 610°C?

[@jackjmaheriii]

I’m an amateur, so take this for what it’s worth… I Get the punch situated, where it needs to go. Then I heat up water until it’s a few degrees over the manufacturers recommendation. Then I dumped the water into the boot, turn up the pressure on the punch, and let it sit for a few minutes before dumping the water out. I’ve only tried it twice, but so far I’ve had really good luck and there’s almost no chance of damaging the plastic or adhesives.

[@Bigpictureskiing]

Totally! Great method. I would say one reason you may choose a heat gun over the water is to not undo stretching of plastic you’ve already done. The heat gun can target just the one spot you need. If I did the hot water I may lost the stretches I put into the other sections of the boot. Hot water would be a great way to approach a boot where you only need to do one or two spots. Not always but sometimes the reheating reverses an old punched location

[@jackjmaheriii]

Losing the set of punches you’ve already made? Good point!

[@carterfan80]

I like these kind of tutorials. But the tool is pretty expensive. I'm sure most people are better off just going to a good boot fitter. But it's good to have this information available

[@jackjmaheriii]

I live in Miami so we don’t have good boot fitters, but you’re 💯 right.

[@carterfan80]

​@jackjmaheriii I believe it. I still haven't found one in NY. Or anywhere else really😅😅. My foot still hurts. Been fitted from ny to CA!😅

[@tommcdowell4051]

When do you grind and when do you punch? Is grinding just for places that are too thick to punch, like the heel pocket? Great job. Thanks so much.

[@MrArunasB]

It depends how much you need space to make. Also, grinding is needed on most plug racing boots because they have thicker plastics and just punching will not work before grinding. And yes in spaces where punching is not possible.

[@Bigpictureskiing]

Grinding is a good way to get subtle shapes into the plastic. It’s like the refinement in the boot shaping process. I tend to widen the spots that are generally too tight like the forefoot. And the ankle bone. Then I use the grinder to get it just right. Why a race boot/plug boot is handy. The thicker plastic gives you the option to refine the fit with grinding.

[@ruilkie922]

What is the purpose of the orange plastic plates on the bottom of your boots? Getting the boot higher from the base more leverage or are they sacrificial material against the base wear? Or something else?

[@trentbucknam2806]

If you dont have a heat gun can you put the whole boot in the oven or can a blow dryer get it hot enough?

[@alltoone]

Hi Tom, I am not sure if you mentioned in another video, but did you usually downsize the shell boot selection compared to the length of your foot? For example if the feet are measured at 283 mm but one is not satisfied with the heel retention should choose a full size smaller shell size and work on the boot to make it fit perfectly? Also what size is the shell of your Fischer RC4 Podium boots?

[@Bigpictureskiing]

I measure 265mm and 268mm on my feet left being a little longer and use a 26.5 shell.

[@alltoone]

@@Bigpictureskiing Thanks for the reply. I also have a difference of a couple millimeters between my feet. In my case, until know without using a foam injection liner or a Zipfit, I always had to downsize to get a good snug feet from a recommended 28 MP shell (based on feet measurement) to a 27 shell.

[@MrArunasB]

If you want to cool it qiuker you can dunk it in to water.

[@Bigpictureskiing]

Yep. Leave it out in the snow as well if that’s an option.