Build Your Own Fuckin’ Insoles

[Ocean]

I started by taking an impression of my feet in sub talar neutral (in some podiatry foam that I bought from ebay).



Filled the mould with plaster of paris.



Yes, I have messed up feet.



One of the ‘feet’ didn’t quite have the arch height I wanted so I increased the height by sanding the arch.




I found an online supplier of 1/8“ orthopaedic thermoplastic splinting material that was having a half price sale.



Cut out a rough blank.



Heated the blank to 70 deg C in a water bath.



Moulded the blank on the plaster of paris ‘foot’.



Used a chinagraph pencil to mark a line behind the metatarsals.



Reheated the front of the blank, flattened the area In front of the line with a block of steel.



Cut and shaped the foot beds. Spot heated the heels to flatten them. Added a self adhesive foam wedge to post the acquired forefoot varus on my right foot.



The thermoplastic is slightly ‘rubbery’, if sanded with 80 grit it takes on a texture like ‘Nubuck’ leather.

[johnnyg82]

How’s the end result fit-wise? As well as you had hoped?

[ill-advised strategy]

This is incredible!

Attaway dude!

[Ocean]

How’s the end result fit-wise? As well as you had hoped?

Finished them yesterday. Have only been able to try them in an indoor snow dome. Very pleased with them. They are certainly better than the shop made Sidas Custom footbeds that I used before.

I think the main reason they are better is that they are semi-weighted and have a forefoot post. The Sidas footbeds were weighted and had no forefoot post.

[climberevan]

Nice! I've done a lot of customization of my insoles over the years, culminating with a fiberglass vacuum moulded one that I made using a way more ghetto method with Saran wrap on my feet and 5 min drywall mud. It's for road cycling, so light weight was important. I put are really dramatic arch into it to correct a wobbly left knee. It's been great for a bunch of years now, and the one tracks in a nice vertical circle.I've always had a hard time finding the foam and stuff that orthotics are made of, so thanks for doing the searching. I'll check eBay.

I will say that while I'm in favor of people mounting their own (fucking) skis and making their own stuff, and repairing it (with aquaseal, naturally), to fix your feet you need some knowledge of biomechanics. I learned it by having a few sets of custom orthotics made and paying close attention, but most people prob don't have the knowledge necessary to actually make useful insoles.

[Ocean]

Nice! ... most people prob don't have the knowledge necessary to actually make useful insoles.]

I agree, although if there’s anywhere on the internet where skiers do have the knowledge, it’s Tech Talk.

I found the Harb Alignment Technician Manual (online PDF) was a good place to start with figuring this stuff out.

[johnnyg82]

As a total jong, could you define semi-weighted?

[turnfarmer]

I admire your work, but an acquired forefoot varus is a soft tissue(supinatus) tissue that posting up is generally not the right approach.
A structural bony fore foot varies is a different, although rare, animal.

[justcuz]

I started by taking an impression of my feet in sub talar neutral (in some podiatry foam that I bought from ebay).



Filled the mould with plaster of paris.



Yes, I have messed up feet.



One of the ‘feet’ didn’t quite have the arch height I wanted so I increased the height by sanding the arch.




I found an online supplier of 1/8“ orthopaedic thermoplastic splinting material that was having a half price sale.



Cut out a rough blank.



Heated the blank to 70 deg C in a water bath.



Moulded the blank on the plaster of paris ‘foot’.



Used a chinagraph pencil to mark a line behind the metatarsals.



Reheated the front of the blank, flattened the area In front of the line with a block of steel.



Cut and shaped the foot beds. Spot heated the heels to flatten them. Added a self adhesive foam wedge to post the acquired forefoot varus on my right foot.



The thermoplastic is slightly ‘rubbery’, if sanded with 80 grit it takes on a texture like ‘Nubuck’ leather.

I dig. Rough total cost?

[Ocean]

I admire your work, but an acquired forefoot varus is a soft tissue(supinatus) tissue that posting up is generally not the right approach.
A structural bony fore foot varies is a different, although rare, animal.

In my everyday shoes I use an orthotic that supports the medial arch of the foot and has no forefoot posting. My (amateur) understanding is that this is better for the feet long term, and is more suitable than a forefoot post when going through the full gait cycle. The everyday orthotic really doesn’t help my skiing though, unlike a forefoot post which (based on one hours skiing on an easy angled slope) seems to help me to edge and balance.

[Ocean]

I dig. Rough total cost?

Plaster of paris £5.
Foam box £10
Thermoplastic £60 (but Should have been £120).

So £75 / $100. But that does provide enough plastic for three sets of footbeds if you have more than one pair of boots.

[Ocean]

As a total jong, could you define semi-weighted?

Semi weighted: Impression of feet made while sitting in a chair.
Weighted: Impression made while standing.
Unweighted: Feet in the air

[XXX-er]

My foot guy would use those boxes of foam, he would shove the foot into the box with a certain authority which I always wondered about, so how do you shove that foot in the box and how hard ?

if you complained about something so he wanted to alter the footbed he would use a red lipstick ( he claimed the color was hooker-red ) to mark the foam

I own a bunch of custom foot beds but now a days i just use off the shelf foot beds and SOLE is my fav

[Ocean]

so how do you shove that foot in the box and how hard ?

This was the first time I’d done it, so it’s possible that I had beginners luck. I had some practice runs pushing my foot into a cushion to get a feel for it.

The main thing I concentrated on was feeling both sides of the talus with my fingers and pronating / supinating the foot until both sides of the talus were equally prominent.

[turnfarmer]

In my everyday shoes I use an orthotic that supports the medial arch of the foot and has no forefoot posting. My (amateur) understanding is that this is better for the feet long term, and is more suitable than a forefoot post when going through the full gait cycle. The everyday orthotic really doesn’t help my skiing though, unlike a forefoot post which (based on one hours skiing on an easy angled slope) seems to help me to edge and balance.

Given how easy your setup is to modify, I suggest you try moving your post to just behind the fifth metatarsal head and seesaw it skis.

The enlarged base of fifth metatarsal on your casts are a characteristic of a foot with a plantar flexed first ray or forefoot valgus deformity.

[turnfarmer]

If any one else makes a cast like this you can push out the foam from the sulcus forward with a piece of cardboard to flatten the toe crests and lengthen the cast.

[Ocean]

Given how easy your setup is to modify, I suggest you try moving your post to just behind the fifth metatarsal head and seesaw it skis.
.

Thanks. I’ll give it a try.

EDIT:

I just tried doing some one legged squats on my right leg, standing on the footbed....

No forefoot post: Knee tracks slightly to the medial side.

Medial forefoot post (original side, as in the OP): Knee tracks straight.

Lateral post just behind metatarsal head: Knee tracks to the medial side.

[shafty85]

My foot guy would use those boxes of foam, he would shove the foot into the box with a certain authority which I always wondered about, so how do you shove that foot in the box and how hard ?

if you complained about something so he wanted to alter the footbed he would use a red lipstick ( he claimed the color was hooker-red ) to mark the foam

I own a bunch of custom foot beds but now a days i just use off the shelf foot beds and SOLE is my fav

Where you buying those?

[XXX-er]

Where you buying those?

the off the shelf or the custom ?

The off the shelf red SOLE worked for me on the first go and you could buy them all over the place at Can tire or Marks or sports chek, the Surefoot foot beds might also work, its all about finding the one that works for you,

I got a quiver of foot beds both custom & off the shelf for the flat feet, I can put a custom in one sho or ski boot and a sole in the other, at the end of the day I can't remeber which is which

a foot guy in PG custom makes foot beds and prostetics, he did them with me seated by grabbing my foot and pushing it in the box which must be semi weighted for about 300$

my feet are flatter than piss on a plate so I can't even set the ski edge with out an orthotic

[DarthMarkus]

Footbeds vary a lot between different people. My experience has been that the fairly athletic people can use a run-of-the-mill pre-made footbed and be pretty good to go, or people who have been skiing for a long time. Maybe a few modifications on it here and there.
Injuries, genetic predispositions (like no arch), and being out of shape/overweight tends to push people towards needing a custom footbed.

Either way, I think with some fundamental foot anatomy & physiology making your own footbeds is certainly doable. It's awesome to see people doing it on here.

My hesitation is that if you do do it wrong, you can really start messing things up in your ankles, knees, hips, and all the way up your back if it's done poorly enough.