Luge Boots are your brakes. A normal shoe will melt under heavy braking leaving nothing between the tarmac and your feet. Here is a tutorial on how to make Luge Boots that will be tough and help stop you quicker.

Important: Do all work outside, with plenty of ventilation. If using power tools ware goggles, ear defenders, gloves and a facemask.

You Will Need:
Boots
Brake Rubber
Impact Adhesive (NOT Contact Adhesive and NOT Solvent Free)
3 G Clamps
2 Pieces of Plank (Wider and Longer Than The Boot)

For boots High-Top trainers are ideal, they provide good padding and support on the ankle, but are flexible enough to allow you to point your toes and change yore braking position. Alternatively old work or walking boots are good, the most important thing is that they will protect your ankles in a crash. While making the Luge Boots remove the laces, they get in the way.

Tyre rubber is what you are after for the brakes, either from a car or lorry. Importantly you want rubber without steel beading running through it, these threads make the tyre a nightmare to cut out and leave sharp, spiky edges. Lorry tyres don't have this and you can often find strips that have been shed lying along the side of roads, just be careful when collecting it. If you can get hold of it tyre re-mould is perfect, it sits flat, does not have any beading and is easy to cut out and prepare. Try your local bus/lorry depot, they may have some off-cuts. Make sure your rubber is big enough to cover the whole of the bottom of your boot.

Method:

1. Roughing Up

Using a file, wire brush (drill attachment or hand held) and/or an angle grinder rough up the boots sole (taking off as much tread as possible) and top surface of the rubber. Again, if using power tools, be sure to ware goggles, ear defenders, gloves and a face mask, bits of hot flying rubber are not nice.

2. Cutting and Cleaning

Place each shoe on the rubber and draw around it using a marker. Cut out the shape of the shoe (if the rubber has a steel bead this will be very difficult, otherwise a simple hacksaw will easily do the job) and double check it fits the bottom of the boot. Now make sure that both the gluing surfaces are clean, scrub using soapy water, then a cloth and white spirit (or similar) to get off all the muck and grime.

3. Gluing

Spread a thin layer of Impact Adhesive on the top surface of the brake rubber and sole of the boot. It really must be Impact Adhesive, as made by Unibond, anything less simply doesn't work. You can pick it up from almost any hardware store. Allow 15-20 minutes to dry, until tacky. Now place the two glued surfaces together and line them up.

4. Clamping

Carefully place the glued boot and rubber on one of the pieces of plank, then place the other piece on top. You may notice that the I have cut the top piece of plank so that it covers the toe, then papers to fit into the back of the boot. This allows it to sit flat on the boot without needing many wedges, if doing this make sure you push the piece as far into the back of the boot as possible. Once the pieces of plank are in place slowly clamp them together using the G Clamps, tightening each a bit at a time, making sure equal pressure is applied across the boot. If the boot slips off the brake rubber simply loosen off the clamps, realign and start again. Once you have tightened the clamps right down check around the edge of the boots, especially the toe and heel, and push small wedges in between the brake rubber and bottom piece of plank where there are gaps.

Leave in a dry, cool place for at least 24 hours, preferably 48, before unclamping. Voila! Your boots are ready!

Tyre rubber will last a lot longer than the sole of your shoes, but they will not last forever. Regularly check the ware on your boots and once the rubber has worn down rip the remainder off and replace it with fresh tyre.

Joel