Like most of my boots, this beautiful pair came into my possession secondhand. They were a great fit and quite comfortable. They seemed just about perfect until I wore them to the office. As soon as I walked onto the low-pile industrial carpet, my foot slipped, nearly sending me to the ground. I was hoping they might get grippier as I wore them more, but this was not the case. I thought about getting them resoled, but I was very interested in trying it myself. I had been watching dozens of videos online of people repairing shoes. After some research, I believed I could accomplish it myself. One of the biggest hurdles with resoling boots is stitching the sole on. Most serious boots use some variation of this construction. This is normally done with a specialty machine only available to shoe repair shops. If I wanted to do this on my own, I would have to find an alternative. The existing leather sole was already securely stitched on, so I looked at some photos from some of the top companies including Nick's, White's, JK Boots, Wesco, and Red Wing. I discovered multiple examples where the leather midsole was stitched on, followed by gluing the rubber outsole on with contact cement, sometimes using screws for extra security. Glue and screws were well within my reach, so I knew this was going to be my approach. Following the process I had seen many times online, I started by prying the heel off. It was a leather stack with a thin plastic bottom. I discarded the plastic and saved the leather stack for later. This left the heel nails protruding out of the bottom of the boot. after cutting them off with some end nippers, I used a punch and hammer to get the heads high enough to pry them out from the inside. I rough sanded the bottoms to make sure that I would get a good bond and applied the glue. The rubber sole got the same treatment. Taking care to line the two halves up just right, I pressed the soles on by hand, followed by some hammering to get the best bond from the cement. With the soles glued, it was time to focus on the heels again. I took the new rubber heels and sanded the tops flat on the belt sander. They come cupped in case you want to apply them straight to the boots. Since I wanted to use them with the already cupped leather stack, they needed to be flat. The mating surfaces were sanded and then glued just like the soles. I used the round part of the belt sander to sand the inner curve of the heels flush, as it would be much more difficult to sand that area once it was attached. For the same reason, I also used the buffer to apply yankee wax finish to this area. With the heel stacks glued up, they were ready to glue on the boots. I replaced the nails I removed earlier by nailing some shoe tacks in the same holes I pulled them out of earlier. Now the soles are attached, but there is a lot of excess material. I trimmed what I could with a knife to reduce the amount of sanding needed. I started on the belt sander with a very rough 36 grit belt to speed things up, followed by 80 and then some 220 to get them smooth enough for the next stage. This was a long process, being very careful to refine the shape without damaging the rest of the boot. Now I was in the home stretch: Applying yankee wax finish. This is done by putting the wax on a cloth buffing wheel and then pressing the shoe edges onto the buffer. Using the right amount of pressure is key to getting a thin and shiny application. Too much pressure can create a burn spot, while too little can look dull or even gloopy. After getting the finish as even as I could, there was only one thing left: securing the new soles from the bottom side. The heel has dedicated holes for threaded nails, so each got one and they were driven below the surface with a punch. The toe area got a half-moon of screws along the edge. There are little divots in the tread along this arc. Having seen so many people installing these with screws, It seems these were added to the design directly for this purpose. All in all, this was a fun project. The new soles have gotten rid of any slipping problems I was having, and I think they've also served as a significant upgrade to the appearance of the boots. On to of that, I think these will last much longer than the leather. Writing this a few years later, I can say that they've held up very well. I was concerned that the screws may back out, but that hasn't been an issue whatsoever. If you're thinking of having some boots resoled, I definitely recommend it, as it can make an enormous difference in the way they both look and feel.