Introduction: Bling Your Shoes With New Aglets
For those of you not in the know, aglets are those funny things that wrap up the ends of your shoelaces. The plastic ones that come on most shoelaces work all right... unless they crack, or the shoelaces are too long, or they just look lackluster. It's easy to add some jazz to your shoes with just a few cents worth of materials.
Step 1: Gather Your Materials
All you really need for this little touch of class is shown in the picture.
-You need your shoes, obviously
-Those shoes need to have laces, only slightly less obvious.
-You need some metal tubing, your choice just what metal. Copper looks cool for most shoes, brass works as well, maybe even aluminum if you want.
-You need a tubing cutter, you should have one of these anyway. Nothing else works quite so well for cutting tubing,
-A pair of pliers is of great help, but in a pinch, a few big rocks, or your super-strength could work
-if you need to shorten your laces as well, you need a pair of scissors.
Step 2: Cut Your Laces to Size
If your laces are too long, you need to cut them down to size. It's not hard folks, just try and get them fairly even...If they are a good length, skip this.
Step 3: Cut Yourself Some Tubing
Use your nifty tubing cutter to cut some tubing. Nothing makes a tool happier than being used for its intended purpose. Make the little bits of tubing about the same length as your old aglets.
Once they are cut, squeeze the shoelace tip into the hole and crimp them down.
Step 4: New Aglets
Repeat for the other tip, then the other shoe. Four in all, for those of you who lost count.
Enjoy your snazzy new aglets, more durable than heat shrink tubing, and better looking than lashed thread.
8 Comments
10 years ago on Introduction
Hi Fuzz2050
I was wondering where you bought the small diameter metal tubing?
Kind regards
11 years ago on Introduction
This may be a case of gilding the lily. That is, unless your laces themselves are extremely tough, and likewise the holes they pass through (not all eyelets are that tough), metal aglets may cause excessive wear.
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
It's true, this is mainly ornamental, although I have had more than a few shoelaces fray when the aglets failed. Also, I have been known to use Dyneema shoelaces, in which case a copper aglet is actually the weak point in the system.
15 years ago on Introduction
Mmm.. ferrule aglets :) This mostly seems straightforward, except the offhand "squeeze the shoelace tip into the hole" bit. Whenever I try something like this, the lace refuses to squeeze straight and ends up fraying the end so you have to cut more off, and eventually give up and use sellotape.
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
first get a piece of very thin wire. get a medium sized piece. hold the ends in your hand and push the "loop" through. put the end of the lace in the loop and pull the loop through along with the lace.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
I would maybe dampen them to get them less fuzzy & cram them in with something like a piece of dowel or matchstick.
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
It can be a bit of a hassle, depending on the shoelace. For a wide one, like the one pictured here, sometimes a touch of tape is handy, just to keep it together.
15 years ago on Introduction
Adding
https://www.instructables.com/group/toughstuff/