[Amanda]

I’m making sandals with built in orthotics. I’ve made silicone molds of the orthotics that my doctor made, and now I’m looking for a resin to cast with. Does anyone have suggestions? It needs to be impact resistant, and be able to withstand temps higher than 85°F (most of the urethane resins I saw seem to cap out around there, but pavement is hot and I don’t want to melt my sandals! 😂)

I probably won’t be running in these, but I do a LOT of walking as part of my job, so I want to avoid anything too fragile.

How sturdy is epoxy resin? At its thinnest point, at the ball of the foot — which is also the point of highest flexion, the orthotics are about 1/8 inch thick. At the arch, they’re about 1.25 inches. Is epoxy likely to crack at the thinner area? Thank you!

[Amanda]

Forgot to ask, is acrylic casting resin a thing? The originals from my doc are made of CNC routed acrylic, and they’ve held up pretty well. If acrylic resin is a real thing, does anyone know where I can find it, and whether it requires a pressure pot or curing oven?

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Amanda,

I love your idea, but I’m afraid epoxy resin isn’t a good choice for a project like this. Any resin that’s tough enough to withstand the pressure of walking is also likely to crack or break.

[Author]

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