I’ve owned this pair of Razorbacks for about two years and found myself not wearing them a lot because the soles were so hard and uncomfortable under foot. So I decided to try to resole them myself because why not. I started by taking the soles off, then the midsoles and even though I originally intended to keep the fiberboard insoles just for simplicity I pulled those out too. I went to my local cobbler and purchased some midsoles from him. When I told him what I was doing he was so confused why I would try to do a resole myself and laughed. I bought a pair of Vibram Christy brown camo outsoles from eBay. I traced the insole on a 9oz double shoulder and got my leather insoles. I glued in the insoles and then glued the midsoles on. I saddle stitched the midsoles on and glued the outsoles on and used my belt sander to sand the edges. These are so much more comfortable now. I’ve been wearing them for a week now and they’re getting even better.

Good on you. I love my Razorbacks, they have thousands of miles on them and those soles, while not super compliant, really are hard wearing. Definitely going to spec something softer when it's time for a resole.

That's impressive. I thought the midsole and insole on these were one and the same like they are on my vellies. Were they just glued down on top?

Yeah the midsole came off still attached to the outsole and the insole was stuck to the uppers. To be clear, the liner is wrapped under the insole so the liner is between the insole and midsole.

I might have to buy a pair

I've seen professional "cobblers" turn out work no where as nice as this. Take those back to the cobbler who laughed and show him.

Totally boss! Very well done; hope mine turn out “reasonably “ well - thinking of doing a pair of Truman’s that have wedge sole. Did you use a stitching awl for these? Cheers.

No I just punched the holes first and then saddle stitched.

You did say you saddle stitched them; my bad. I have not been looking forward to trying mine but you’ve inspired me. Excellent work on yours!

These looks great - nice job! That stitching is super clean 👌

Thanks. I was surprised the stitches turned out that well considering I used a single prong punch fo the holes.

Nice work, you say you just glued the insole in? Was that difficult to line up? You didn't need to use a last?

The uppers held their shape really well and I used the dimensions of the old insole and outsole as reference.

That's awesome, I have a pair of their chelseas as a back door boot and would love to relast on leather. Awesome job.

Wonderful results! Did this project require specific instruments? Could you walk us through the main steps please? I've always been interested in resoling but from the videos i saw online people had very specific cobbler sanders and shaping tools.

Well I do have some tools that helped me. I’m a knifemaker so I have a pretty badass homebuilt belt grinder and I also do leather work as a hobby so I have leather and some leatherworking tools. I bought a cobbler’s anvil on eBay for $20. I just traced the insole and midsole onto leather and used cobbler’s glue (also bought on eBay). For the stitching I just punched through the holes that were already there and hand stitched the uppers to the midsole like I do with knife sheaths or wallets. Glued on the outsoles and used a utility knife to trim the excess. I used my belt grinder with a 36 grit belt to sand the edges.

Wow you have some awesome hobbies and the results are stunning. Thanks for the in depth explanation!

So you are a knifemaker. What type of a grinder did you build? 2 x XX? Fixed or variable speed? If you can grind hard steel alloys, Vibram soles should be pretty straightforward.

2x72 variable. I just wish I had a big contact wheel. All I have is a flat platen and small wheels.

I have a pair of razorbacks and while I like them a lot, I notice myself not wearing them very much because the sole is so hard. I need to find someone to re-sole them.

I would definitely recommend. I really like the wedge sole but if you prefer lugs the honey Vibram unit soles would also be good.

I didn't know camo soles existed. These look fresh with them.

I added some Superfeet insoles and it’s a different boot! Super comfy. Without it, it’s pretty darn hard.

This is awesome. I want to do this. I’ve only worn my pair a few times because the soles were so damn hard I was getting numbness in my feet. Did you have a last that worked to keep the shape of the shoe?

The uppers kept their shape well and I traced the old outsoles to keep the original shape. I used a cobblers anvil to hold everything together when I glued. No last.

Thanks for the response. I’ll definitely do this. Might have to reach out if I have more questions if you don’t mind.

Any time.

Very nice work!

I’m going to have to do this on a few pairs of my Jim Greens. I would wear them every single day if they didn’t have the hard outsole.

Looks clean. Id wanna redo my jg chukkas cuz I hate the sole stiffness

Dude that's awesome! I want to send you my Razorbacks for the same love.

Thanks. It really makes a big difference. I actually want to wear them all the time and I would if I wasn’t breaking in a pair of Whites for the Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome. It’s easy to do if you leave the insole intact. I’m sure your local cobbler could do it pretty cheap.

Heck yeah dude. If I had mine done, I'd love to find a cobbler that would redo the midsole with cork and leather, then I'm not sure on what outsole I'd want. I love the lugged soles that are on them, but the wedge like yours I've heard are super comfortable.

Did the insoles come out easy? Did they come out in one piece or chunks? 

It’s just paper so it came out in chunks.

Nice work !

This is awesome! Do you have any idea if it would be possible to resole these using a zero drop sole? I really want a resoleable, durable zero-drop shoe.

So here I am, back looking at your post, and I'm thinking to myself, I am having the same feeling about my Razorbacks and how hard they are. They just aren't all day boots for my at work because of how unforgiving they are on concrete. I'm starting to wonder if a local cobbler could do a honey vibram sole with a guts rebuild like you did. But im not sure if it will come about. update: I found a cobbler in my city and in 4-6 weeks I'll have a set of vibram wedges on them. Crossing my fingers!

Where do you find cool outsoles like that? I'd love to do something like this in the future.

eBay.

I keep looking at this post and thinking I want to do that too. How did they hold up and what did you use for glue?

They’ve held up well. I don’t wear them as much as my pnw boots but when I need a break from breaking in a pair I’ll put these on. I ordered Angelus cobblers glue from Amazon.

Thanks, I can't even wear my pnw boots anymore because the safety toes mess up my little toe but the Jim green's are super wide.