Scale

Because of the niche appeal of this object, I will only be making it in very small quantities- fewer than 5 pairs. The small quantity allows me to invest more into the process both in terms of crafting by hand and using more expensive manufacturing techniques.

Manufacturing

- Uppers will be handmade from leather

- Sole will be 3d printed using SLS Nylon-12 from Shapeways

- Circuit will be PCB ordered through BatchPCB

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parts and Cost:

- Leather uppers: 1 sq ft per pair of shoes. $6/sq. ft from tandyleatherfactory.com

- 3d printing: ~$200 per shoe from shapeways.com

- PCB: ~$4 each from batchpcb.com

- Transformer: $2 each (need 2 per shoe) from goldmine-elect.com

- Capacitors: ~$10 for really nice ones from Digikey

- Igniter: $11 from Ace hardware

Total per shoe: $6 + 2 * ($200) + 2 * ($4) +  4 * ($2) + 2 * ($10) + 2 * ($11) = $464

also, there’s the one time cost of Barge glue cement: $7 from Ace hardware

Assuming shipping is $7 from each supplier, $35 in shipping costs (can go to local ACE hardware)

Lead Times:

- Shapeways: 10 days

- BatchPCB: 30 days

- Ordering non-custom parts take ~1 week

Labor:

Additional design work (one time investment)

-  3d model for 3d printing: 15 hours

- Pattern for leather uppers: 10 hours

- PCB layout: 2 hours

Assembly

- Soldering parts: 1 hour

- Cut and sew leather uppers: 2 hours

- Put everything together: 2 hours

- Let glue dry: overnight

Infrastructure:

- Soldering station for circuit

- Scissors, needle, thread to sew leather

Suggested Retail Price:

$700-1000, which is on par with cost of high end shoes