Sand down a custom footbed to reduce volume?

[neufox47]

Trying to get my Vulcans dialed and my well used custom footbeds are too thick. The bottom looks like multi-colored plastic that appears sandable. To complicate matters I already have Hottronics installed on them. Anyone ever sanded these down before? Or should I just buy a pair of the Superfeet Carbon insoles?

Edit - Re: Title - meant reduce volume of the foot bed / increase volume in the boot.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Lemme see a picture of said footbed.

[auvgeek]

I know you know what you're doing when it comes to bootfitting, but I have to mention that it seems like a lower volume liner is in order.

I thought those 27s I sold you were really tight in the instep with both the stock liner and a Pro Tour, even though they were too big in length. I just tried on the 26s with the molded HD Race liner from my alpine boots...and I probably won't even need a punch for instep volume! YMMV and all that.

[Eluder]

If your other option is replace said footbed why not give it a try. The Intuition HD/FX race liners do help with instep volume for sure.

[Ted Striker]

If your other option is replace said footbed why not give it a try.

Agreed. I successfully "lowered" a pair of cork superfeet with a belt sander.

[XXX-er]

I have sanded down Sole foot beds in the toe area

[gregL]

I sanded down a pair of custom Conform'able posted footbeds to make them work in my Mercurys. I posted up the paper-thin black OEM "footbeds" from my TLT6P's to get them to work (had to guess a bit at the profile since they won't hold a shape with posting foam glued on, but they feel fine). I think the black race versions of the Conform'able or Superfeet custom blanks would also work well.

[skuff]

A bootfitter once used a belt sander to grind down the top of a zeppa to create some volume in a pair of my boots. Seemed to help.

[gregL]

A bootfitter once used a belt sander to grind down the top of a zeppa to create some volume in a pair of my boots. Seemed to help.

No zeppa to grind in the Vulcan.

[splat]

A bootfitter once used a belt sander to grind down the top of a zeppa to create some volume in a pair of my boots. Seemed to help.

Actually the bottom of the zeppa planed is best. What is the boot board in the Vulcan, just the plastic above the sole?

In that case, sand that footbed down, cut out some of the top of your liner.
So sander, razor and maybe some duct tape and you'll have it.

[onenerdykid]

Sanding down a Superfeet Kork shouldn't be too much of an issue, depending on how thin it already is from when it was made/ground by its maker. If you can spare a few millimeters go for it, but be sure not to accidentally cant it in the process.

[Dry]

Used a belt grinder on two pair of Superfeet Cork. Easy, to get them pretty thin, watch that you don't unintentionally cant them while you are at it.

[RShea]

I have a pair of Amfit EVA hard footbeds that were made some years back now. When I purchased a used pair of boots a few years back they needed a few punches. I went to a ski shop with the footbeds and boots and did some fit tests. Recommended that the soles of the footbed from the arch forward be belt sanded down and did it as part of the fit session.

[XXX-er]

I did the toe area of my soles with a sanding disc chucked in a drill, I sanded all the foam off the bottom of the foot bed leaving only the neoprene material from the top of the foot bed and they have held up for a few years like that

[jwolter7]

If there is enough thickness that you don't need for something to function correctly, then you can always thin out anything inside the liner/shell.

Volume issues in boots with no boot board to adjust lower (thin out) are a big problem if the instep area is too tight (inadequate blood flow) with the buckles on the loosest settings.

Try to determine the thickness of the insole by checking the bottom of heel area first, that will be the thinnest part of the insole. Dropping the heel in ski boots drops the instep away from the shell and that will be the simplest adjustment and give you the most volume you can get over the instep. If the last bottom circle under the heel area (material of the insole and color of the insole) is bigger then a quarter then you most likely don't have much more room to grind more off/thin out.

Thinning out the forefoot area of insoles also works as other have already said. Sometimes even grinding under the arch to give the insole just a bit more flexibility will also work to take pressure off the top of the instep.

I normally start with the simplest methods to solve fit problems first and then go more complicated/risky approaches when no other options exists to make the boots fit. With most feet, and most good boot fits the thinnest semi rigid orthotics possible will produce the best overall fit and performance results.

You can also look to see if there is any material you can take off of the liner above the instep area. I have removed cover layers and cut off side material that overlaps on top of the tongue. This is a very common volume adjustment for custom foam liners. It is amazing how little material needs to be removed to get the room you need. Sometimes 1mm will be enough to keep the outflow of blood in your foot working as it should.

Even if you remove material over the top of the liner which might appear to be keeping your foot warmer, it will make the boot function better and having the volume right over the instep is what makes your foot warm. Removing the extra material and gaining the right volume over the instep to be able to adjust the buckles tight when needed (and have them loose when not needed) will create the right overall fit and better blood flow and that blood flow is what will keep your foot warm. Make sure you always take the time to play with the micro adjustments of the buckles which I'm sure you have already done. In some custom foam liners one turn tighter or looser can make a big difference in fit.

A medium firm tongue pad down low placed to keep the heel as far back in the shell (and to not let the foot slid forward) might also help to gain room over the instep and give you the adjustability needed.

Good luck, as a bootfitter I hate it when manufactures don't design a boot board/zeppa into their boots. When there is a boot board adjusting the volume of any boot is a very simple adjustment to make the boots work well, and be warm.

[neufox47]

Thanks for the suggestions. By playing around with a pair of old intuitions and Superfeet insoles, I think I need 2-3 mm of space, which should be easy given the thickness of the footbed.

Seems like the stock Vulcan liner has some overlap and extra material where the tongue starts but I don't want to start hacking at the liner yet.

[XXX-er]

just take that piece right off the front of the Dynafit liner it comes off with a razor blade in about 3 min without damaging anything else ... makes a big difference

there is an extra 3mm of material right on top of the 1st metatarsus that bugs the shit out of my foot

there is also a foam sheet on the bottom of the shell in the instep/toe area, I often wondered if that could be scraped out or sft ??