Adding Rivets to Shoes for Extra Grip
We offer lots of historical shoes and boots, some with modern rubber soles and some with historical leather soles. While leather soles are more accurate, they have the downside of being quite slippery. Both in Roman times and in the Middle Ages, people used rivets to provide extra grip. Do check the thickness of the soles before you add rivets. You don't want the ends coming through the sole on the inside. Learn here how to safely add rivets to your shoes.
What do you need?
-pencil
-shoe anvil (or something similar)
-leather or metal punch
-hammer
How to rivet your shoes:
Step 1:
Because you're going to make holes in a shoe sole, the sole needs to be supported by something hard that can take a hit. Of course, a real shoemaker's shoe stand or shoe anvil would be the best option, but most people don't have one lying around. A thick piece of metal that fits in the shoe should also work.
Place the shoe over your "anvil" with the sole facing up.
Step 2:
Rivets can be placed over the sole in different ways. Look up some references and choose the placement that suits your preference. Mark the spots where you want the rivets with a pencil.
Step 3:
Make holes in the soles at the marked spots using the punch and hammer.
Step 4:
Place a rivet in a hole and hammer it in. Repeat this until all the rivets are in place.
